Challenge:​ I was asked by client to help identify and solve problems with their company ’s   mobile website experience and use human - centered design to facilitate online ordering and   navigation throughout the website from a mobile platform . 

 Selection and Application:​ A lot of research is needed when taking on a challenge like this . As   tons of primary and secondary data became available , the use of a good and reliable tool or   method to organize and translate the data , and present all the findings became evident . With   that in mind , I found it very beneficial to use the affinity mapping technique to group my data . I   like to use this tool to analyze my assets after conducting particular types of research . 

 For this challenge specifically , I needed to discover my client ’s customers pain points using the   product , so I ended up having to do some guerilla usability test . In cases like this , I usually like   to use affinity mapping as my main visualization tool as it allows me to present my findings and   tell the customer ’s story in a more simplistic and compelling way . 

 One of the main reasons for often applying this technique when working to solve this type of   problem is because it lets me easily organize my findings and communicate them in a more   interesting way than by just using text . I also find it easier for me to go over the findings with a   client if I have those visuals to aid me throughout the conversation . 

 As Ashley Wood said in the video lesson from week 1 , “ The beauty of using visualization is that   we can tap into a single picture . The more you begin to use pictures , the more that you begin to   diagram while you talk , and create a visual image for people of how you are thinking . The more   likely you are to achieve a sense of agreement and consensus with people , the more you are   likely to draw out conversation . In an environment where your , your ability to , to get things done   and to solve problems is dependent on other people being able to understand you and align   their ideas with yours . ” 

 I could n’t agree more with that statement . As a designer myself , I have to use a variety of   visualization tools every day to pitch new ideas to people and also present solutions for complex   problems . 

 Insight:​ As I looked at my research findings on my affinity map , I was unable to backup all the   pain points I came up with based on my own assumptions . Because of that and also because i   wanted to avoid any confirmation bias , I realized I needed to dig even deeper and explore more   data . The more I studied the data I already I had on hands , the more I could see that there was   a pattern among the “ less technology savvy ” group . That pattern showed me that these   individuals could n’t complete the order or get to the end of the funnel . I then decided to find out   the reason they were n’t being successful in accomplishing that task ( even after receiving the   same instructions as the other participants from the other groups ) so my next job was to look   into that . 

 However , before moving forward , I took an even closer look at the initial findings and learnt that   some of the participants in the “ less technology savvy ” group were n’t very confident completing   the test of placing an order via the mobile website mainly because they found the website to be   way too overwhelming to navigate so they got lost in the process . That finding still did n’t fully   answer my questions . I knew there was more to know , so I came to the conclusion that I needed   to conduct more research with that particular group of users , but this time using different   methods that would hopefully help me understand better what that group 's pain points were and   if there was any outside factors influencing their decisions and affecting the initial results of my   research . 

 Long story short , after gathering more data I discovered that the reason why some of those   users could n’t complete the transactions was because they were having a hard time reading the   text on the app and were too embarrassed to admit that to me so they chose not to mention it in   the first place . They knew that they could ’ve picked pain point 4 ( text is too small , hard to see ) ,   but thought that by doing so they would be letting everyone know they have vision issues , which   would make people associate that with them aging . 

 This example showed me the importance of going back and not only getting feedback , but also   testing my initial hypothesis . In a situation like this where external factors could have messed up   the entire process of trying to solve a complex problem , it ’s definitely worth going back as many   times as it takes to explore what the best approach may be . 

 Approach:​ In the future , I want to make sure I do a better job at coming up with more specific   pain points and jotting my answers down and organizing them better on my affinity map . I think   using other visualization tools such as mind mapping would definitely increase my chances of   being more successful when trying to understand what story customers are trying to tell me and   also help me interpret my findings better so that I can come up with more helpful solutions for   problems . 

 Note:​ This is a fictional case study that I wrote for the purpose of completing this exercise . I   have not followed all steps nor applied the entire Design Thinking framework to this case as I   attempted to illustrate my point . The purpose of the exercise is to demonstrate how I can apply   visualization tools to a particular situation , so this is what I tried to accomplish here . 


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: Challenge:​ I was asked by client to help identify and solve problems with their company ’s   mobile website experience and use human - centered design to facilitate online ordering and   navigation throughout the website from a mobile platform . 

 Selection and Application:​ A lot of research is needed when taking on a challenge like this . As   tons of primary and secondary data became available , the use of a good and reliable tool or   method to organize and translate the data , and present all the findings became evident . With   that in mind , I found it very beneficial to use the affinity mapping technique to group my data . I   like to use this tool to analyze my assets after conducting particular types of research . 

 For this challenge specifically , I needed to discover my client ’s customers pain points using the   product , so I ended up having to do some guerilla usability test . In cases like this , I usually like   to use affinity mapping as my main visualization tool as it allows me to present my findings and   tell the customer ’s story in a more simplistic and compelling way . 

 One of the main reasons for often applying this technique when working to solve this type of   problem is because it lets me easily organize my findings and communicate them in a more   interesting way than by just using text . I also find it easier for me to go over the findings with a   client if I have those visuals to aid me throughout the conversation . 

 As Ashley Wood said in the video lesson from week 1 , “ The beauty of using visualization is that   we can tap into a single picture . The more you begin to use pictures , the more that you begin to   diagram while you talk , and create a visual image for people of how you are thinking . The more   likely you are to achieve a sense of agreement and consensus with people , the more you are   likely to draw out conversation . In an environment where your , your ability to , to get things done   and to solve problems is dependent on other people being able to understand you and align   their ideas with yours . ” 

 I could n’t agree more with that statement . As a designer myself , I have to use a variety of   visualization tools every day to pitch new ideas to people and also present solutions for complex   problems . 

 Insight:​ As I looked at my research findings on my affinity map , I was unable to backup all the   pain points I came up with based on my own assumptions . Because of that and also because i   wanted to avoid any confirmation bias , I realized I needed to dig even deeper and explore more   data . The more I studied the data I already I had on hands , the more I could see that there was   a pattern among the “ less technology savvy ” group . That pattern showed me that these   individuals could n’t complete the order or get to the end of the funnel . I then decided to find out   the reason they were n’t being successful in accomplishing that task ( even after receiving the   same instructions as the other participants from the other groups ) so my next job was to look   into that . 

 However , before moving forward , I took an even closer look at the initial findings and learnt that   some of the participants in the “ less technology savvy ” group were n’t very confident completing   the test of placing an order via the mobile website mainly because they found the website to be   way too overwhelming to navigate so they got lost in the process . That finding still did n’t fully   answer my questions . I knew there was more to know , so I came to the conclusion that I needed   to conduct more research with that particular group of users , but this time using different   methods that would hopefully help me understand better what that group 's pain points were and   if there was any outside factors influencing their decisions and affecting the initial results of my   research . 

 Long story short , after gathering more data I discovered that the reason why some of those   users could n’t complete the transactions was because they were having a hard time reading the   text on the app and were too embarrassed to admit that to me so they chose not to mention it in   the first place . They knew that they could ’ve picked pain point 4 ( text is too small , hard to see ) ,   but thought that by doing so they would be letting everyone know they have vision issues , which   would make people associate that with them aging . 

 This example showed me the importance of going back and not only getting feedback , but also   testing my initial hypothesis . In a situation like this where external factors could have messed up   the entire process of trying to solve a complex problem , it ’s definitely worth going back as many   times as it takes to explore what the best approach may be . 

 Approach:​ In the future , I want to make sure I do a better job at coming up with more specific   pain points and jotting my answers down and organizing them better on my affinity map . I think   using other visualization tools such as mind mapping would definitely increase my chances of   being more successful when trying to understand what story customers are trying to tell me and   also help me interpret my findings better so that I can come up with more helpful solutions for   problems . 

 Note:​ This is a fictional case study that I wrote for the purpose of completing this exercise . I   have not followed all steps nor applied the entire Design Thinking framework to this case as I   attempted to illustrate my point . The purpose of the exercise is to demonstrate how I can apply   visualization tools to a particular situation , so this is what I tried to accomplish here .
### Output: 