Challenge & Selection 

 Information Visualization technics has been widely used in exploring complex data space . In   the area of management information systems visualization , the extreme complexity and   professional requirements of information needs of a diverse stakeholder make it hard to   design visualization strategies facilitating their daily works . This essay introduces an   interactive tool I used was the tool of Visualization , to achieve a shared understanding of a   problem space among a diverse group of stakeholders before attempting to identify and   define possible solutions to the problem . I use this approach often with our project   stakeholders , who are multilateral , bilateral , private sector , civil society and government   agencies working to apply technology innovations to modernize early warning triggers high   frequency monitoring system to UNDP project participants . I have used the technique of using   a straw man visualization of a problem domain with a set of questions or prompts for   discussion to allow a diverse group of stakeholders to learn from each other in the process of   defining the scope , boundaries , key elements , and relationships between elements to   consider when identifying pain points and opportunities for improvements or solutions .    Application 

 I start the process by creating a straw man graphic of the problem domain . This list is not   meant to be exhaustive but includes some examples of occasions when a straw man could be   used to drive team problem solving : Initial hypothesis for the overarching answer for a   stakeholder ’s engagement ; preliminary outline ( " dot - dash " ) for a PowerPoint presentation   storyline ; draft version of a PowerPoint page for making a particularly challenging point &   simple , working model in Excel that will eventually require more complex functionality .   To   this end , to develop the straw man graphic , I will draw from any existing material available to   understand the early warning function disaster early warning management environment in   Zimbabwe . The existing material may be operational or procedural documents , training   materials , or other context assessment reports . If materials are not available , then I conduct   informal interviews with all of the diverse stakeholders who serve as my main points of   contact on the project . If appropriate to the situation , I will borrow the concept to “ front- stage / back - stage ” from previous research , and discussed in David Gray ’s book , “ The   Connected Company ” . The front - stage / back - stage approach helps to reinforce the notion   that every service – even an internal service – has project participants with whom the service   provider interacts and internal processes that enable the organization to provide the service .   The template I often start with also has a column on the left to identify potential role of the   stakeholders and a column on the right to identify the steering committee with oversight   functions . The straw man graphic is simple , using simple shapes and icons available in Visio or   on the Internet . If the front - stage / back - stage view does n’t work , then I will create a different   type of visual , either based on a high - level process flow with swim lanes for different   stakeholders , or another format . For the activity , I will divide the stakeholders into groups of   7 - 8 participants each representing a different organization or area of interest . Each group   receives a poster - size copy of the straw man graphic that they can write on directly or use 

 sticky notes to make comments . I give them two - three questions to answer , such as : 1 ) What   key elements are missing from the graphic ? 2 ) What would you change about the graphic to   make it more accurately reflect your problem space ? 3 ) What key insights do you have about   the relationships between the entities in your problem space ? I give them approximately 30   minutes to discuss the questions and mark up the graphic . Then I have each group report out   on their answers with their justifications to those three questions while pointing to the mark- ups on their poster . As each group reports out , I record commonalities in the insights of each   group , and then additional insights that come from the group discussion on an additional copy   of the graphic . After the session , I digitize each group ’s poster as an item , create a view that   combines the shared and new insights from the group discussion , and then create a revised   graphic that incorporates their feedback and proposed changes that they agreed to as a   group . 

 Insight & Approach 

 The most important thing to design using the visualization tool is the user 's conceptual model .   Everything else should be subordinated to making that model clear , obvious , and substantial .   That is almost exactly the opposite of how most technology - based solution is designed What   I have learned from conducting this exercise with several stakeholders is , in each of the   examples above , it is much easier for a group of people to engage in discussion about a draft   version of something rather than debating it in abstract .   The intent is never for the straw   man to be the ultimate answer , instead , it is a tool to help get to the best answer . The   arguments and ideas that arise from the straw man provide valuable feedback that inform   and improve the final answer .   Sometimes , the most successful straw man is the one that gets   discarded but adds tremendous value by revealing where the answer is NOT . Furthermore ,   while the graphic – especially the revised graphic that incorporates their feedback – is   important for reinforcing their understanding of the problem they are working to solve ; the   more valuable aspect of the activity is the shared insights and shared learning that occurs   while they are working to define their problem space . The graphic gives the diverse group of   stakeholders a focal point for discussion that allows them to share their perspectives and   develop insights into potential root causes of their problems . While they could create the   graphic from a blank slate in a collaborative manner , starting with a straw man jump starts   the conversation for them . They can quickly identify where they are in the graphic – or if they   are missing – and can more quickly gain new insights about relationships between key entities   instead of taking time to identify them . They can also identify variables in the problem space   – that is , it helps them to identify what they do n’t know , in what areas they need to obtain   information or data to provide the values for the early warnings trigger indicators for   informing early warning and early action for the project stakeholders . Since I discovered that   the most valuable aspect is the shared insights and learning , next time I would use the   visualization tool as a starting point for a series of design thinking activities . Then the revised   graphic that incorporates their combined feedback can serve as a reference tool throughout   the remainder of their work . 


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: Challenge & Selection 

 Information Visualization technics has been widely used in exploring complex data space . In   the area of management information systems visualization , the extreme complexity and   professional requirements of information needs of a diverse stakeholder make it hard to   design visualization strategies facilitating their daily works . This essay introduces an   interactive tool I used was the tool of Visualization , to achieve a shared understanding of a   problem space among a diverse group of stakeholders before attempting to identify and   define possible solutions to the problem . I use this approach often with our project   stakeholders , who are multilateral , bilateral , private sector , civil society and government   agencies working to apply technology innovations to modernize early warning triggers high   frequency monitoring system to UNDP project participants . I have used the technique of using   a straw man visualization of a problem domain with a set of questions or prompts for   discussion to allow a diverse group of stakeholders to learn from each other in the process of   defining the scope , boundaries , key elements , and relationships between elements to   consider when identifying pain points and opportunities for improvements or solutions .    Application 

 I start the process by creating a straw man graphic of the problem domain . This list is not   meant to be exhaustive but includes some examples of occasions when a straw man could be   used to drive team problem solving : Initial hypothesis for the overarching answer for a   stakeholder ’s engagement ; preliminary outline ( " dot - dash " ) for a PowerPoint presentation   storyline ; draft version of a PowerPoint page for making a particularly challenging point &   simple , working model in Excel that will eventually require more complex functionality .   To   this end , to develop the straw man graphic , I will draw from any existing material available to   understand the early warning function disaster early warning management environment in   Zimbabwe . The existing material may be operational or procedural documents , training   materials , or other context assessment reports . If materials are not available , then I conduct   informal interviews with all of the diverse stakeholders who serve as my main points of   contact on the project . If appropriate to the situation , I will borrow the concept to “ front- stage / back - stage ” from previous research , and discussed in David Gray ’s book , “ The   Connected Company ” . The front - stage / back - stage approach helps to reinforce the notion   that every service – even an internal service – has project participants with whom the service   provider interacts and internal processes that enable the organization to provide the service .   The template I often start with also has a column on the left to identify potential role of the   stakeholders and a column on the right to identify the steering committee with oversight   functions . The straw man graphic is simple , using simple shapes and icons available in Visio or   on the Internet . If the front - stage / back - stage view does n’t work , then I will create a different   type of visual , either based on a high - level process flow with swim lanes for different   stakeholders , or another format . For the activity , I will divide the stakeholders into groups of   7 - 8 participants each representing a different organization or area of interest . Each group   receives a poster - size copy of the straw man graphic that they can write on directly or use 

 sticky notes to make comments . I give them two - three questions to answer , such as : 1 ) What   key elements are missing from the graphic ? 2 ) What would you change about the graphic to   make it more accurately reflect your problem space ? 3 ) What key insights do you have about   the relationships between the entities in your problem space ? I give them approximately 30   minutes to discuss the questions and mark up the graphic . Then I have each group report out   on their answers with their justifications to those three questions while pointing to the mark- ups on their poster . As each group reports out , I record commonalities in the insights of each   group , and then additional insights that come from the group discussion on an additional copy   of the graphic . After the session , I digitize each group ’s poster as an item , create a view that   combines the shared and new insights from the group discussion , and then create a revised   graphic that incorporates their feedback and proposed changes that they agreed to as a   group . 

 Insight & Approach 

 The most important thing to design using the visualization tool is the user 's conceptual model .   Everything else should be subordinated to making that model clear , obvious , and substantial .   That is almost exactly the opposite of how most technology - based solution is designed What   I have learned from conducting this exercise with several stakeholders is , in each of the   examples above , it is much easier for a group of people to engage in discussion about a draft   version of something rather than debating it in abstract .   The intent is never for the straw   man to be the ultimate answer , instead , it is a tool to help get to the best answer . The   arguments and ideas that arise from the straw man provide valuable feedback that inform   and improve the final answer .   Sometimes , the most successful straw man is the one that gets   discarded but adds tremendous value by revealing where the answer is NOT . Furthermore ,   while the graphic – especially the revised graphic that incorporates their feedback – is   important for reinforcing their understanding of the problem they are working to solve ; the   more valuable aspect of the activity is the shared insights and shared learning that occurs   while they are working to define their problem space . The graphic gives the diverse group of   stakeholders a focal point for discussion that allows them to share their perspectives and   develop insights into potential root causes of their problems . While they could create the   graphic from a blank slate in a collaborative manner , starting with a straw man jump starts   the conversation for them . They can quickly identify where they are in the graphic – or if they   are missing – and can more quickly gain new insights about relationships between key entities   instead of taking time to identify them . They can also identify variables in the problem space   – that is , it helps them to identify what they do n’t know , in what areas they need to obtain   information or data to provide the values for the early warnings trigger indicators for   informing early warning and early action for the project stakeholders . Since I discovered that   the most valuable aspect is the shared insights and learning , next time I would use the   visualization tool as a starting point for a series of design thinking activities . Then the revised   graphic that incorporates their combined feedback can serve as a reference tool throughout   the remainder of their work .
### Output: 