Assignment : Reflection using Mind Mapping as a design thinking tool 

 Challenge : 

 I work as a user experience consultant where I try to make better human experiences . My solutions are   primarily towards digital and interactive applications which have complex and inter - connected   processes . These applications are often at an enterprise level which touch upon various diverse groups   of individuals and teams and each having one or more roles . I would like to talk about such an   assignment that I ’m working on currently . It involves designing a consumer marketing platform for a   global publishing organization . 

 While engaging with the different groups of users , it was evident that the team as a whole is clear that   they need a comprehensive platform but are unable to envision a holistic solution to make it happen .   There is a lot of data that is produced , processed and further refined in the different processes that they   do . Different groups have their own indigenous way of managing their processes which leads to a siloed   approach where more than 60 % of the tasks are being done in an offline fashion . Duplication of data ,   results in version control and consistency issues leading to errors which in turn lead to business loss . 

 There is strong need to find common touchpoints , identify the hand - offs and create a standard ,   consistent and user - friendly process which provides a better experience . 

 Selection : 

 In the session on Mind Mapping in the Module 3 , the formal definition is provided as : “ Mind mapping is   looking for patterns and insights in a large quantity of data you collected during your exploration of what   is the current reality . The goal is to establish criteria for the what - if idea generation phase . Which comes   next . ” 

 Borrowing on the same , I decided to use Mind Mapping as the tool for applying design thinking to this   problem solving for seeking “ what is ? ” . It was clear that there is a lot of data being handled , a lot of data   points which keep repeating or used with different names . It becomes essential to discover and identify   the key building blocks , different processes associated with them , the intents and their individual   journeys and assimilate them further to refine and arrive at a required solution . Adoption of mind   mapping , will help me to identify the patterns which could help in identifying the common touchpoints   across the different building blocks and how one block is connected to the other . It would also help me   to understand if the output from one could lead to being the input for the other and if yes , how does it   evolve and connect with each other to create the required journey ribbon for this application . 

 Application : 

 To start with , I set up initial discussions , with the different groups , separately , to gather different data   points . I asked the groups to share their respective data points and how they define them . I also asked   them identify the core building blocks that they perceive and where their individual processes fit in .   Once I received the various inputs , I invited them to a joint workshop for a mind mapping exercise   through a card - sorting process . Based on the initial assimilation and pre - workshop activity , I provided 

 indicative names for the different building blocks that would constitute this overall application . I had   also created small post - it notes for each of the data points that the various groups had shared with me .   During this joint session , I requested each of the groups to come to the white board and paste the post- it data points to the closest logical building block they felt it could be associated to . They were free to   add more post - it notes , based on what they found , could have been missed out . 

 Post this exercise , the groups were surprised to see that they seemed to have same data points but   called them differently . They were also able to see how the different blocks could possibly be connected   and how they could engage better . The below image is one of the rough whiteboarding exercise arrived   at , post the mapping exercise . 

 It also helped to identify and define the journey across the different stages and the processes and where   the output of one , was leading to be input for the other , as shown below : 

 The Mind Mapping tool used here , seemed to be effective to a large extent and helped to achieve the   goal of identifying and mapping the similar data points and establishing a high - level relationship   between the various blocks . So it helped to address the “ What is ? ” aspect . 

 Insight : 

 The mind mapping tool has been effective to this requirement as it clearly helped to gather the various   datapoints , collate in the required groups , create a relationship and structure within each of the core   blocks . It also helped to easily connect the different dots as it is more creative , more visual , and more   engaging . It ’s a great team building exercise too with a very strategic intent which can bring in an   effective solution between siloed groups within the same organization working for a common larger   goal . It helped to identify the required hierarchy of the information and the data within the larger   structure and within the building blocks . It also helped to create the initial framework for the required   information architecture at an application level . 

 Approach : 

 While the Mind Mapping tool was useful to achieve some of the goals from “ What is ? ” perspective , we   did run into smaller situations where the different users had different perceptions of how it should flow   from one process to other as each group had a different visual model on it . I feel that one single tool   may not be effective as much as augmenting another tool with the primary one . 

 Along with Mind Mapping as the primary tool , Visualization , from Module 1 , as the secondary tool   would be a great combination for this exercise that I did . Visualization would help to draw the different   flows and then overlap one over the other to show the similarities and synergies between the different   processes . It would also help to build a better visual diagram of the how different roles within these   different processes handle the same data but at different stages of the overall flow . Representing similar   or connected blocks with same colors   would help to identify similar groups of users and how they can   think and work collectively for that piece application and reduce redundant steps or data points . It   would also help to bring in another dimension such as similar roles across the different groups and help   study that pattern as well . 


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: Assignment : Reflection using Mind Mapping as a design thinking tool 

 Challenge : 

 I work as a user experience consultant where I try to make better human experiences . My solutions are   primarily towards digital and interactive applications which have complex and inter - connected   processes . These applications are often at an enterprise level which touch upon various diverse groups   of individuals and teams and each having one or more roles . I would like to talk about such an   assignment that I ’m working on currently . It involves designing a consumer marketing platform for a   global publishing organization . 

 While engaging with the different groups of users , it was evident that the team as a whole is clear that   they need a comprehensive platform but are unable to envision a holistic solution to make it happen .   There is a lot of data that is produced , processed and further refined in the different processes that they   do . Different groups have their own indigenous way of managing their processes which leads to a siloed   approach where more than 60 % of the tasks are being done in an offline fashion . Duplication of data ,   results in version control and consistency issues leading to errors which in turn lead to business loss . 

 There is strong need to find common touchpoints , identify the hand - offs and create a standard ,   consistent and user - friendly process which provides a better experience . 

 Selection : 

 In the session on Mind Mapping in the Module 3 , the formal definition is provided as : “ Mind mapping is   looking for patterns and insights in a large quantity of data you collected during your exploration of what   is the current reality . The goal is to establish criteria for the what - if idea generation phase . Which comes   next . ” 

 Borrowing on the same , I decided to use Mind Mapping as the tool for applying design thinking to this   problem solving for seeking “ what is ? ” . It was clear that there is a lot of data being handled , a lot of data   points which keep repeating or used with different names . It becomes essential to discover and identify   the key building blocks , different processes associated with them , the intents and their individual   journeys and assimilate them further to refine and arrive at a required solution . Adoption of mind   mapping , will help me to identify the patterns which could help in identifying the common touchpoints   across the different building blocks and how one block is connected to the other . It would also help me   to understand if the output from one could lead to being the input for the other and if yes , how does it   evolve and connect with each other to create the required journey ribbon for this application . 

 Application : 

 To start with , I set up initial discussions , with the different groups , separately , to gather different data   points . I asked the groups to share their respective data points and how they define them . I also asked   them identify the core building blocks that they perceive and where their individual processes fit in .   Once I received the various inputs , I invited them to a joint workshop for a mind mapping exercise   through a card - sorting process . Based on the initial assimilation and pre - workshop activity , I provided 

 indicative names for the different building blocks that would constitute this overall application . I had   also created small post - it notes for each of the data points that the various groups had shared with me .   During this joint session , I requested each of the groups to come to the white board and paste the post- it data points to the closest logical building block they felt it could be associated to . They were free to   add more post - it notes , based on what they found , could have been missed out . 

 Post this exercise , the groups were surprised to see that they seemed to have same data points but   called them differently . They were also able to see how the different blocks could possibly be connected   and how they could engage better . The below image is one of the rough whiteboarding exercise arrived   at , post the mapping exercise . 

 It also helped to identify and define the journey across the different stages and the processes and where   the output of one , was leading to be input for the other , as shown below : 

 The Mind Mapping tool used here , seemed to be effective to a large extent and helped to achieve the   goal of identifying and mapping the similar data points and establishing a high - level relationship   between the various blocks . So it helped to address the “ What is ? ” aspect . 

 Insight : 

 The mind mapping tool has been effective to this requirement as it clearly helped to gather the various   datapoints , collate in the required groups , create a relationship and structure within each of the core   blocks . It also helped to easily connect the different dots as it is more creative , more visual , and more   engaging . It ’s a great team building exercise too with a very strategic intent which can bring in an   effective solution between siloed groups within the same organization working for a common larger   goal . It helped to identify the required hierarchy of the information and the data within the larger   structure and within the building blocks . It also helped to create the initial framework for the required   information architecture at an application level . 

 Approach : 

 While the Mind Mapping tool was useful to achieve some of the goals from “ What is ? ” perspective , we   did run into smaller situations where the different users had different perceptions of how it should flow   from one process to other as each group had a different visual model on it . I feel that one single tool   may not be effective as much as augmenting another tool with the primary one . 

 Along with Mind Mapping as the primary tool , Visualization , from Module 1 , as the secondary tool   would be a great combination for this exercise that I did . Visualization would help to draw the different   flows and then overlap one over the other to show the similarities and synergies between the different   processes . It would also help to build a better visual diagram of the how different roles within these   different processes handle the same data but at different stages of the overall flow . Representing similar   or connected blocks with same colors   would help to identify similar groups of users and how they can   think and work collectively for that piece application and reduce redundant steps or data points . It   would also help to bring in another dimension such as similar roles across the different groups and help   study that pattern as well .
### Output: 