Reflection on using Visualization for Design Thinking 

 Challenge   The Household Waste Management system in the town needs a redesigning . The challenge has multiple   dimensions . The current garbage collection and disposal system has lost their credibility among the town ’s   residents as they do not maintain timings for collecting the garbage from homes , impose new rules every   time on the residents , give varying and numerous instructions to residents on how to segregate the wastes   and hand over that to them etc . Also , the residents do not dispose the garbage with the town ’s Waste   Management authorities , rather throw the garbage in random areas in the town . The garbage collected   by the authorities are just dumped to make heaps of garbage in an area bit far from the town . Hence , no   productive use or recycling is done on the wastes collected . In the whole case , we are talking about just   domestic wastes – industrial , commercial , and agricultural wastes are not included in the study . The   focused objective of the study is to manage end - to - end household waste management in a better manner   to draw more compliance and reduce as well as recycle the wastes . 

 Here we have a challenge with the town authorities to bring well framed regulations for the garbage   collectors to adhere to a definite process , and the residents to follow a thoughtfully designed garbage   disposal mechanism . 

 Selection   Since there are multiple dimensions to this issue , it is important to collect information from all parties   involved and present it in a creative , powerful yet simple way to draw consensus and create synergy . This   mismanagement issue has been going on for so long , and hence I am clear that the solution to this needs   a creative thinking . It needs to be brought out by laying down the available data and finding out the hidden   insights from it . Also , there could be patterns in the incidents happening since things are tightly coupled   in cause and effect manner . 

 To address all these needs , Visualization seemed to be the apt tool . It will help in visualizing data to   unearth the hidden details , finding patterns for addressing bad practices and presenting the information   to wider audience with varying backgrounds to draw consensus and easily communicate the new process   suggestions without confusion . 

 Application   To begin with I tried to read the details from the Municipality ’s official sources ( like its websites ) on the   current Household Waste Management process . It gave a picture of all the people involved in the process ,   like field workers doing the collection , their supervisors , truck drivers , residents , etc . Following that , I did   an informal discussion with a few members from each persona to know : their role in the process , their   challenges , their motivations etc . I also made visits to know how the premises and circumstances are at   the local garbage collection point near my home and how it looks at the final destination – the dump yard ,   which is the next destination from the local point . Then I put it in Draw.io tool to draw a flow diagram of   the entire process , with timeline involved . This formed the Visual # 1 . 

 Also , from the details collected and from my personal experience , I jotted down the possible types of   waste items and grouped them into categories by its lifecycle . For example , in case of vegetable and fruit   wastes- it will start decaying in about 3 days and when left to decompose , it can form reusable Compost   in a period of say 3 months . I did this grouping for all other types of waste items noted and draw their life   cycle as well . The diagrams also mentioned special steps to do when we want to recycle or process the   wastes . Though these had several diagrams each for one type of waste category , for the sake for   categorization , I called this Visual # 2 . 

 From a process point of view , I noted down the flow diagram for activities performed by each persona in   a separate diagram . Though Visual # 1 represented the holistic view , this will tell in specific and in deeper   detail the flows associated with each persona in a different diagram . This is Visual # 3 . 

 Insights   The power of data strikes you when you lay it out in the right form . And visualization done rightly , does   exactly that . I was able to see how segregating the wastes in the right manner will help to process them   more effectively and efficiently . Over 50 % of the household wastes were organic . So , segregating it   properly , followed with right decomposition measures can return at least half of the wastes into the value   chain . It also means , reducing the needs in future by taking a supply from your past . This recommended   segregation and decomposition measures need some changes in the current process – those could be laid   out by conducting more discussions with all the involved persona to define new set of process . 

 The other and more serious problem was with the compliance of the current process . From the informal   discussions done , it looks like the timing and methods of collection followed by the current garbage   collection authorities is more random and hence difficult for the residents to follow . As for the authorities   they are a bit lethargic about timings and does n’t feel the ownership of work as their location for duty   keeps shifting . Also , very less recognition is present for the work done by these field workers . So , by   comparing their individual flow diagrams with each other ’s routine ( Visual # 3 ) and with the holistic picture   ( Visual # 1 ) got insights about how the problem could be alleviated by shifting the timings by a few minutes   and establishing a concrete process . This new flow diagram was generated as Visual # 4 and can be used   to draw buy - ins from both parties in an open discussion . 

 Approach 

 The whole study was more self - driven to resolve a social problem . The approach followed included   collecting data , visiting places , processing the collected data for envisioning a better process to solve the   current non - compliance and create more options for recycling wastes . This helped to gain on the low- hanging fruits – like opportunity to recycle the organic wastes and steps to segregate waste materials .   This approach also enabled me to form recommendations about possible new process in terms of timing   to improve compliance . What could follow to build on the solution is to do Learning Launch in small groups   by discussing with the parties involved ( or their representatives ) to gather results from the   recommendations . These results could be used to reinforce the need for changes and roll - out a new   process with better buy - in from the parties involved . 


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 on using Visualization for Design Thinking 

 Challenge   The Household Waste Management system in the town needs a redesigning . The challenge has multiple   dimensions . The current garbage collection and disposal system has lost their credibility among the town ’s   residents as they do not maintain timings for collecting the garbage from homes , impose new rules every   time on the residents , give varying and numerous instructions to residents on how to segregate the wastes   and hand over that to them etc . Also , the residents do not dispose the garbage with the town ’s Waste   Management authorities , rather throw the garbage in random areas in the town . The garbage collected   by the authorities are just dumped to make heaps of garbage in an area bit far from the town . Hence , no   productive use or recycling is done on the wastes collected . In the whole case , we are talking about just   domestic wastes – industrial , commercial , and agricultural wastes are not included in the study . The   focused objective of the study is to manage end - to - end household waste management in a better manner   to draw more compliance and reduce as well as recycle the wastes . 

 Here we have a challenge with the town authorities to bring well framed regulations for the garbage   collectors to adhere to a definite process , and the residents to follow a thoughtfully designed garbage   disposal mechanism . 

 Selection   Since there are multiple dimensions to this issue , it is important to collect information from all parties   involved and present it in a creative , powerful yet simple way to draw consensus and create synergy . This   mismanagement issue has been going on for so long , and hence I am clear that the solution to this needs   a creative thinking . It needs to be brought out by laying down the available data and finding out the hidden   insights from it . Also , there could be patterns in the incidents happening since things are tightly coupled   in cause and effect manner . 

 To address all these needs , Visualization seemed to be the apt tool . It will help in visualizing data to   unearth the hidden details , finding patterns for addressing bad practices and presenting the information   to wider audience with varying backgrounds to draw consensus and easily communicate the new process   suggestions without confusion . 

 Application   To begin with I tried to read the details from the Municipality ’s official sources ( like its websites ) on the   current Household Waste Management process . It gave a picture of all the people involved in the process ,   like field workers doing the collection , their supervisors , truck drivers , residents , etc . Following that , I did   an informal discussion with a few members from each persona to know : their role in the process , their   challenges , their motivations etc . I also made visits to know how the premises and circumstances are at   the local garbage collection point near my home and how it looks at the final destination – the dump yard ,   which is the next destination from the local point . Then I put it in Draw.io tool to draw a flow diagram of   the entire process , with timeline involved . This formed the Visual # 1 . 

 Also , from the details collected and from my personal experience , I jotted down the possible types of   waste items and grouped them into categories by its lifecycle . For example , in case of vegetable and fruit   wastes- it will start decaying in about 3 days and when left to decompose , it can form reusable Compost   in a period of say 3 months . I did this grouping for all other types of waste items noted and draw their life   cycle as well . The diagrams also mentioned special steps to do when we want to recycle or process the   wastes . Though these had several diagrams each for one type of waste category , for the sake for   categorization , I called this Visual # 2 . 

 From a process point of view , I noted down the flow diagram for activities performed by each persona in   a separate diagram . Though Visual # 1 represented the holistic view , this will tell in specific and in deeper   detail the flows associated with each persona in a different diagram . This is Visual # 3 . 

 Insights   The power of data strikes you when you lay it out in the right form . And visualization done rightly , does   exactly that . I was able to see how segregating the wastes in the right manner will help to process them   more effectively and efficiently . Over 50 % of the household wastes were organic . So , segregating it   properly , followed with right decomposition measures can return at least half of the wastes into the value   chain . It also means , reducing the needs in future by taking a supply from your past . This recommended   segregation and decomposition measures need some changes in the current process – those could be laid   out by conducting more discussions with all the involved persona to define new set of process . 

 The other and more serious problem was with the compliance of the current process . From the informal   discussions done , it looks like the timing and methods of collection followed by the current garbage   collection authorities is more random and hence difficult for the residents to follow . As for the authorities   they are a bit lethargic about timings and does n’t feel the ownership of work as their location for duty   keeps shifting . Also , very less recognition is present for the work done by these field workers . So , by   comparing their individual flow diagrams with each other ’s routine ( Visual # 3 ) and with the holistic picture   ( Visual # 1 ) got insights about how the problem could be alleviated by shifting the timings by a few minutes   and establishing a concrete process . This new flow diagram was generated as Visual # 4 and can be used   to draw buy - ins from both parties in an open discussion . 

 Approach 

 The whole study was more self - driven to resolve a social problem . The approach followed included   collecting data , visiting places , processing the collected data for envisioning a better process to solve the   current non - compliance and create more options for recycling wastes . This helped to gain on the low- hanging fruits – like opportunity to recycle the organic wastes and steps to segregate waste materials .   This approach also enabled me to form recommendations about possible new process in terms of timing   to improve compliance . What could follow to build on the solution is to do Learning Launch in small groups   by discussing with the parties involved ( or their representatives ) to gather results from the   recommendations . These results could be used to reinforce the need for changes and roll - out a new   process with better buy - in from the parties involved .
### Output: 