Reflection – Mind Mapping 

 The tool I utilized to apply my Design Thinking learning was Mind Mapping .   I needed to better   understand my customers problems and establish the “ Wow ” that would meet their needs , be   achievable economically , and be something that my organization could actually implement .   As   a Customer Success Manager for an Enterprise SaaS solution provider , I work with a small   portfolio of customers to help drive adoption of our service and drive ( and prove ) value to the   customers .   Over the last year , we have released a significant set of new functionality and   features , and my customers were having challenges understanding how to best take advantage   of them while also getting access to appropriate resources and help from our side . 

 Selection 

 Not wanting to jump directly into solutioning that was based on my interpretation of the   problem , I decided that using the Mind Mapping approach would help me take a more creative ,   and customer focused view .   I knew this approach would help expose ideas , challenges ,   emotional impacts , and viewpoints that I could not identify or understand by simply trying to   apply past programs and services . 

 Application 

 I decided to conduct a Mind Mapping exercise / workshop with representation from the   customer , my fellow Customer Success peers at my company , and my organization ’s   department leads that would have a unique viewpoint of the challenges . 

 My plan to apply Mind Mapping to this situation included providing an overview of the process ,   an explanation of why each member was selected , guidance around brainstorming , and   promoting the notion of comfort around expressing ideas and allowing everyone to provide   input . 

 We then utilized a large whiteboard in a conference room to come up with problem statements   and areas where we felt there were gaps or opportunities in how we could provide better   support to the customer .   Then , by using stacks of Post - It notes , everyone was able to   brainstorm ideas on how to address the issues .   Each participant then placed the notes on the   whiteboard near each problem statement as they best thought it would apply .   Even those that   did not fit completely into a category were put on the board , but on the outside areas of the   board . 

 This was a successful exercise in that it allowed the participants to truly listen to and   understand the ideas from various viewpoints versus their own perspective .   It helped open up   conversation and allowed for questions that further exposed why some problems were a higher   priority than others as well as the ones that could be considered “ low hanging fruit ” .   The main   challenge during the exercise was around staying focused on the big picture of what we wanted 

 to solve .   While this approach removed some of the restrictions and preconceptions that would   normally have existed , it was also difficult not to stray too far from the intent of the workshop . 

 Insight 

 I feel that there were several key learnings from the Mind Mapping exercise .   It was an   opportunity to bring people together to unite on a common challenge .   While each member   had a different role and viewpoint , the ultimate goal was to come up with some options that   would be mutually beneficial .   The feedback from the session was positive and many expressed   that it was a fresh approach that helped stimulate ideas .   While some of the ideas were place   on the table , they were also cataloged for future consideration – some even for completely   different challenges unrelated to ours . 

 Approach 

 I believe that the Mind Mapping workshop was a successful approach to an important problem   that existed for both my organization and for our customer .   It saved a significant amount of   time and money since we were able to have a much more accurate understanding of the   problems and the impact of those problems for the customer .   It also provided the opportunity   for people in my organization to get direct customer exposure and hear firsthand about their   challenges .   This alone was worth the effort .   In hindsight , I would have had a better designed   process to capture the final Mind Map graphic beyond taking a photograph .   While this is a   good first step , with an additional participant dedicated to taking notes and re - creating the   whiteboard and Post - It notes within a software application , we could have delivered a more   polished and actionable set of next steps in a more timely manner . 


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: Reflection – Mind Mapping 

 The tool I utilized to apply my Design Thinking learning was Mind Mapping .   I needed to better   understand my customers problems and establish the “ Wow ” that would meet their needs , be   achievable economically , and be something that my organization could actually implement .   As   a Customer Success Manager for an Enterprise SaaS solution provider , I work with a small   portfolio of customers to help drive adoption of our service and drive ( and prove ) value to the   customers .   Over the last year , we have released a significant set of new functionality and   features , and my customers were having challenges understanding how to best take advantage   of them while also getting access to appropriate resources and help from our side . 

 Selection 

 Not wanting to jump directly into solutioning that was based on my interpretation of the   problem , I decided that using the Mind Mapping approach would help me take a more creative ,   and customer focused view .   I knew this approach would help expose ideas , challenges ,   emotional impacts , and viewpoints that I could not identify or understand by simply trying to   apply past programs and services . 

 Application 

 I decided to conduct a Mind Mapping exercise / workshop with representation from the   customer , my fellow Customer Success peers at my company , and my organization ’s   department leads that would have a unique viewpoint of the challenges . 

 My plan to apply Mind Mapping to this situation included providing an overview of the process ,   an explanation of why each member was selected , guidance around brainstorming , and   promoting the notion of comfort around expressing ideas and allowing everyone to provide   input . 

 We then utilized a large whiteboard in a conference room to come up with problem statements   and areas where we felt there were gaps or opportunities in how we could provide better   support to the customer .   Then , by using stacks of Post - It notes , everyone was able to   brainstorm ideas on how to address the issues .   Each participant then placed the notes on the   whiteboard near each problem statement as they best thought it would apply .   Even those that   did not fit completely into a category were put on the board , but on the outside areas of the   board . 

 This was a successful exercise in that it allowed the participants to truly listen to and   understand the ideas from various viewpoints versus their own perspective .   It helped open up   conversation and allowed for questions that further exposed why some problems were a higher   priority than others as well as the ones that could be considered “ low hanging fruit ” .   The main   challenge during the exercise was around staying focused on the big picture of what we wanted 

 to solve .   While this approach removed some of the restrictions and preconceptions that would   normally have existed , it was also difficult not to stray too far from the intent of the workshop . 

 Insight 

 I feel that there were several key learnings from the Mind Mapping exercise .   It was an   opportunity to bring people together to unite on a common challenge .   While each member   had a different role and viewpoint , the ultimate goal was to come up with some options that   would be mutually beneficial .   The feedback from the session was positive and many expressed   that it was a fresh approach that helped stimulate ideas .   While some of the ideas were place   on the table , they were also cataloged for future consideration – some even for completely   different challenges unrelated to ours . 

 Approach 

 I believe that the Mind Mapping workshop was a successful approach to an important problem   that existed for both my organization and for our customer .   It saved a significant amount of   time and money since we were able to have a much more accurate understanding of the   problems and the impact of those problems for the customer .   It also provided the opportunity   for people in my organization to get direct customer exposure and hear firsthand about their   challenges .   This alone was worth the effort .   In hindsight , I would have had a better designed   process to capture the final Mind Map graphic beyond taking a photograph .   While this is a   good first step , with an additional participant dedicated to taking notes and re - creating the   whiteboard and Post - It notes within a software application , we could have delivered a more   polished and actionable set of next steps in a more timely manner .
### Output: 