Reflection – Visualization 

 Challenge 

 A need arose within our Global Billing Operations organization for a front - door tool dedicated to the   take - in , tracking and reporting of the Organization ’s manual billing requests . This task had previously   been with multiple billing tools , of which the two important for our region were soon to be sunset . The   new tool had to combine the formerly used tools ’ functions , serving as a “ vessel ” for a manual billing   request throughout its lifecycle – from submission , review , through approval , to its completion upon   invoicing . In addition to that , it was supposed to establish a standardized audit trail , reduce the overall   complexity for the various billing organizations , and reduce the overall complexity and variations of   manual billing process handling across the different teams . Though the new tool had to accommodate   some existing diversity , the goal was to have a level of uniformity and consistency in data collection and   processing across the board . 

 Selection and Application 

 For this challenge , VISUALIZATION was one of the key components in approaching this task . We needed   to have a visual representation of the tool ’s complex space and how the submitted manual billing   requests would flow through the various “ gates ” per the process . Although this development stage was   preceded by a meticulous collection of the business and functional requirements from the numerous   stakeholders , it was important to really see how the functions of the previously used tools were   incorporated , what the new relationships were , and where did the various stakeholders step in during   the request ’s journey . 

 Diagrams and mock - ups were utilized for the representation of the tool ’s space . As the tool needed to   house multiple manual billing request templates used by various organizations , the different teams sat   down and discussed the various aspects in the visualization separately . This was an effective application   as each team could concentrate on their own little eco - system in which their manual billing requests   would exist , and they could talk about the specific challenges or improvements to their area of the tool . 

 Insight 

 The visualization presented a quick and valuable insight into the possible scenarios where a certain   condition within the process was / could not be met and open up a discussion and generate ideas where   a manual billing request ’s flow should be reversed to in order to adhere to the process , or for any   functional improvements . Visualization was really the most effective tool to use in this case as the   complexity of the process and the tool ’s functions were simply too difficult to be told as a story . Hearing   instead of seeing in this case could leave too great of a room for error , or misunderstandings – we   simply may be understanding the words slightly differently and the saying “ A picture is worth a 

 thousand words ” rings very true here . Having the tool ’s environment at glance through this clear visual   representation established what ’s what from the start and allowed the group to test their assumptions   and to focus on the true challenges . 

 Looking at design thinking in broader terms , I realized there are various types of challenges out there   and they may require or be most effectively solved by applying one or the other of the tools that design   thinking offers . While for challenge X , the best approach may be storytelling , for challenge Y , it may be   visualization or mind mapping , while challenge Z will be best solved through the learning launch . 

 Approach 

 If I faced this kind of challenge again , I would choose visualization again . The above challenge was a case   where many of the what is had been already established and known , there was a certain process in   place , the stakeholders were organizations within our corporation – and what we needed to do was to   create a tool which would be an incorporation and an improved version of the functions in the already   used tools . Not much of a mystery here . 

 On the other hand , I can definitely imagine using storytelling in the creation of a tool or a mobile   application , given a different context . What if we were creating the product for our customers , the   public , without any idea of what their needs were . And though visualization would most certainly be   part of the later development process , the number 1 focus would be on storytelling , number 2 would be   the learning launch to test , learn and iterate as quickly as possible . 


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 

 A need arose within our Global Billing Operations organization for a front - door tool dedicated to the   take - in , tracking and reporting of the Organization ’s manual billing requests . This task had previously   been with multiple billing tools , of which the two important for our region were soon to be sunset . The   new tool had to combine the formerly used tools ’ functions , serving as a “ vessel ” for a manual billing   request throughout its lifecycle – from submission , review , through approval , to its completion upon   invoicing . In addition to that , it was supposed to establish a standardized audit trail , reduce the overall   complexity for the various billing organizations , and reduce the overall complexity and variations of   manual billing process handling across the different teams . Though the new tool had to accommodate   some existing diversity , the goal was to have a level of uniformity and consistency in data collection and   processing across the board . 

 Selection and Application 

 For this challenge , VISUALIZATION was one of the key components in approaching this task . We needed   to have a visual representation of the tool ’s complex space and how the submitted manual billing   requests would flow through the various “ gates ” per the process . Although this development stage was   preceded by a meticulous collection of the business and functional requirements from the numerous   stakeholders , it was important to really see how the functions of the previously used tools were   incorporated , what the new relationships were , and where did the various stakeholders step in during   the request ’s journey . 

 Diagrams and mock - ups were utilized for the representation of the tool ’s space . As the tool needed to   house multiple manual billing request templates used by various organizations , the different teams sat   down and discussed the various aspects in the visualization separately . This was an effective application   as each team could concentrate on their own little eco - system in which their manual billing requests   would exist , and they could talk about the specific challenges or improvements to their area of the tool . 

 Insight 

 The visualization presented a quick and valuable insight into the possible scenarios where a certain   condition within the process was / could not be met and open up a discussion and generate ideas where   a manual billing request ’s flow should be reversed to in order to adhere to the process , or for any   functional improvements . Visualization was really the most effective tool to use in this case as the   complexity of the process and the tool ’s functions were simply too difficult to be told as a story . Hearing   instead of seeing in this case could leave too great of a room for error , or misunderstandings – we   simply may be understanding the words slightly differently and the saying “ A picture is worth a 

 thousand words ” rings very true here . Having the tool ’s environment at glance through this clear visual   representation established what ’s what from the start and allowed the group to test their assumptions   and to focus on the true challenges . 

 Looking at design thinking in broader terms , I realized there are various types of challenges out there   and they may require or be most effectively solved by applying one or the other of the tools that design   thinking offers . While for challenge X , the best approach may be storytelling , for challenge Y , it may be   visualization or mind mapping , while challenge Z will be best solved through the learning launch . 

 Approach 

 If I faced this kind of challenge again , I would choose visualization again . The above challenge was a case   where many of the what is had been already established and known , there was a certain process in   place , the stakeholders were organizations within our corporation – and what we needed to do was to   create a tool which would be an incorporation and an improved version of the functions in the already   used tools . Not much of a mystery here . 

 On the other hand , I can definitely imagine using storytelling in the creation of a tool or a mobile   application , given a different context . What if we were creating the product for our customers , the   public , without any idea of what their needs were . And though visualization would most certainly be   part of the later development process , the number 1 focus would be on storytelling , number 2 would be   the learning launch to test , learn and iterate as quickly as possible .
### Output: 