Design Thinking for Innovation : Visualization ( Module 1 ) 

 “ Evolving In - Person Events to a Virtual Experience ” 

 Challenge & Selection 

 It can be a challenge to conduct a productive design thinking session remotely with a large 14 - person   team in the current era of working from home . With professional events of all sizes quickly pivoting from   a typical in - person delivery to a virtual delivery model worldwide , my meeting planning team was posed   with a similar challenge . My team plans an annual event to host 350 + Manager - level employees from   across the US for an in - person 3 - day learning and networking event . Since large gatherings are currently   restricted with COVID-19 , my team ’s challenge was to explore effective ways to convert a 350 - person   networking event typically held in person into a virtual offering while maintaining similarly high levels of   participant learning & engagement . How does one incorporate all the various aspects of a successful in- person event to life in an effective virtual capacity , while redesigning an engaging guest experience for   intimate professional networking and meaningful learning ? 

 Since my planning team ’s challenge to recreate a event experience was human centered at its core , I   selected the Visualization tool for my team to : 1 ) achieve a shared understanding of the problem – what   elements are essential to redesign an event experience effectively , and 2 ) kick - off a brainstorming   session to instill creative thinking for potential solutions . 

 Whiteboarding is a common visualization technique where various stakeholders write down what or   how they are visually thinking on sticky Post - It Notes and then physically stick / move these paper notes   at various points in the event lifecycle . In a 100 % remote working environment , the use of digital sticky   notes in breakout sessions for small group collaboration was a Visualization technique that enabled my   planning team to dive into idea generation . With a set of key questions , this visual thinking technique   prompted exploratory , abstract discussions as well as aligned group thinking to achieve consensus on   the event design approach in tangible , concrete , and productive way . 

 Application 

 Before our first group brainstorming session , it was important for me to do some preparation work for   the team . Prior to COVID-19 and remote working , the planning team was originally segmented into four   workstreams : ( 1 ) Marketing & Communications , ( 2 ) Event Venue & Logistics , ( 3 ) Learning Content &   Agenda , and ( 4 ) Networking & Speaker Engagement , as shown in the Figure 1 screenshot below . 

 Figure 1 

 I started the process by mixing up the teams and creating new “ buckets ” or categories for each   component of the event domain . Since the team ’s ability to collaborate with sticky notes on a physical   whiteboard was not feasible , I divided the large team into small groups of 4 - 5 team members where   they participated in a small breakout session that focused on a different category of event design .   Assigning individuals to a specific group beforehand ensured a Lead / POC from each original event   workstream was represented in each small group breakout session . This approach diversified the type of   thought leadership and hypothesis ’ that would be generated within each breakout sessions . 

 Figure 2 

 The Figure 2 screenshot above illustrates the event design categories that prompted each Group 1 , 2 , or   3 to generate creative ideas and answer their respective question moving beyond the ‘ What Is ’ to   explore the ‘ What If ’ . I allocated approximately 15 - minutes for each breakout group to have relevant   discussions and synthesize their key themes on digital sticky notes . Figure 3 screenshot below illustrates   one example from one of the small breakout session results . 

 Figure 3 

 After the small breakout discussions concluded , I facilitated the team coming back together in a single ,   virtual forum to debrief . I asked each group to report out their takeaways , while I quickly captured the   shared commonalities and type of feedback it received from the rest of their team members . After the   session , I documented the meeting minutes , including the combined feedback , shared insights , open   questions , key concerns , and other considerations from the discussion , to distribute to my planning   team . This artifact now serves as a reference document that the team can always point back to as we   continue working through the details of event design . Documenting the key takeaways and shared   insights reinforces the group ’s understanding of the fundamental problem and shared insights that the   team can point back as a cornerstone for related decisions . 

 Insight & Approach 

 Establishing a clear understanding of the problem domain and developing core guiding principles based   on what my team agreed upon was a critical cornerstone to then progress forward in case conflict   arouse later in the ideation and/or execution phases . Since my team was early in the design thinking   process , there was lead time available for disagreement , inefficiencies , and ambiguity in order to 

 achieve consensus and decisions for the overall event design . The tool of Visualization solidified   alignment of our thinking and approach to the problem as well as drove shared insights for more   valuable results . Even though the way in which this annual event is delivered changed from an in - person   to a virtual experience , our human - centered challenge required us to level set context of the problem in   order to re - create a guest experience effectively and maintain its status as the # 1 ranked event attended   by Manager - level employees . 

 Using the tool of visual thinking with our challenge forced creative ideas to be explored with diagrams ,   instead of being verbally open for interpretation in a slightly different way . Thus , my team evolved its   thinking from a single activity set ( e.g. simply digitizing the same event content to be available on video   broadcasts without a physical event venue ) into a larger set of event design activities ( e.g. restructuring   design elements to make an event execution successful , engaging , and highly attended ) . 

 Practicing the use of visualization helps me become a better communicator – both written and verbally .   After taking this course , I realized that I do n’t have to have all the “ right answer ” to an open - ended   question , but I can leverage images to stimulate unbounded creativity , imagination , and exploratory   thinking . Without the support of visualization techniques , like categorization and the use of structured   color , innovative ideas generated risk getting “ lost ” if not quickly captured visually for further   exploratory discussion or risk overlooking the commonalities between insights . In our next planning   team session , I will practice additional visualization techniques , such as mapping process flows , to   explore the next level of detailed planning for a revised event schedule / agenda . While scheduled to   occur virtually in October 2020 , my team ’s redesign will consider all the insights shared on what makes   an effective , engaging , and compelling event . 


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: Design Thinking for Innovation : Visualization ( Module 1 ) 

 “ Evolving In - Person Events to a Virtual Experience ” 

 Challenge & Selection 

 It can be a challenge to conduct a productive design thinking session remotely with a large 14 - person   team in the current era of working from home . With professional events of all sizes quickly pivoting from   a typical in - person delivery to a virtual delivery model worldwide , my meeting planning team was posed   with a similar challenge . My team plans an annual event to host 350 + Manager - level employees from   across the US for an in - person 3 - day learning and networking event . Since large gatherings are currently   restricted with COVID-19 , my team ’s challenge was to explore effective ways to convert a 350 - person   networking event typically held in person into a virtual offering while maintaining similarly high levels of   participant learning & engagement . How does one incorporate all the various aspects of a successful in- person event to life in an effective virtual capacity , while redesigning an engaging guest experience for   intimate professional networking and meaningful learning ? 

 Since my planning team ’s challenge to recreate a event experience was human centered at its core , I   selected the Visualization tool for my team to : 1 ) achieve a shared understanding of the problem – what   elements are essential to redesign an event experience effectively , and 2 ) kick - off a brainstorming   session to instill creative thinking for potential solutions . 

 Whiteboarding is a common visualization technique where various stakeholders write down what or   how they are visually thinking on sticky Post - It Notes and then physically stick / move these paper notes   at various points in the event lifecycle . In a 100 % remote working environment , the use of digital sticky   notes in breakout sessions for small group collaboration was a Visualization technique that enabled my   planning team to dive into idea generation . With a set of key questions , this visual thinking technique   prompted exploratory , abstract discussions as well as aligned group thinking to achieve consensus on   the event design approach in tangible , concrete , and productive way . 

 Application 

 Before our first group brainstorming session , it was important for me to do some preparation work for   the team . Prior to COVID-19 and remote working , the planning team was originally segmented into four   workstreams : ( 1 ) Marketing & Communications , ( 2 ) Event Venue & Logistics , ( 3 ) Learning Content &   Agenda , and ( 4 ) Networking & Speaker Engagement , as shown in the Figure 1 screenshot below . 

 Figure 1 

 I started the process by mixing up the teams and creating new “ buckets ” or categories for each   component of the event domain . Since the team ’s ability to collaborate with sticky notes on a physical   whiteboard was not feasible , I divided the large team into small groups of 4 - 5 team members where   they participated in a small breakout session that focused on a different category of event design .   Assigning individuals to a specific group beforehand ensured a Lead / POC from each original event   workstream was represented in each small group breakout session . This approach diversified the type of   thought leadership and hypothesis ’ that would be generated within each breakout sessions . 

 Figure 2 

 The Figure 2 screenshot above illustrates the event design categories that prompted each Group 1 , 2 , or   3 to generate creative ideas and answer their respective question moving beyond the ‘ What Is ’ to   explore the ‘ What If ’ . I allocated approximately 15 - minutes for each breakout group to have relevant   discussions and synthesize their key themes on digital sticky notes . Figure 3 screenshot below illustrates   one example from one of the small breakout session results . 

 Figure 3 

 After the small breakout discussions concluded , I facilitated the team coming back together in a single ,   virtual forum to debrief . I asked each group to report out their takeaways , while I quickly captured the   shared commonalities and type of feedback it received from the rest of their team members . After the   session , I documented the meeting minutes , including the combined feedback , shared insights , open   questions , key concerns , and other considerations from the discussion , to distribute to my planning   team . This artifact now serves as a reference document that the team can always point back to as we   continue working through the details of event design . Documenting the key takeaways and shared   insights reinforces the group ’s understanding of the fundamental problem and shared insights that the   team can point back as a cornerstone for related decisions . 

 Insight & Approach 

 Establishing a clear understanding of the problem domain and developing core guiding principles based   on what my team agreed upon was a critical cornerstone to then progress forward in case conflict   arouse later in the ideation and/or execution phases . Since my team was early in the design thinking   process , there was lead time available for disagreement , inefficiencies , and ambiguity in order to 

 achieve consensus and decisions for the overall event design . The tool of Visualization solidified   alignment of our thinking and approach to the problem as well as drove shared insights for more   valuable results . Even though the way in which this annual event is delivered changed from an in - person   to a virtual experience , our human - centered challenge required us to level set context of the problem in   order to re - create a guest experience effectively and maintain its status as the # 1 ranked event attended   by Manager - level employees . 

 Using the tool of visual thinking with our challenge forced creative ideas to be explored with diagrams ,   instead of being verbally open for interpretation in a slightly different way . Thus , my team evolved its   thinking from a single activity set ( e.g. simply digitizing the same event content to be available on video   broadcasts without a physical event venue ) into a larger set of event design activities ( e.g. restructuring   design elements to make an event execution successful , engaging , and highly attended ) . 

 Practicing the use of visualization helps me become a better communicator – both written and verbally .   After taking this course , I realized that I do n’t have to have all the “ right answer ” to an open - ended   question , but I can leverage images to stimulate unbounded creativity , imagination , and exploratory   thinking . Without the support of visualization techniques , like categorization and the use of structured   color , innovative ideas generated risk getting “ lost ” if not quickly captured visually for further   exploratory discussion or risk overlooking the commonalities between insights . In our next planning   team session , I will practice additional visualization techniques , such as mapping process flows , to   explore the next level of detailed planning for a revised event schedule / agenda . While scheduled to   occur virtually in October 2020 , my team ’s redesign will consider all the insights shared on what makes   an effective , engaging , and compelling event .
### Output: 