Reflection - Visualization 

 Challenge 

 Utilizing the Visualization tool has been a crucial part in my job that I started 6 months ago . I work as a   business intelligence analyst for a software company , and I had been brought in to tackle the challenge   of data integrity issues and inconsistencies which had led to lack of trust in the numbers being reported   as well as updating the current dashboards ’ look and feel . The original scope of the issue was that the   main stakeholders in a 300 - person consulting wing of our company were consistently seeing numbers   that did n’t match up with either the source system or what they were expecting to see based on their   own calculations . This led to a complete distrust in the dashboards they used daily , as well as any   numbers that were being shared with either high - level executives within the consulting organization or   even down to consultants ’ individual metrics . To compound this issue , many people had expressed that   they had not felt heard when it came to their feelings on the issues they were having . 

 Selection 

 The selection of starting at the Visualization step was simple . Having just started at this company , it   would n’t be enough to only go through and fix what we thought were issues within the system until we   really understood what the stakeholder ’s pain points were and to make sure we were listening . We   wanted to approach the issue using the Visualization tool to not only get the stakeholders thinking   about what was possible , but also to understand what their true pain points were . 

 Application 

 The process first started with user interviews . This was conducted in several different steps in order to   gain full view of the issues that were being experienced . We sat down with a small number of users from   different levels within the organization and ask them to use the current dashboards in the way they use   them every day . We wanted to watch what their normal progression was through them , and how they   accessed the data . To our surprise , we found that because of the data issues we were observing users   not only have to sift through rows of unneeded data , but they were also having to go to multiple   dashboards to validate their numbers as well as get the full picture of their portfolio . On - top of this , we   found that there was a general lack of knowledge with how the numbers were calculated that stemmed   from the complete absence of transparency in the data . 

 Because we realized that just correcting the data issues updating the looks of the dashboards would n’t   solve the overall problems of the end users , we decided to open our scope up more and start to lean   into the “ What If ” . We set up smaller groups of users with similar functions , making sure to only have   between 3 - 5 people in each group . The main question we wanted to find an answer to was : “ If we   disregard what we have currently and anything was possible , what are the key must - haves for you for   reporting ? ” . 

 As we continued through the whiteboarding process and we asked for people to draw out their ideal   designs , we started to see common themes popping up consistently through all groups . Not only is data   accuracy and transparency important , but there was also a desperate need for conciseness in the way 

 the data is being delivered . It had been expressed over and over that there was an overwhelming   amount of data being presented to all levels and groups of people , even though they wanted less .   Throughout all sessions we kept pictures of all the different designs , as well as notes on their thought   process throughout , so that way we could combine everyone ’s visualization of the perfect dashboard in   our final proposal to leadership . 

 Insight 

 The insight gained from the Visualization was that our overall scope was too narrow and solving the one   perceived problem would not solve the overarching pain points of the end users . We learned that we   need to adjust what we thought was important to our end users and start down the rest of the Design   Thinking path , in order to deliver a compelling and usable reporting system for all levels within the   organization . 

 Approach 

 Given what we have found from our utilization of the Visualization tool , we might start with a much   broader scope at the beginning of the Design Thinking process . This would help alleviate the risk we run   of missing much larger issues at hand due to only trying to solve the challenge in front of us . Also , the   more we can open discussions to a much broader approach , the more innovative and unique ideas we   end up with . 


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 

 Utilizing the Visualization tool has been a crucial part in my job that I started 6 months ago . I work as a   business intelligence analyst for a software company , and I had been brought in to tackle the challenge   of data integrity issues and inconsistencies which had led to lack of trust in the numbers being reported   as well as updating the current dashboards ’ look and feel . The original scope of the issue was that the   main stakeholders in a 300 - person consulting wing of our company were consistently seeing numbers   that did n’t match up with either the source system or what they were expecting to see based on their   own calculations . This led to a complete distrust in the dashboards they used daily , as well as any   numbers that were being shared with either high - level executives within the consulting organization or   even down to consultants ’ individual metrics . To compound this issue , many people had expressed that   they had not felt heard when it came to their feelings on the issues they were having . 

 Selection 

 The selection of starting at the Visualization step was simple . Having just started at this company , it   would n’t be enough to only go through and fix what we thought were issues within the system until we   really understood what the stakeholder ’s pain points were and to make sure we were listening . We   wanted to approach the issue using the Visualization tool to not only get the stakeholders thinking   about what was possible , but also to understand what their true pain points were . 

 Application 

 The process first started with user interviews . This was conducted in several different steps in order to   gain full view of the issues that were being experienced . We sat down with a small number of users from   different levels within the organization and ask them to use the current dashboards in the way they use   them every day . We wanted to watch what their normal progression was through them , and how they   accessed the data . To our surprise , we found that because of the data issues we were observing users   not only have to sift through rows of unneeded data , but they were also having to go to multiple   dashboards to validate their numbers as well as get the full picture of their portfolio . On - top of this , we   found that there was a general lack of knowledge with how the numbers were calculated that stemmed   from the complete absence of transparency in the data . 

 Because we realized that just correcting the data issues updating the looks of the dashboards would n’t   solve the overall problems of the end users , we decided to open our scope up more and start to lean   into the “ What If ” . We set up smaller groups of users with similar functions , making sure to only have   between 3 - 5 people in each group . The main question we wanted to find an answer to was : “ If we   disregard what we have currently and anything was possible , what are the key must - haves for you for   reporting ? ” . 

 As we continued through the whiteboarding process and we asked for people to draw out their ideal   designs , we started to see common themes popping up consistently through all groups . Not only is data   accuracy and transparency important , but there was also a desperate need for conciseness in the way 

 the data is being delivered . It had been expressed over and over that there was an overwhelming   amount of data being presented to all levels and groups of people , even though they wanted less .   Throughout all sessions we kept pictures of all the different designs , as well as notes on their thought   process throughout , so that way we could combine everyone ’s visualization of the perfect dashboard in   our final proposal to leadership . 

 Insight 

 The insight gained from the Visualization was that our overall scope was too narrow and solving the one   perceived problem would not solve the overarching pain points of the end users . We learned that we   need to adjust what we thought was important to our end users and start down the rest of the Design   Thinking path , in order to deliver a compelling and usable reporting system for all levels within the   organization . 

 Approach 

 Given what we have found from our utilization of the Visualization tool , we might start with a much   broader scope at the beginning of the Design Thinking process . This would help alleviate the risk we run   of missing much larger issues at hand due to only trying to solve the challenge in front of us . Also , the   more we can open discussions to a much broader approach , the more innovative and unique ideas we   end up with .
### Output: 