1. Challenge: The challenge I have here is the poor patronage of the design and printing service press I own

which offer services of all forms of graphic design and large format printing to diverse individuals in and  around my city. From the onset of the press, business was flourishing and clients were happy with our  services as well as work output which turns out to be what (product) they asked for. Two years down the  lane things began to dwindle; clients no longer showed interest and my workers started feeling reluctant  and lazy.

2. Selection: First tool that popped up when I decided to tackle the issue is mind mapping, so that I could

completely gather and understand that data from all the necessary angles including that of my employees  as well as my clients. Mind mapping is a tool used to look for patterns, insights that lead to a more creative  solutions to your challenges. It allows you to critically look at the problem in order to gather and amass a  huge amount of data for information and insights that can easily be communicated before moving to the  next phase. Generally speaking, mind mapping is basically looking for patterns and insights in the large  quantity data during your exploration of the design problem (what is). I chose mind mapping because it is  more creative, visual, intuitive and more engaging. It helped me represent the mind of my costumers and  employees to understand them better.

3. Application: Basically, I decided to think like an employer first taking into consideration the dwindle in

service and later as a client taking into consideration the decline in better service provision with respect  to timing, accuracy and quality. What I realized was that my employees have become reluctant because  there has not been any sort of motivation and improvement in the working environment after the  successful chucks we have reached. As the company grew, we started having large number of clients and  work but there was no increase in staff to assist and there was no form motivation either verbal or  increase in salary and the working environment became uncomfortable for them so they began to relax  because it felt as though they work for nothing hence the reduction in their provision of quality service.  On the other hand, the clients started feeling unsatisfied because of the low quality they receive as a  result of staff reluctance and the delay in them being attended to due to the large number hence they  had to be in long ques than it was before as a result of the increasing number. They hence began to look  elsewhere.   I therefore began to work towards that by first calling up a meeting with my staff to discuss issues with  them that lead to we coming up with motivation packages and increase in salary as well as plans to  improve the working conditions – expand the building a bit to accommodate the large numbers as well as  the machines and as well install air conditions to reduce the heat they bear during work. As this was done,  they cheered up and began to put in their best and the company started reviving with clients coming back  to use our services.

4. Insight: what I learnt from conducting this exercise is that while you increase your profit and business

margin, one important thing that must be on mind is the welfare of the source (workers) of the success  because once the source is satisfied, your success would be continuous. This challenged me more to be  focused on my staff than the success choked.

5. Approach: I think next time, what I would do differently is to combine another tool like visualization or

story telling to the mind mapping tool in order to expand my creativity zone and achieve a more  experiential result.


1 . Challenge : The challenge I have here is the poor patronage of the design and printing service press I own which offer services of all forms of graphic design and large format printing to diverse individuals in and around my city . From the onset of the press , business was flourishing and clients were happy with our services as well as work output which turns out to be what ( product ) they asked for . Two years down the lane things began to dwindle ; clients no longer showed interest and my workers started feeling reluctant and lazy . 2 . Selection : First tool that popped up when I decided to tackle the issue is mind mapping , so that I could completely gather and understand that data from all the necessary angles including that of my employees as well as my clients . Mind mapping is a tool used to look for patterns , insights that lead to a more creative solutions to your challenges . It allows you to critically look at the problem in order to gather and amass a huge amount of data for information and insights that can easily be communicated before moving to the next phase . Generally speaking , mind mapping is basically looking for patterns and insights in the large quantity data during your exploration of the design problem ( what is ) . I chose mind mapping because it is more creative , visual , intuitive and more engaging . It helped me represent the mind of my costumers and employees to understand them better . 3 . Application : Basically , I decided to think like an employer first taking into consideration the dwindle in service and later as a client taking into consideration the decline in better service provision with respect to timing , accuracy and quality . What I realized was that my employees have become reluctant because there has not been any sort of motivation and improvement in the working environment after the successful chucks we have reached . As the company grew , we started having large number of clients and work but there was no increase in staff to assist and there was no form motivation either verbal or increase in salary and the working environment became uncomfortable for them so they began to relax because it felt as though they work for nothing hence the reduction in their provision of quality service . On the other hand , the clients started feeling unsatisfied because of the low quality they receive as a result of staff reluctance and the delay in them being attended to due to the large number hence they had to be in long ques than it was before as a result of the increasing number . They hence began to look elsewhere . I therefore began to work towards that by first calling up a meeting with my staff to discuss issues with them that lead to we coming up with motivation packages and increase in salary as well as plans to improve the working conditions – expand the building a bit to accommodate the large numbers as well as the machines and as well install air conditions to reduce the heat they bear during work . As this was done , they cheered up and began to put in their best and the company started reviving with clients coming back to use our services . 4 . Insight : what I learnt from conducting this exercise is that while you increase your profit and business margin , one important thing that must be on mind is the welfare of the source ( workers ) of the success because once the source is satisfied , your success would be continuous . This challenged me more to be focused on my staff than the success choked . 5 . Approach : I think next time , what I would do differently is to combine another tool like visualization or story telling to the mind mapping tool in order to expand my creativity zone and achieve a more experiential result .