1 | P a g e 

 Example Reflection – Visualization 

 Challenge 

 A review of Customer Satisfaction newsletter revealed plummeting customer satisfaction ratings , citing   “ billing issues ” as one of the priorities for improvement .   We were running “ blind ” on factors   contributing to the poor billing experience and no visibility existed into the business .   This prompted a   design thinking effort to understand the issue at hand .   Furthermore , the project must deliver a short   term and a long - term solution .   The goal is to deliver the short - term solution no later than 30 business   days and the long - term solution within six months .   To that end , I organized a full day workshop to scope   the initiative and to come up with possible design thinking approaches to solve the issue at hand . 

 Selection 

 As a Business Architect and a Design Manager , I have come to a realization that there is no one “ silver   bullet ” or a one - size fits all tool to tackle design challenges .   Since design thinking problems does not   involve a linear , straightforward approach , I typically use a combination of tools to address real world   problems . 

 I first leveraged the “ Ethnography ” tool1 to get a pulse of customer issues in a quick and economical   way .   I created customer surveys to understand the voice of the customers .   The Verbatim listing from   the customer satisfaction study helped me obtain a good pulse of the customer issues and their   unarticulated needs . As the project progressed , I employed other design thinking tools including   Visualization , Brainstorming , Story Telling and Learning Launch tools . 

 Application and Insight 

 Recognizing that design thinking is not only about processes and questions but also about real people , I   paid close attention particularly to the human dimensions aspect .   To maximize success , I utilized a   learning mindset , leveraged broad repertoire by thinking outside the box and focused my energy   surrounding the customer empathy .   The nuggets gained through the analysis of customer satisfaction   study was a game changer .   From there , I started to understand the customer journey by focusing on   customer issues and their requirements front and center .   Interesting insights then began to emerge . 

 I then used the visualization tool to present the data in a tangible and concrete format .   This enabled the   project team to comprehend and prioritize the problems at hand .   Using the visualization tool , I ranked   the top three ( 3 ) issues based on those attributes that had the biggest impact on customer satisfaction ,   namely , Accuracy of Bills , On Time invoicing , and Average Cycles of late invoices not processed on time . 

 From there , we used the brainstorming tool , a structured technique aimed at idea generation .   We came   up with trigger questions and multiple rounds of silent idea writing to identify potential root causes of   the problem .   This collaborative approach helped us to enhance the quality of the idea generation   significantly .   I then mapped the current state “ as - is ” process and the future state “ to - be ” process with   clear hand - offs from one stakeholder to the next .   I built the Value Stream activities into the process   map and outlined wastes in the process .   This action provided us with the required focus for automating   manual process steps as well as laid the foundation for the business case . 

 1Design Thinking for Innovation Module 3 – The MeYouHealth Story 

 2 | P a g e 

 To address the issues , I spawned a cross - functional project team comprising of service delivery ,   provisioning , billing , software development , sales , and system personnel .   Each member of the cross- functional team focused on the voice of the customers and supported each other in an open   environment .   We knew that there was no blame , just a problem that if resolved would benefit the   company and enhance the customer experience . 

 I facilitated weekly milestone reviews with the project team .   Each member of the team took   accountability for their actions knowing they could make a substantial contribution to the bottom line and   customer satisfaction .   Additionally , they engaged the resources outside their own areas of expertise to   resolve the overall issue . 

 I collected benchmark of billing data to determine the intervals between the average number of days   between customer acceptance and first bill .   I then set milestones for improvement based on that   benchmark .   The project was particularly challenging because the order entry and tracking system did not   feed directly into the billing system .   However , I established action plans with clear timelines , roles and   responsibilities . 

 As a short - term measure , the project team generated weekly reports showing orders reaching customer   acceptance and notice of disconnects for billing team visibility to enable them to generate timely invoices   and disconnect actions .   As a long - term measure , I negotiated approval of a business case for automating   the billing process .   Once I gained approval , I worked with the development team on automation ,   eliminating the necessity for manual searches for first bill date ; or relying upon account managers , sales   staff , or customers to tell billing staff when billing needed to take place .   As the project progressed , it   provided opportunities to educate sales staff on setting appropriate client expectations for billing . 

 The automated process ( long - term measure ) significantly improved billing efficiencies leading to a 58   percent improvement in the number of orders billed within 30 days . This was really the main issue from   the initial customer satisfaction ( verbatim ) study .   Additionally , the company experienced a substantial   reduction in customer dissatisfaction with billing timeliness , as evidenced through a later customer survey   that demonstrated only six percent dissatisfied compared with the benchmark of 18 percent . 

 The use of design thinking as a problem solving approach had a positive impact on the company ’s strategy .    They include , elevated customer experience by improving “ book - to - bill time ” with the timeliness of bills ,   re - established trust thru improved billing efficiencies and improved customer satisfaction , improved   “ order to cash ” cycle times leading to smooth sales cycles for new services going forward and a “ simple   and complete ” billing experience by improving procedures , process , customer satisfaction , and   ultimately the bottom line . 

 Approach 

 As an alternate approach , our team would leverage the “ Learning Launch ” design tool to take advantage   of the inherent strategic opportunity having people , process and technology impacts .   This would help the   team achieve significant pay off by staying in the question and avoid knee jerk reactions .   We would then   search for higher ground by employing Optimization technique , i.e. finding the solution that best exceeds   our customer experience and design needs .   Not to mention , we will take the concept of “ Curation ” to   our hearts to cut through the complexity and find the real nuggets of wisdom .   Overall , future launch 

 3 | P a g e 

 designs would help us understand the business nuances and intricacies and help our team demonstrate   to management the criticality of addressing human centered needs and the sensitivity surrounding it . 


EMAIL: 
ID_NUM: 
NAME_STUDENT: 
PHONE_NUM: 
STREET_ADDRESS: 
URL_PERSONAL: 
USERNAME: 

### Task: You are a PII (Personal Identity Information) Detection. Given a essays written by students, you have to identify ONLY the following:
NAME_STUDENT - The full or partial name of a student that is not necessarily the author of the essay. This excludes instructors, authors, and other person names.
EMAIL - A student’s email address.
USERNAME - A student's username on any platform.
ID_NUM - A number or sequence of characters that could be used to identify a student, such as a student ID or a social security number.
PHONE_NUM - A phone number associated with a student.
URL_PERSONAL - A URL that might be used to identify a student.
STREET_ADDRESS - A full or partial street address that is associated with the student, such as their home address.
### Input: 1 | P a g e 

 Example Reflection – Visualization 

 Challenge 

 A review of Customer Satisfaction newsletter revealed plummeting customer satisfaction ratings , citing   “ billing issues ” as one of the priorities for improvement .   We were running “ blind ” on factors   contributing to the poor billing experience and no visibility existed into the business .   This prompted a   design thinking effort to understand the issue at hand .   Furthermore , the project must deliver a short   term and a long - term solution .   The goal is to deliver the short - term solution no later than 30 business   days and the long - term solution within six months .   To that end , I organized a full day workshop to scope   the initiative and to come up with possible design thinking approaches to solve the issue at hand . 

 Selection 

 As a Business Architect and a Design Manager , I have come to a realization that there is no one “ silver   bullet ” or a one - size fits all tool to tackle design challenges .   Since design thinking problems does not   involve a linear , straightforward approach , I typically use a combination of tools to address real world   problems . 

 I first leveraged the “ Ethnography ” tool1 to get a pulse of customer issues in a quick and economical   way .   I created customer surveys to understand the voice of the customers .   The Verbatim listing from   the customer satisfaction study helped me obtain a good pulse of the customer issues and their   unarticulated needs . As the project progressed , I employed other design thinking tools including   Visualization , Brainstorming , Story Telling and Learning Launch tools . 

 Application and Insight 

 Recognizing that design thinking is not only about processes and questions but also about real people , I   paid close attention particularly to the human dimensions aspect .   To maximize success , I utilized a   learning mindset , leveraged broad repertoire by thinking outside the box and focused my energy   surrounding the customer empathy .   The nuggets gained through the analysis of customer satisfaction   study was a game changer .   From there , I started to understand the customer journey by focusing on   customer issues and their requirements front and center .   Interesting insights then began to emerge . 

 I then used the visualization tool to present the data in a tangible and concrete format .   This enabled the   project team to comprehend and prioritize the problems at hand .   Using the visualization tool , I ranked   the top three ( 3 ) issues based on those attributes that had the biggest impact on customer satisfaction ,   namely , Accuracy of Bills , On Time invoicing , and Average Cycles of late invoices not processed on time . 

 From there , we used the brainstorming tool , a structured technique aimed at idea generation .   We came   up with trigger questions and multiple rounds of silent idea writing to identify potential root causes of   the problem .   This collaborative approach helped us to enhance the quality of the idea generation   significantly .   I then mapped the current state “ as - is ” process and the future state “ to - be ” process with   clear hand - offs from one stakeholder to the next .   I built the Value Stream activities into the process   map and outlined wastes in the process .   This action provided us with the required focus for automating   manual process steps as well as laid the foundation for the business case . 

 1Design Thinking for Innovation Module 3 – The MeYouHealth Story 

 2 | P a g e 

 To address the issues , I spawned a cross - functional project team comprising of service delivery ,   provisioning , billing , software development , sales , and system personnel .   Each member of the cross- functional team focused on the voice of the customers and supported each other in an open   environment .   We knew that there was no blame , just a problem that if resolved would benefit the   company and enhance the customer experience . 

 I facilitated weekly milestone reviews with the project team .   Each member of the team took   accountability for their actions knowing they could make a substantial contribution to the bottom line and   customer satisfaction .   Additionally , they engaged the resources outside their own areas of expertise to   resolve the overall issue . 

 I collected benchmark of billing data to determine the intervals between the average number of days   between customer acceptance and first bill .   I then set milestones for improvement based on that   benchmark .   The project was particularly challenging because the order entry and tracking system did not   feed directly into the billing system .   However , I established action plans with clear timelines , roles and   responsibilities . 

 As a short - term measure , the project team generated weekly reports showing orders reaching customer   acceptance and notice of disconnects for billing team visibility to enable them to generate timely invoices   and disconnect actions .   As a long - term measure , I negotiated approval of a business case for automating   the billing process .   Once I gained approval , I worked with the development team on automation ,   eliminating the necessity for manual searches for first bill date ; or relying upon account managers , sales   staff , or customers to tell billing staff when billing needed to take place .   As the project progressed , it   provided opportunities to educate sales staff on setting appropriate client expectations for billing . 

 The automated process ( long - term measure ) significantly improved billing efficiencies leading to a 58   percent improvement in the number of orders billed within 30 days . This was really the main issue from   the initial customer satisfaction ( verbatim ) study .   Additionally , the company experienced a substantial   reduction in customer dissatisfaction with billing timeliness , as evidenced through a later customer survey   that demonstrated only six percent dissatisfied compared with the benchmark of 18 percent . 

 The use of design thinking as a problem solving approach had a positive impact on the company ’s strategy .    They include , elevated customer experience by improving “ book - to - bill time ” with the timeliness of bills ,   re - established trust thru improved billing efficiencies and improved customer satisfaction , improved   “ order to cash ” cycle times leading to smooth sales cycles for new services going forward and a “ simple   and complete ” billing experience by improving procedures , process , customer satisfaction , and   ultimately the bottom line . 

 Approach 

 As an alternate approach , our team would leverage the “ Learning Launch ” design tool to take advantage   of the inherent strategic opportunity having people , process and technology impacts .   This would help the   team achieve significant pay off by staying in the question and avoid knee jerk reactions .   We would then   search for higher ground by employing Optimization technique , i.e. finding the solution that best exceeds   our customer experience and design needs .   Not to mention , we will take the concept of “ Curation ” to   our hearts to cut through the complexity and find the real nuggets of wisdom .   Overall , future launch 

 3 | P a g e 

 designs would help us understand the business nuances and intricacies and help our team demonstrate   to management the criticality of addressing human centered needs and the sensitivity surrounding it .
### Output: 