Visualization Tool – Design Thinking 

 Challenge 

 I work in financial planning and analytics for a company that recently acquired another firm . The newly   acquired company had different operating structures and product mixes . An operating plan needed to   be developed for the following year and synergy needed to be created with the parent company and the   acquired company . Senior management from both companies needed to understand each other ’s   operating structures and product mix / revenue streams . Then , they could create a successful operating   plan and structure for the following year . 

 Selection 

 I chose the visualization tool to help senior management better understand the structures and financial   trends of both companies and to think about future possibilities and strategies . Visualizations help   access creativity in one ’s brain . Items such as : colors , symbols and graphs demonstrate concepts in ways   not comprehended by words . The synchronized visual understanding among a group of individuals will   aid in achieving a sense of agreement . This makes the discussion more mutually beneficial , and the   group will thrive , since they are able to agree and understand the issues . 

 Application 

 I decided to apply the visualization tool at an off - site planning meeting the following year after   acquisition . I created graphics that showed product mix and revenue trends by different geographic   areas through a visualization software called Tableau . This easily showed both the parent company and   the acquired company areas of opportunity and concern . Senior management was aligned on the issues   and created new strategies to fix areas of concern and capitalize on areas of opportunity . Organizational   chart tree views were created in Excel that showed the similarities and differences of the parent and   acquired company ’s organizational structures . One company had a much higher percentage of its   workface in upper management positions and the other had a much higher percentage in lower   management positions . The discussion was great and a completely new organization structure was   created by adding another layer of management as well as a few other changes . 

 Insight 

 I gained many insights when applying the visualization tool . The audience more easily understood the   chart and graph trends compared to just stagnantly showing numbers . Issues were easily identified and   agreed upon , so the discussion could focus on action plans . The organization chart trees were great   views that also easily allowed differences to be identified and created a framework for a new structure   to be built . The discussions and actions that particularly related to the organization structure piece of   the meeting benefited the company in multiple ways . Once an audience agrees on a challenge , ideas 

 and strategies come from multiple points of view on how to overcome the challenge . These insights   have motivated me to utilize more visualizations for all meetings . 

 Approach 

 I will use the visualization tool in the future as it does help facilitate discussion and aids in innovation .   The use of it during the operational structure / operating plan meeting did have successful outcomes , but   I would change a few things . I would not have covered so much material in a single day meeting . The   discussion and ideas during the operational structure meeting were amazing , but the delivery was cut   short due to time . Next time , I would utilize it throughout the span of a couple days . I would show the   views from the previous day and reflect on the discussions with a clear head to ensure that optimal   strategies are chosen . I would also use the Mind Mapping tool to identify patterns in everyone ’s ideas .   The meeting was successful and the new operating structure as well as the plan that was created will   add value to the company . 


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: Visualization Tool – Design Thinking 

 Challenge 

 I work in financial planning and analytics for a company that recently acquired another firm . The newly   acquired company had different operating structures and product mixes . An operating plan needed to   be developed for the following year and synergy needed to be created with the parent company and the   acquired company . Senior management from both companies needed to understand each other ’s   operating structures and product mix / revenue streams . Then , they could create a successful operating   plan and structure for the following year . 

 Selection 

 I chose the visualization tool to help senior management better understand the structures and financial   trends of both companies and to think about future possibilities and strategies . Visualizations help   access creativity in one ’s brain . Items such as : colors , symbols and graphs demonstrate concepts in ways   not comprehended by words . The synchronized visual understanding among a group of individuals will   aid in achieving a sense of agreement . This makes the discussion more mutually beneficial , and the   group will thrive , since they are able to agree and understand the issues . 

 Application 

 I decided to apply the visualization tool at an off - site planning meeting the following year after   acquisition . I created graphics that showed product mix and revenue trends by different geographic   areas through a visualization software called Tableau . This easily showed both the parent company and   the acquired company areas of opportunity and concern . Senior management was aligned on the issues   and created new strategies to fix areas of concern and capitalize on areas of opportunity . Organizational   chart tree views were created in Excel that showed the similarities and differences of the parent and   acquired company ’s organizational structures . One company had a much higher percentage of its   workface in upper management positions and the other had a much higher percentage in lower   management positions . The discussion was great and a completely new organization structure was   created by adding another layer of management as well as a few other changes . 

 Insight 

 I gained many insights when applying the visualization tool . The audience more easily understood the   chart and graph trends compared to just stagnantly showing numbers . Issues were easily identified and   agreed upon , so the discussion could focus on action plans . The organization chart trees were great   views that also easily allowed differences to be identified and created a framework for a new structure   to be built . The discussions and actions that particularly related to the organization structure piece of   the meeting benefited the company in multiple ways . Once an audience agrees on a challenge , ideas 

 and strategies come from multiple points of view on how to overcome the challenge . These insights   have motivated me to utilize more visualizations for all meetings . 

 Approach 

 I will use the visualization tool in the future as it does help facilitate discussion and aids in innovation .   The use of it during the operational structure / operating plan meeting did have successful outcomes , but   I would change a few things . I would not have covered so much material in a single day meeting . The   discussion and ideas during the operational structure meeting were amazing , but the delivery was cut   short due to time . Next time , I would utilize it throughout the span of a couple days . I would show the   views from the previous day and reflect on the discussions with a clear head to ensure that optimal   strategies are chosen . I would also use the Mind Mapping tool to identify patterns in everyone ’s ideas .   The meeting was successful and the new operating structure as well as the plan that was created will   add value to the company .
### Output: 