Example Reflection – Visualization 

 Challenge & Selection 

 Visualization is a tool that I started using lately as a project manager in my company ’s IT   department . As a project manager , one is responsible for making clear to all project members   of the tasks at hand and of the responsibilities that each and every member has in order for   the project to be completed on time . This is very difficult to be accomplished , especially when   projects are complicated and involve many different teams to work together .   People involved   in such projects need to have a clear understanding of the problem to be solved . Having to   deal with too many people and unclear requirements increases the complexity level of a   project manager ’s work . 

 Visualization is a core component of the way people communicate . It consciously inserts visual   imagery into our work processes and focuses on bringing an idea to life , simplifying team   collaboration and ( eventually ) creating stories that go to the heart of how designers cultivate   empathy in every phase of their work and use it to generate excitement for new ideas ( Wilson   & Wilson , 2011 ) . 

 Having difficulties in completing projects on time , I thought of trying the visualization   approach in order to see if it helps in decreasing the uncertainty and ambiguity that exists in   large projects among stakeholders . 

 Application 

 A complex project may involve people from different IT departments such as infrastructure ,   development , support , help desk , security and networking to mention a few . Being the project   manager for such a project , I decided to hold a couple of meetings with all the stakeholders   to identify the tasks at hand and make clear to everyone involved of the goal of the project .   Having understood the goal to be achieved , I held a few more meetings with all the members   of the different IT departments involved in order to process the requirements in such a way   in order to produce large bodies of work which in turn can be broken down into smaller tasks . 

 These large bodies of work were then described on sticky notes that were later put on a board   in a way to represent the activities of the service and in the order that they occur . Lanes were   drawn to represent both the customer and the different departments involved and lines were   added to show the interactions between the different activities . The final image was a   visualization of all the actions needed for a service to function while incorporating the   viewpoints of everyone involved in the project . The final image , once agreed by all members ,   was transferred and depicted in electronic form and later distributed to all members . A service   blueprint was ready . 

 Insight and Approach 

 The results from applying the approach of visualization through service blueprinting were such   that made me decide to use the approach when I will be involved in complex projects . This   “ experiment ” made me realize that projects are easier understood when everyone involved   work collaboratively . In addition , using visualization tools such as service blueprints , all team   members share the same understanding of the project and its tasks . Different departments   can get to know each other ’s responsibilities and challenges and see how they influence each   other ’s deliverables . They also help in defining areas of investigation and in cutting through   different departmental silos . 

 Of course , practice makes one better in using such tools , in identifying their weaknesses and   strengths and I am sure I still have a lot to learn . For example , the first time I used service   blueprint , the tasks depicted were at a very high level . Some of the members though would   have preferred a more detailed description of the tasks while others would not . It all depends   on the people you have to work with and their preferences . In the end though , the high level   view of the steps of a project is the same for everyone . 

 Now if one asks me what I would change in the way I am using the visualization tool of service   blueprint , I would say that I would also use it as a reference in order to identify pain points ,   and when redesign of a service is required as customers ’ needs change over time . I would also   try to use visualization together with agile development in order to visualize the smaller tasks   of the bigger picture . Knowing the number of tasks to be delivered , the number of tasks   completed and other relevant information , it would be a challenge to see how agile would   affect the time to deliver a project as a whole . 


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: Example Reflection – Visualization 

 Challenge & Selection 

 Visualization is a tool that I started using lately as a project manager in my company ’s IT   department . As a project manager , one is responsible for making clear to all project members   of the tasks at hand and of the responsibilities that each and every member has in order for   the project to be completed on time . This is very difficult to be accomplished , especially when   projects are complicated and involve many different teams to work together .   People involved   in such projects need to have a clear understanding of the problem to be solved . Having to   deal with too many people and unclear requirements increases the complexity level of a   project manager ’s work . 

 Visualization is a core component of the way people communicate . It consciously inserts visual   imagery into our work processes and focuses on bringing an idea to life , simplifying team   collaboration and ( eventually ) creating stories that go to the heart of how designers cultivate   empathy in every phase of their work and use it to generate excitement for new ideas ( Wilson   & Wilson , 2011 ) . 

 Having difficulties in completing projects on time , I thought of trying the visualization   approach in order to see if it helps in decreasing the uncertainty and ambiguity that exists in   large projects among stakeholders . 

 Application 

 A complex project may involve people from different IT departments such as infrastructure ,   development , support , help desk , security and networking to mention a few . Being the project   manager for such a project , I decided to hold a couple of meetings with all the stakeholders   to identify the tasks at hand and make clear to everyone involved of the goal of the project .   Having understood the goal to be achieved , I held a few more meetings with all the members   of the different IT departments involved in order to process the requirements in such a way   in order to produce large bodies of work which in turn can be broken down into smaller tasks . 

 These large bodies of work were then described on sticky notes that were later put on a board   in a way to represent the activities of the service and in the order that they occur . Lanes were   drawn to represent both the customer and the different departments involved and lines were   added to show the interactions between the different activities . The final image was a   visualization of all the actions needed for a service to function while incorporating the   viewpoints of everyone involved in the project . The final image , once agreed by all members ,   was transferred and depicted in electronic form and later distributed to all members . A service   blueprint was ready . 

 Insight and Approach 

 The results from applying the approach of visualization through service blueprinting were such   that made me decide to use the approach when I will be involved in complex projects . This   “ experiment ” made me realize that projects are easier understood when everyone involved   work collaboratively . In addition , using visualization tools such as service blueprints , all team   members share the same understanding of the project and its tasks . Different departments   can get to know each other ’s responsibilities and challenges and see how they influence each   other ’s deliverables . They also help in defining areas of investigation and in cutting through   different departmental silos . 

 Of course , practice makes one better in using such tools , in identifying their weaknesses and   strengths and I am sure I still have a lot to learn . For example , the first time I used service   blueprint , the tasks depicted were at a very high level . Some of the members though would   have preferred a more detailed description of the tasks while others would not . It all depends   on the people you have to work with and their preferences . In the end though , the high level   view of the steps of a project is the same for everyone . 

 Now if one asks me what I would change in the way I am using the visualization tool of service   blueprint , I would say that I would also use it as a reference in order to identify pain points ,   and when redesign of a service is required as customers ’ needs change over time . I would also   try to use visualization together with agile development in order to visualize the smaller tasks   of the bigger picture . Knowing the number of tasks to be delivered , the number of tasks   completed and other relevant information , it would be a challenge to see how agile would   affect the time to deliver a project as a whole .
### Output: 