Reflection – Visualization 

 Challenge 

 I was tasked with helping one of our departments with re - imagining how they accomplish their work .    Their caseload had increased dramatically over the past few years , but there was n’t budget for   additional staff , and consequently , they were falling further and further behind .   Our goal was to find   ways for them to change how they worked so they could handle the increasing caseload without adding   staff positions .   I was responsible facilitating the project and one of my first tasks was to collect   information about the current state , including feedback and insights from staff , so that our small team   who would participate in the ideation session could start from a shared understanding .   I used   visualization throughout the project at many different steps , but in this reflection , I ’ll discuss here how I   used it to define the problems and create a shared understanding of the current state . 

 Selection 

 I was an outsider to the group who was there only to facilitate and organize the efforts , so I had to get   up to speed on their work processes very quickly .   This was n’t easy .   The department had lots of detailed   procedures , but nothing that connected those procedures into a bigger picture of workflow .   Also , they   used lots of jargon to describe their work and also had confusing naming conventions where the same   word or phrase could refer to multiple parts of the process .   It was difficult to understand their thoughts   and feedback with all the confusion about “ vocabulary . ”    To make sure that the staff and I , and   eventually the small team who would participate in ideation sessions , could be confident that we were   all on the same page during our conversations , I decided to use a visualization tool .   Visualization allows   us to align our understanding with others because a single visual picture grounds us in the same   understanding in a way that words do not .   In particular , I created a process diagram of   current state   and used it as a tool in my conversations with staff . 

 Application 

 First , I conducted 2 - 3 interviews with the team managers and reviewed existing procedure and training   documentation to draft a process diagram for the current state .   The diagram included each major step   of the process .   I indicated via symbols whether the step involved working with physical materials or   electronic materials .   I showed which roles were involved at each step by using color - coded stick figures .    Once I had created this high - level process , I conducted additional interviews with staff using a series of   specific open - ended questions .   Those questions were 1 ) how well does this diagram represent the   current process and what , if anything , should be changed on it , 2 ) which parts of the current process do   you think create the most problems and why , 3 ) which parts of the current process do you think work   well and why , and 4 ) what else do you want the team working on this project to know .   As we went   through the interviews , I had them to write their thoughts on the process flow ( each person had their   own copy ) and encouraged them to use symbols like happy / sad faces or stars or question marks to   capture their feedback .   Using visualization to ground and structure these conversations was extremely   effective for me .   I was able to be confident that I understood exactly which steps and parts of the 

 process the staff was talking about when they provided feedback and that my understanding of the   current state was n’t confused by difficult jargon or confusing naming conventions . 

 Insight 

 Not only did visualization help me create shared understanding , it also provided other benefits .   It was   extremely efficient .   After instituting the process map in my interviews , the quality of the conversation   was richer and the interviews actually took less time .   Additionally , I had artifacts from the interviews   that directly recorded staff ’s thoughts and opinions that I could go back to reference later and that I   could share with others so they could see first - hand feedback .   Finally , I was able to easily find patterns   in the feedback and to communicate them to the small team that would participate in the sessions to   ideate changes and improvements .   All of this led to better conversations and ideating in the next step   because we had a solid basis of understanding to start from .   While this project was n’t designed using a   Design Thinking approach specifically , I realize now that many of the most effective techniques that I   used , like visualization , are included in Design Thinking . 

 Approach 

 If I were to do a project like this again , I would definitely use Design Thinking more deliberately .   While I   think that the use of the process diagram for gathering information about as - is was useful , I do wonder   if it might have constrained some of the thinking about the challenge space .   Because we were grounded   in a visualization of process , we talked mostly about process .   It could have been helpful to spend some   time thinking about the people involved in the process from a more human - centered approach .    Visualization could have been helpful here too .   Also , we produced a rather large briefing packet for the   group that participated in ideation .   If I were to do this process again , I might consider using the mind- mapping technique instead of the large briefing book .   I think we would have had more engagement in   the early part of our ideation sessions and potentially some more creative ideas . 


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 

 I was tasked with helping one of our departments with re - imagining how they accomplish their work .    Their caseload had increased dramatically over the past few years , but there was n’t budget for   additional staff , and consequently , they were falling further and further behind .   Our goal was to find   ways for them to change how they worked so they could handle the increasing caseload without adding   staff positions .   I was responsible facilitating the project and one of my first tasks was to collect   information about the current state , including feedback and insights from staff , so that our small team   who would participate in the ideation session could start from a shared understanding .   I used   visualization throughout the project at many different steps , but in this reflection , I ’ll discuss here how I   used it to define the problems and create a shared understanding of the current state . 

 Selection 

 I was an outsider to the group who was there only to facilitate and organize the efforts , so I had to get   up to speed on their work processes very quickly .   This was n’t easy .   The department had lots of detailed   procedures , but nothing that connected those procedures into a bigger picture of workflow .   Also , they   used lots of jargon to describe their work and also had confusing naming conventions where the same   word or phrase could refer to multiple parts of the process .   It was difficult to understand their thoughts   and feedback with all the confusion about “ vocabulary . ”    To make sure that the staff and I , and   eventually the small team who would participate in ideation sessions , could be confident that we were   all on the same page during our conversations , I decided to use a visualization tool .   Visualization allows   us to align our understanding with others because a single visual picture grounds us in the same   understanding in a way that words do not .   In particular , I created a process diagram of   current state   and used it as a tool in my conversations with staff . 

 Application 

 First , I conducted 2 - 3 interviews with the team managers and reviewed existing procedure and training   documentation to draft a process diagram for the current state .   The diagram included each major step   of the process .   I indicated via symbols whether the step involved working with physical materials or   electronic materials .   I showed which roles were involved at each step by using color - coded stick figures .    Once I had created this high - level process , I conducted additional interviews with staff using a series of   specific open - ended questions .   Those questions were 1 ) how well does this diagram represent the   current process and what , if anything , should be changed on it , 2 ) which parts of the current process do   you think create the most problems and why , 3 ) which parts of the current process do you think work   well and why , and 4 ) what else do you want the team working on this project to know .   As we went   through the interviews , I had them to write their thoughts on the process flow ( each person had their   own copy ) and encouraged them to use symbols like happy / sad faces or stars or question marks to   capture their feedback .   Using visualization to ground and structure these conversations was extremely   effective for me .   I was able to be confident that I understood exactly which steps and parts of the 

 process the staff was talking about when they provided feedback and that my understanding of the   current state was n’t confused by difficult jargon or confusing naming conventions . 

 Insight 

 Not only did visualization help me create shared understanding , it also provided other benefits .   It was   extremely efficient .   After instituting the process map in my interviews , the quality of the conversation   was richer and the interviews actually took less time .   Additionally , I had artifacts from the interviews   that directly recorded staff ’s thoughts and opinions that I could go back to reference later and that I   could share with others so they could see first - hand feedback .   Finally , I was able to easily find patterns   in the feedback and to communicate them to the small team that would participate in the sessions to   ideate changes and improvements .   All of this led to better conversations and ideating in the next step   because we had a solid basis of understanding to start from .   While this project was n’t designed using a   Design Thinking approach specifically , I realize now that many of the most effective techniques that I   used , like visualization , are included in Design Thinking . 

 Approach 

 If I were to do a project like this again , I would definitely use Design Thinking more deliberately .   While I   think that the use of the process diagram for gathering information about as - is was useful , I do wonder   if it might have constrained some of the thinking about the challenge space .   Because we were grounded   in a visualization of process , we talked mostly about process .   It could have been helpful to spend some   time thinking about the people involved in the process from a more human - centered approach .    Visualization could have been helpful here too .   Also , we produced a rather large briefing packet for the   group that participated in ideation .   If I were to do this process again , I might consider using the mind- mapping technique instead of the large briefing book .   I think we would have had more engagement in   the early part of our ideation sessions and potentially some more creative ideas .
### Output: 