Challenge

The challenge I applied design thinking to was report production within my office workgroup.

The procedure for generating a report involves compiling and processing data, analyzing and  interpreting it to derive meaning, then synthesizing the results into an easy to understand report.  Because these reports are the basis of strategic decisions by my organization’s leadership, clarity and  accuracy are the most important aspects of production. Secondary considerations are timeliness. If  information is provided after a decision needs to be made, that information is effectively worthless. I  used journey mapping to identify areas where the process could be accelerated or condensed, without  affecting quality.

Selection    Journey mapping is a visualization tool that helps design thinking practitioners understand

“what is” the current state. To create a journey map, I asked workers to describe their work processes  and wrote down each individual activity. Arrows between each activity represent the flow of work.  While all steps are sequential, they do not all begin the moment the previous step ends. Capturing delay  between steps is also an important aspect of journey mapping.

Application    I prefer to start visualization exercises in a physical form: whiteboards, post-it notes, or large

sheets of paper. Whiteboards lower the perceived permanency of ideas, because anything written can  be easily erased or modified. Post-it notes are even better in my experience, because multiple people  can write their ideas simultaneously, and no ideas end up discarded. Large rolls of paper have the  advantage of being easy to set up anywhere, and easy to transport afterwards, but participants are  sometimes hesitant to write half-formed ideas for fear of ruining what’s already been diagrammed.  Whatever physical representation is chosen to initiate the visualization exercise, converting it to a digital  format is important for archiving and referencing in the future. Powerpoint is my choice for digitizing  journey maps.

Insight    I conducted an hour-long meeting with the relevant subject matter experts, and produced a

current state map of the production process. We compared this actual state to an ideal production  workflow, and some insights emerged. We were conducting some quality checks too late in the process,  which required corrections to flow backward through multiple steps. This wasted time and effort could  be eliminated fairly easily by re-ordering our order of operations. Implementing these steps did not  speed up the normal workflow process, but it did significantly improve how quickly defects could be  corrected.

Alternative Approach    An alternative approach I could have used was to ask production workers what their ideal

journey map would look like, essentially doing a clean-sheet redesign instead of an incremental  improvement. This approach is attractive to me because of the potential for exponential improvement,  but clean-sheet design is very disruptive to existing business practice. Unless there is a clear need to do  so, or a need is created, disruptive innovation will not be the first choice for many business managers.  That said, journey mapping is a useful tool for all types of innovative efforts.


Challenge The challenge I applied design thinking to was report production within my office workgroup . The procedure for generating a report involves compiling and processing data , analyzing and interpreting it to derive meaning , then synthesizing the results into an easy to understand report . Because these reports are the basis of strategic decisions by my organization ’s leadership , clarity and accuracy are the most important aspects of production . Secondary considerations are timeliness . If information is provided after a decision needs to be made , that information is effectively worthless . I used journey mapping to identify areas where the process could be accelerated or condensed , without affecting quality . Selection Journey mapping is a visualization tool that helps design thinking practitioners understand “ what is ” the current state . To create a journey map , I asked workers to describe their work processes and wrote down each individual activity . Arrows between each activity represent the flow of work . While all steps are sequential , they do not all begin the moment the previous step ends . Capturing delay between steps is also an important aspect of journey mapping . Application I prefer to start visualization exercises in a physical form : whiteboards , post - it notes , or large sheets of paper . Whiteboards lower the perceived permanency of ideas , because anything written can be easily erased or modified . Post - it notes are even better in my experience , because multiple people can write their ideas simultaneously , and no ideas end up discarded . Large rolls of paper have the advantage of being easy to set up anywhere , and easy to transport afterwards , but participants are sometimes hesitant to write half - formed ideas for fear of ruining what ’s already been diagrammed . Whatever physical representation is chosen to initiate the visualization exercise , converting it to a digital format is important for archiving and referencing in the future . Powerpoint is my choice for digitizing journey maps . Insight I conducted an hour - long meeting with the relevant subject matter experts , and produced a current state map of the production process . We compared this actual state to an ideal production workflow , and some insights emerged . We were conducting some quality checks too late in the process , which required corrections to flow backward through multiple steps . This wasted time and effort could be eliminated fairly easily by re - ordering our order of operations . Implementing these steps did not speed up the normal workflow process , but it did significantly improve how quickly defects could be corrected . Alternative Approach An alternative approach I could have used was to ask production workers what their ideal journey map would look like , essentially doing a clean - sheet redesign instead of an incremental improvement . This approach is attractive to me because of the potential for exponential improvement , but clean - sheet design is very disruptive to existing business practice . Unless there is a clear need to do so , or a need is created , disruptive innovation will not be the first choice for many business managers . That said , journey mapping is a useful tool for all types of innovative efforts .