Assignment :    Visualization   Reflection    Submitted   by :   Nadine Born    Course :    Design   Thinking   for   Innovation      Trail   Challenge :   To   Build   or   Not   to   Build      An   environmental   charity   wanted   to   conduct   a   fundraising   campaign   to   raise   $ 4   million   to   build   a    public   path   in   a   busy   tourist   area   of   a   small   town   in   British   Columbia ,   Canada .   They   had   been   gifted   a    large   piece   of   land   by   a   local   landowner ,   which   was   a   substantial   gift   and   prevented   them   from    needing   to   purchase   the   land ,   however ,   they   still   needed   to   raise   a   large   amount   of   money   in   order   to    pay   for   the   supplies   and   labor   to   build   the   trail .       Even   though   the   local   community   appeared   to   be   supportive   of   the   trail ,   they   could   not   provide    enough   money   from   private   donations   to   build   it .   If   the   summer   vacation   property   owners   did   not    provide   some   funding ,   then   there   was   a   strong   possibility   that   they   would   not   raise   enough   money   to    complete   the   trail .   The   charity   did   not   know   if   the   community   as   a   whole   would   support   the   project    and   needed   to   conduct   testing   with   key   influencers   and   potential   donors   to   gauge   their   interest .    Building   the   trail   without   testing   the   support   first   was   too   risky   because   the   charity   did   not   have    enough   money   in   reserve   to   cover   the   cost   of   the   trail   if   the   fundraising   efforts   were   not   successful .       Tool   Selection :   Visualization      Visualization   is   the   process   of   “ assembling   scattered   ideas   into   a   compelling   story   that   can   generate    vivid   mental   images ”   ( Designing   for   Growth ,   p49 ) .    As   the   consultant   for   the   study ,   I   chose    visualization   because   the   charity   had   a   firm   concept   of   why   they   needed   the   trail ,   how   it   would    benefit   the   town ,   and   how   much   it   would   cost   but   needed   a   persuasive   way   to   tie   it   all   together .   The    business   case   for   the   project   was   strong   but   without   a   tool   to   help   them   illustrate   how   the   trail   would    positively   impact   the   residents ,   there   was   little   chance   people   would   donate   enough   to   meet   the    budget .   We   needed   a   tool   that   provided   a   “ head   and   heart ”   message   to   convince   people   to   support    the   project .   Visualization   provided   the   perfect   combination   of   key   messaging ,   beautiful   photography ,    architectural   renderings ,   safety   data ,   and   budget   criteria   to   create   the   vision   for   the   project   in   an    easy‐to‐read   document   that   was   only   four   pages   in   length .   Visualization   allowed   us   to   describe   the    urgent   and   compelling   need   for   the   trail   in   a   succinct   and   tangible   way .       Application      Once   we   drafted   the   vision   document ,   we   worked   with   the   charity   to   identify   a   list   of   people   whose    opinion   would   be   important   to   the   success   ( or   failure )   of   the   fundraising   campaign .   The   list   included    past   and   potential   donors ,   key   influencers   in   the   community   such   as   large   landowners   and   business    owners ,   affluent   summer‐only   residents ,   and   elected   officials .   We   requested   one‐hour   meetings   with    all   of   the   people   on   the   list .   If   people   did   not   want   to   meet   with   us   in   person ,   which   was   often   the 

 case   with   the   part‐time   residents ,   we   offered   to   conduct   the   meetings   by   phone .   When   someone    agreed   to   meet   with   us ,   we   emailed   them   the   vision   document   so   they   could   read   it   in   advance   and    prepare   their   questions .   This   created   a   good   environment   for   an   informed   and   candid   dialogue .      While   the   scheduling   of   the   interviews   was   in   progress ,   we   designed   a   questionnaire   to   guide   our    discussions .   Consistently   using   the   questionnaire   ensured   that   we   covered   the   same   questions   with   all    the   interviewees .   The   goal   was   to   speak   with   20   –   25   key   influencers   in   the   community   and   gauge    their   interest   in ,   or   opposition   to ,   supporting   the   fundraising   efforts   for   the   trail   as   either   donors   or    campaign   volunteers   or   both .   We   successfully   met   with   24   interviewees   and   compiled   the   feedback    into   a   summary   report   along   with   recommendations   for   the   charity .   The   entire   process   took   three    months .      Insight      Fundraising   and   design   thinking   both   require   a   willingness   to   adapt   and   fail   fast .   Good   fundraisers   are    responsive   to   their   donors   and   design   thinking   serves   as   the   perfect   platform   to   plan   and   launch   new    fundraising   initiatives ;   it   is   an   ideal   methodology   for   solving   complex   philanthropic   issues .   We   are   not    formally   taught   design   thinking   models   in   fundraising   classes   but   they   should   be   added   to   the    curriculum .       Although   it   is   not   explicitly   stated   in   the   course   videos ,   it   occurred   to   me   that   both   fundraising   and    design   thinking   are   rooted   in   communication   and   relationships   and   both   are   iterative   processes   based    on   testing   and   investigation .   The   elusive   synergy   between   art   and   science   is   as   beautifully   illustrated    by   design   thinking   as   it   is   as   inherent   in   daily   fundraising   practice .        Improvements   for   Next   Time      Visualization   was   an   effective   tool   in   this   circumstance   and   I   would   use   it   again   in   a   similar   situation .    However ,   it   would   also   be   enlightening   to   create   a   journey   map   with   a   wide   spectrum   of   people   from    the   town   because   there   were   many   assumptions   made   during   the   visualization   process   about   how   the    trail   would   be   used   and   what   benefits   would   be   desired   by   the   tourists ,   local   public ,   and   sponsors .    Journey   mapping   would   have   confirmed   the   validity   of   those   assumptions   and   supplemented   the   data    gathered   during   the   interviews .       The   other   tool   that   I   would   use   next   time   in   conjunction   with   visualization   is   storytelling .   I   would   take    someone ’s   first   hand   account   of   the   situation   and   create   a   short   video   to   showcase   the   urgency   of   the    project   or   program   from   his / her   perspective .   A   link   to   the   video   would   be   included   in   the   email   about    the   interview   along   with   a   PDF   of   the   vision   document .   I   think   this   would   provide   a   holistic   micro   and    macro   perspective   to   the   exercise   and   spark   some   interesting   conversations   in   the   interviews . 


EMAIL: 
ID_NUM: 
NAME_STUDENT: Nadine Born
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: Assignment :    Visualization   Reflection    Submitted   by :   Nadine Born    Course :    Design   Thinking   for   Innovation      Trail   Challenge :   To   Build   or   Not   to   Build      An   environmental   charity   wanted   to   conduct   a   fundraising   campaign   to   raise   $ 4   million   to   build   a    public   path   in   a   busy   tourist   area   of   a   small   town   in   British   Columbia ,   Canada .   They   had   been   gifted   a    large   piece   of   land   by   a   local   landowner ,   which   was   a   substantial   gift   and   prevented   them   from    needing   to   purchase   the   land ,   however ,   they   still   needed   to   raise   a   large   amount   of   money   in   order   to    pay   for   the   supplies   and   labor   to   build   the   trail .       Even   though   the   local   community   appeared   to   be   supportive   of   the   trail ,   they   could   not   provide    enough   money   from   private   donations   to   build   it .   If   the   summer   vacation   property   owners   did   not    provide   some   funding ,   then   there   was   a   strong   possibility   that   they   would   not   raise   enough   money   to    complete   the   trail .   The   charity   did   not   know   if   the   community   as   a   whole   would   support   the   project    and   needed   to   conduct   testing   with   key   influencers   and   potential   donors   to   gauge   their   interest .    Building   the   trail   without   testing   the   support   first   was   too   risky   because   the   charity   did   not   have    enough   money   in   reserve   to   cover   the   cost   of   the   trail   if   the   fundraising   efforts   were   not   successful .       Tool   Selection :   Visualization      Visualization   is   the   process   of   “ assembling   scattered   ideas   into   a   compelling   story   that   can   generate    vivid   mental   images ”   ( Designing   for   Growth ,   p49 ) .    As   the   consultant   for   the   study ,   I   chose    visualization   because   the   charity   had   a   firm   concept   of   why   they   needed   the   trail ,   how   it   would    benefit   the   town ,   and   how   much   it   would   cost   but   needed   a   persuasive   way   to   tie   it   all   together .   The    business   case   for   the   project   was   strong   but   without   a   tool   to   help   them   illustrate   how   the   trail   would    positively   impact   the   residents ,   there   was   little   chance   people   would   donate   enough   to   meet   the    budget .   We   needed   a   tool   that   provided   a   “ head   and   heart ”   message   to   convince   people   to   support    the   project .   Visualization   provided   the   perfect   combination   of   key   messaging ,   beautiful   photography ,    architectural   renderings ,   safety   data ,   and   budget   criteria   to   create   the   vision   for   the   project   in   an    easy‐to‐read   document   that   was   only   four   pages   in   length .   Visualization   allowed   us   to   describe   the    urgent   and   compelling   need   for   the   trail   in   a   succinct   and   tangible   way .       Application      Once   we   drafted   the   vision   document ,   we   worked   with   the   charity   to   identify   a   list   of   people   whose    opinion   would   be   important   to   the   success   ( or   failure )   of   the   fundraising   campaign .   The   list   included    past   and   potential   donors ,   key   influencers   in   the   community   such   as   large   landowners   and   business    owners ,   affluent   summer‐only   residents ,   and   elected   officials .   We   requested   one‐hour   meetings   with    all   of   the   people   on   the   list .   If   people   did   not   want   to   meet   with   us   in   person ,   which   was   often   the 

 case   with   the   part‐time   residents ,   we   offered   to   conduct   the   meetings   by   phone .   When   someone    agreed   to   meet   with   us ,   we   emailed   them   the   vision   document   so   they   could   read   it   in   advance   and    prepare   their   questions .   This   created   a   good   environment   for   an   informed   and   candid   dialogue .      While   the   scheduling   of   the   interviews   was   in   progress ,   we   designed   a   questionnaire   to   guide   our    discussions .   Consistently   using   the   questionnaire   ensured   that   we   covered   the   same   questions   with   all    the   interviewees .   The   goal   was   to   speak   with   20   –   25   key   influencers   in   the   community   and   gauge    their   interest   in ,   or   opposition   to ,   supporting   the   fundraising   efforts   for   the   trail   as   either   donors   or    campaign   volunteers   or   both .   We   successfully   met   with   24   interviewees   and   compiled   the   feedback    into   a   summary   report   along   with   recommendations   for   the   charity .   The   entire   process   took   three    months .      Insight      Fundraising   and   design   thinking   both   require   a   willingness   to   adapt   and   fail   fast .   Good   fundraisers   are    responsive   to   their   donors   and   design   thinking   serves   as   the   perfect   platform   to   plan   and   launch   new    fundraising   initiatives ;   it   is   an   ideal   methodology   for   solving   complex   philanthropic   issues .   We   are   not    formally   taught   design   thinking   models   in   fundraising   classes   but   they   should   be   added   to   the    curriculum .       Although   it   is   not   explicitly   stated   in   the   course   videos ,   it   occurred   to   me   that   both   fundraising   and    design   thinking   are   rooted   in   communication   and   relationships   and   both   are   iterative   processes   based    on   testing   and   investigation .   The   elusive   synergy   between   art   and   science   is   as   beautifully   illustrated    by   design   thinking   as   it   is   as   inherent   in   daily   fundraising   practice .        Improvements   for   Next   Time      Visualization   was   an   effective   tool   in   this   circumstance   and   I   would   use   it   again   in   a   similar   situation .    However ,   it   would   also   be   enlightening   to   create   a   journey   map   with   a   wide   spectrum   of   people   from    the   town   because   there   were   many   assumptions   made   during   the   visualization   process   about   how   the    trail   would   be   used   and   what   benefits   would   be   desired   by   the   tourists ,   local   public ,   and   sponsors .    Journey   mapping   would   have   confirmed   the   validity   of   those   assumptions   and   supplemented   the   data    gathered   during   the   interviews .       The   other   tool   that   I   would   use   next   time   in   conjunction   with   visualization   is   storytelling .   I   would   take    someone ’s   first   hand   account   of   the   situation   and   create   a   short   video   to   showcase   the   urgency   of   the    project   or   program   from   his / her   perspective .   A   link   to   the   video   would   be   included   in   the   email   about    the   interview   along   with   a   PDF   of   the   vision   document .   I   think   this   would   provide   a   holistic   micro   and    macro   perspective   to   the   exercise   and   spark   some   interesting   conversations   in   the   interviews .
### Output: 