Reflection – Visualization 

 Challenge and Selection   I was tasked with conducting user research among migraine sufferers for one of the pharmaceutical   / healthcare company . The company was intending to reach out to consumers with a remedy for   migraine episodes . The company approached us with a key question – With a wide array of over - the- counter ( OTC ) and prescribed pain medications available in the market , how do we cut through the   noise and become the preferred and effective choice of remedy for migraine sufferers ? Among the   initial stakeholder discussions with the client , it became evident that the client team had very little   idea of what a migraine sufferer goes through during an episode . During these discussions , we   realized that two reasons contributed largely to this problem – ( 1 ) With the ailment being relatively   undiscovered and unknown ( in terms of exact triggers / causes , conclusive list of symptoms and   targeted remedies ) most of the diagnoses and treatments available in the market are based on   healthcare professionals ’ understanding of the sufferer condition ; ( 2 ) Secondly , because of the   sufferer ’s inability to accurately distinguish between a usual headache and a migraine episode , their   fears of others trivializing a migraine condition ( e.g. You ’re over - reacting , it ’s just a headache ! ) ,   sufferers usually find it difficult to express and describe their ailment , which in turn causes   healthcare professionals to rely on the sufferer ’s narrative subjectivity in determining a migraine   diagnosis .     We proposed having one - on - one discussions with chronic migraine sufferers to understand their   experiences of living with a migraine condition . This approach was proposed to ensure that they are   completely immersed in the discussion and have a comfortable level of privacy without the fear of   judgement .     The need for visualization arose during this exercise in two places for us , namely ( i ) to understand   how consumers describe their pain experiences ( each individual pain journey is different ) , whether   through obvious cues or metaphorical elicitations ( ii ) to enable healthcare professionals to identify   and flag out physiologically manifested symptoms to conduct a more accurate diagnoses of and   prescription for migraine . The next section elaborates on the visualization techniques used by us in   this exercise .     Application   The first instance of visualization was needed during the sufferer interviews . Prior to inviting them   for one - on - one interactions , we asked them to maintain a journal for a few days where they needed   to describe their most recent migraine episode . We asked them to create a pain journey ( i.e. from   first signs / symptoms to the remedy ) . In this creation , we asked them to express their pain through   visual and verbal metaphors , i.e. use images , videos and words to describe how they felt during a   migraine attack . Once the sufferer came in for a one - on - one discussion , we had their journal handy   for the interaction . We then asked the sufferer to explain to us what he / she meant when they used   certain imagery or words to describe their pain . The sufferer was able to describe their experience in   much more depth than just a mere basic description ( e.g. It ’s a headache / It ’s a severe headache ) .   Through this exercise , we unearthed varied daily life metaphors ( e.g. like a hammer to the head , like   a barbed wire around your head , like a bunch of pins piercing through the eyes ) that people used to   describe their experience with pain ( i.e. the consumer ‘ speak ’ ) .     The second instance of visualization in this project was needed when we needed to communicate   the physiologically manifested symptoms of the condition to the client , who will in turn use these to   create education among the channel partners , i.e. healthcare community . Once we gained enough   knowledge from the user interviews , we created various “ pain experiences ” for the client to   understand what a sufferer goes through during a migraine episode . We found out from the 

 sufferers that a vast variety of symptoms are manifested through the body – excruciating pain in the   neck / shoulder area , cold sweats , blurred vision , extreme sensitivity to lights / sounds , pinching pains   on the scalp region , drudged feet movement etc . Leveraging on this knowledge from the sufferer ,   we created specific “ pain apparatus ” to educate the client on the intensities of these experiences in   a migraine pain journey . Some of the apparatus that we created were neck / shoulder pads with small   weights in them , eye glasses with fish - eye lens or blurry lens , hats with blunt pins and small pebbles   stuck on the inside for contact with scalp , eye glasses with LED bulbs facing the eyes , ankle   resistance weights . During the workshop with the client , we made the client ’s team experience these   “ apparatus ” for them to understand these highly localized and excruciating pain experiences of the   sufferer .     Insights & Value - addition   Through these visualization tools , the client was ultimately much closer in understanding migraine as   an ailment .   With the metaphor elicitations of pain experiences from the sufferers , the client was able to advise   their communication partners to develop the content of consumer communications using these and   similar other metaphors . In a category with straightforward pain - to - relief communications , the client   was able to understand how to bring themselves closer to consumers through communications that   that show empathy towards migraine sufferers ’ predicaments in fighting this battle alone . For   example , an image showing hammer to the head or a punch to the temple helps the consumer to   relate more to the product and the brand ( from a consumer point of view , this brand exactly knows   what I am going through during migraine ) , as compared to a straight , bland and a transactional tone   of communication . Furthermore , such metaphors were not only used to communicate product- based communication but also for the client brand to champion the cause against migraine , raise   awareness and create education for migraine conditions and take efforts to eliminate any biases and   judgements against sufferers and their general efficacy at life .     With the “ pain apparatus ” , we helped the client get a closer understanding the sufferer by being in   their shoes during a migraine attack . With these experiences in mind , the client , internally within   their R&D and product teams , can effectively understand sufferers as people ( as opposed to just   sales targets or subjects for the remedies ) . We also proposed the client to develop migraine   detection kits for general physicians and pharmacists using these apparatuses , so that they can   educate themselves , their staff and their consumers on the disorder and make the process of   migraine condition detection timely and accurate . The pain medication category largely works on a   professional prescription and/or influence and this would help to create a top - of - mind recall for the   brand in their prescriptions , thus effectively engaging the channel and thereby the consumers with   the brand .     Thus , I realized that visualization is a very powerful tool in terms of design thinking . Had it not been   for visualization in this exercise , the pain medication would have been “ just another product ” that   follows the usual , run - off - the - mill value- and supply - chains in the category and may or may not end   up with the consumer depending on the usual transactional impetuses ( e.g. channel incentives , price   margins ) provided in this chain . 


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 – Visualization 

 Challenge and Selection   I was tasked with conducting user research among migraine sufferers for one of the pharmaceutical   / healthcare company . The company was intending to reach out to consumers with a remedy for   migraine episodes . The company approached us with a key question – With a wide array of over - the- counter ( OTC ) and prescribed pain medications available in the market , how do we cut through the   noise and become the preferred and effective choice of remedy for migraine sufferers ? Among the   initial stakeholder discussions with the client , it became evident that the client team had very little   idea of what a migraine sufferer goes through during an episode . During these discussions , we   realized that two reasons contributed largely to this problem – ( 1 ) With the ailment being relatively   undiscovered and unknown ( in terms of exact triggers / causes , conclusive list of symptoms and   targeted remedies ) most of the diagnoses and treatments available in the market are based on   healthcare professionals ’ understanding of the sufferer condition ; ( 2 ) Secondly , because of the   sufferer ’s inability to accurately distinguish between a usual headache and a migraine episode , their   fears of others trivializing a migraine condition ( e.g. You ’re over - reacting , it ’s just a headache ! ) ,   sufferers usually find it difficult to express and describe their ailment , which in turn causes   healthcare professionals to rely on the sufferer ’s narrative subjectivity in determining a migraine   diagnosis .     We proposed having one - on - one discussions with chronic migraine sufferers to understand their   experiences of living with a migraine condition . This approach was proposed to ensure that they are   completely immersed in the discussion and have a comfortable level of privacy without the fear of   judgement .     The need for visualization arose during this exercise in two places for us , namely ( i ) to understand   how consumers describe their pain experiences ( each individual pain journey is different ) , whether   through obvious cues or metaphorical elicitations ( ii ) to enable healthcare professionals to identify   and flag out physiologically manifested symptoms to conduct a more accurate diagnoses of and   prescription for migraine . The next section elaborates on the visualization techniques used by us in   this exercise .     Application   The first instance of visualization was needed during the sufferer interviews . Prior to inviting them   for one - on - one interactions , we asked them to maintain a journal for a few days where they needed   to describe their most recent migraine episode . We asked them to create a pain journey ( i.e. from   first signs / symptoms to the remedy ) . In this creation , we asked them to express their pain through   visual and verbal metaphors , i.e. use images , videos and words to describe how they felt during a   migraine attack . Once the sufferer came in for a one - on - one discussion , we had their journal handy   for the interaction . We then asked the sufferer to explain to us what he / she meant when they used   certain imagery or words to describe their pain . The sufferer was able to describe their experience in   much more depth than just a mere basic description ( e.g. It ’s a headache / It ’s a severe headache ) .   Through this exercise , we unearthed varied daily life metaphors ( e.g. like a hammer to the head , like   a barbed wire around your head , like a bunch of pins piercing through the eyes ) that people used to   describe their experience with pain ( i.e. the consumer ‘ speak ’ ) .     The second instance of visualization in this project was needed when we needed to communicate   the physiologically manifested symptoms of the condition to the client , who will in turn use these to   create education among the channel partners , i.e. healthcare community . Once we gained enough   knowledge from the user interviews , we created various “ pain experiences ” for the client to   understand what a sufferer goes through during a migraine episode . We found out from the 

 sufferers that a vast variety of symptoms are manifested through the body – excruciating pain in the   neck / shoulder area , cold sweats , blurred vision , extreme sensitivity to lights / sounds , pinching pains   on the scalp region , drudged feet movement etc . Leveraging on this knowledge from the sufferer ,   we created specific “ pain apparatus ” to educate the client on the intensities of these experiences in   a migraine pain journey . Some of the apparatus that we created were neck / shoulder pads with small   weights in them , eye glasses with fish - eye lens or blurry lens , hats with blunt pins and small pebbles   stuck on the inside for contact with scalp , eye glasses with LED bulbs facing the eyes , ankle   resistance weights . During the workshop with the client , we made the client ’s team experience these   “ apparatus ” for them to understand these highly localized and excruciating pain experiences of the   sufferer .     Insights & Value - addition   Through these visualization tools , the client was ultimately much closer in understanding migraine as   an ailment .   With the metaphor elicitations of pain experiences from the sufferers , the client was able to advise   their communication partners to develop the content of consumer communications using these and   similar other metaphors . In a category with straightforward pain - to - relief communications , the client   was able to understand how to bring themselves closer to consumers through communications that   that show empathy towards migraine sufferers ’ predicaments in fighting this battle alone . For   example , an image showing hammer to the head or a punch to the temple helps the consumer to   relate more to the product and the brand ( from a consumer point of view , this brand exactly knows   what I am going through during migraine ) , as compared to a straight , bland and a transactional tone   of communication . Furthermore , such metaphors were not only used to communicate product- based communication but also for the client brand to champion the cause against migraine , raise   awareness and create education for migraine conditions and take efforts to eliminate any biases and   judgements against sufferers and their general efficacy at life .     With the “ pain apparatus ” , we helped the client get a closer understanding the sufferer by being in   their shoes during a migraine attack . With these experiences in mind , the client , internally within   their R&D and product teams , can effectively understand sufferers as people ( as opposed to just   sales targets or subjects for the remedies ) . We also proposed the client to develop migraine   detection kits for general physicians and pharmacists using these apparatuses , so that they can   educate themselves , their staff and their consumers on the disorder and make the process of   migraine condition detection timely and accurate . The pain medication category largely works on a   professional prescription and/or influence and this would help to create a top - of - mind recall for the   brand in their prescriptions , thus effectively engaging the channel and thereby the consumers with   the brand .     Thus , I realized that visualization is a very powerful tool in terms of design thinking . Had it not been   for visualization in this exercise , the pain medication would have been “ just another product ” that   follows the usual , run - off - the - mill value- and supply - chains in the category and may or may not end   up with the consumer depending on the usual transactional impetuses ( e.g. channel incentives , price   margins ) provided in this chain .
### Output: 