Reflection : Visualization 

 Challenge : 

 The challenge at hand was to optimize the discussions we had as partners who were running a   fairly small scale ecommerce business . To be more specific , it was apparent to us that we were   not on the same page when it came to which products we ought to sell or the amounts in which   we should purchase these items from the wholesalers . As the budget we had was always strictly   limited , we needed to choose items very wisely since one wrong decision would mean roughly   zero profits and moreover , high risk of irreversible loss in the particular month . 

 Selection : 

 The tool that I chose to apply and talk about is the tool of Visualization . I utilized visualization to   consolidate and present my views and the relevant supporting data in a neat manner that is easy   to swallow . I used parallelly placed flowcharts that illustrated the data points in a simple manner .   Each flowchart was based on one of the partner ’s suggestions and hence having all of them side   by side enabled us to really look at the situation from a ‘ big picture ’ perspective . One could easily   see the point the other was trying to make and fusing certain ideas was easier since the whole   process was divided into chunks or blocks that could conveniently be picked up and placed into   another flowchart . Details such as the importance of any block could be easily highlighted and   discussed and unnecessary bits could be discarded without disrupting the entire process since   one could clearly see the relationship between said elements . 

 Application : 

 The process began by simply gathering data . A list was created of the 50 most sold items on   various sites such as Alibaba where we usually source our inventory from . Using basic web   scraping , we grabbed information regarding the items that were currently popular . After this   collection of data , we calculate the overall popularity of items across the sites by merging the lists   and then creating a new overall top 50 list . Similarly , such lists were also created focusing on   other parameters or metrics such as the estimated projection of profit we could expect from a   particular item or product by comparing the selling price on our source sites and the price our   competitors were currently offering the item at . This too was done utilizing simple web scraping . 

 Based on this resultant data sheets , the partner would pour through the information individually   and try to come up with the best distribution of products they can come up with that they believe   would fetch us maximum profits . The entire process for each of the distribution would be   represented using exhaustive flow charts that described the entire flow in blocks or chunks .   These also included the final investment amount we would require to pay and the projected   revenue and profit we could hope to gain by following a certain distribution . Since the suggestion   were clearly based on concrete data , the number of arguments that occurred decreased sharply .   The partners felt a sense of security knowing that the final decisions taken were fairly safe bets   and this motivated them to work more diligently through the entire execution of the process . 

 Insight : 

 A few facts have become extremely clear to me after I used the tool as discussed . Human beings   are visual creature in the sense they rely heavily on the visual part of things as compared to   other senses . Therefore , things get very much more convenient when people can ‘ see ’ things   precisely the way you want them to . In most cases , due to the fact that we as internally picture   things differently as per our own intellect , understanding , past experiences , etc . there is almost 

 always a significant loss of information during communication due to this translation . Therefore , it   makes complete sense to use visualization to try to push the ideas or points across as effectively   and efficiently as possible . This improved clarity of the matter at hand leads to idea stimulation in   the right direction due to decrease in unnecessary confusion as everyone is somewhat on the   same page . Visualization is a core component of how communication takes place ; we capture   complex things , picture the results and come up with new possibilities that would otherwise   remain hidden from us . 

 Approach : 

 I am quite fascinated by how well things unfolded after we chose to use visualization . Our profits   increased by an average of 9.7 percent in the last three months , and I am certain it will increase   further as we grow and sharpen our process further . In the future I will try and apply the tool of   mind mapping as I think that is quite closely related to visualization and will give us better overall   results . As we learned in this course , mind mapping is known to be a really powerful tool a   design thinker has access to . I understand that it shall help we look for patterns and extract   meaningful insights so that I can come up with more effective solutions . 


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 : 

 The challenge at hand was to optimize the discussions we had as partners who were running a   fairly small scale ecommerce business . To be more specific , it was apparent to us that we were   not on the same page when it came to which products we ought to sell or the amounts in which   we should purchase these items from the wholesalers . As the budget we had was always strictly   limited , we needed to choose items very wisely since one wrong decision would mean roughly   zero profits and moreover , high risk of irreversible loss in the particular month . 

 Selection : 

 The tool that I chose to apply and talk about is the tool of Visualization . I utilized visualization to   consolidate and present my views and the relevant supporting data in a neat manner that is easy   to swallow . I used parallelly placed flowcharts that illustrated the data points in a simple manner .   Each flowchart was based on one of the partner ’s suggestions and hence having all of them side   by side enabled us to really look at the situation from a ‘ big picture ’ perspective . One could easily   see the point the other was trying to make and fusing certain ideas was easier since the whole   process was divided into chunks or blocks that could conveniently be picked up and placed into   another flowchart . Details such as the importance of any block could be easily highlighted and   discussed and unnecessary bits could be discarded without disrupting the entire process since   one could clearly see the relationship between said elements . 

 Application : 

 The process began by simply gathering data . A list was created of the 50 most sold items on   various sites such as Alibaba where we usually source our inventory from . Using basic web   scraping , we grabbed information regarding the items that were currently popular . After this   collection of data , we calculate the overall popularity of items across the sites by merging the lists   and then creating a new overall top 50 list . Similarly , such lists were also created focusing on   other parameters or metrics such as the estimated projection of profit we could expect from a   particular item or product by comparing the selling price on our source sites and the price our   competitors were currently offering the item at . This too was done utilizing simple web scraping . 

 Based on this resultant data sheets , the partner would pour through the information individually   and try to come up with the best distribution of products they can come up with that they believe   would fetch us maximum profits . The entire process for each of the distribution would be   represented using exhaustive flow charts that described the entire flow in blocks or chunks .   These also included the final investment amount we would require to pay and the projected   revenue and profit we could hope to gain by following a certain distribution . Since the suggestion   were clearly based on concrete data , the number of arguments that occurred decreased sharply .   The partners felt a sense of security knowing that the final decisions taken were fairly safe bets   and this motivated them to work more diligently through the entire execution of the process . 

 Insight : 

 A few facts have become extremely clear to me after I used the tool as discussed . Human beings   are visual creature in the sense they rely heavily on the visual part of things as compared to   other senses . Therefore , things get very much more convenient when people can ‘ see ’ things   precisely the way you want them to . In most cases , due to the fact that we as internally picture   things differently as per our own intellect , understanding , past experiences , etc . there is almost 

 always a significant loss of information during communication due to this translation . Therefore , it   makes complete sense to use visualization to try to push the ideas or points across as effectively   and efficiently as possible . This improved clarity of the matter at hand leads to idea stimulation in   the right direction due to decrease in unnecessary confusion as everyone is somewhat on the   same page . Visualization is a core component of how communication takes place ; we capture   complex things , picture the results and come up with new possibilities that would otherwise   remain hidden from us . 

 Approach : 

 I am quite fascinated by how well things unfolded after we chose to use visualization . Our profits   increased by an average of 9.7 percent in the last three months , and I am certain it will increase   further as we grow and sharpen our process further . In the future I will try and apply the tool of   mind mapping as I think that is quite closely related to visualization and will give us better overall   results . As we learned in this course , mind mapping is known to be a really powerful tool a   design thinker has access to . I understand that it shall help we look for patterns and extract   meaningful insights so that I can come up with more effective solutions .
### Output: 