Design Thinking for Innovation 

 Final Assignment : Reflection – Visualization 

 Challenge and Selection 

 I am a freelance Digital Marketing Consultant , with focus on Social Media . I used the   Visualization tool in a project of a client of mine ; let ’s call him Health Shop ( for Privacy   reasons ) . Health Shop is a well - established physical retail store in a small town . Health Shop   sells everything you need for your well - being , from head to toe , and they specialize in   alternative fitness methods as well as oral hygiene . Two years ago they launched an online   shop , with poor sales so far . The consulted me in order to figure out their Omnichannel    Marketing strategy as the team was n’t in the digital natives category ( all of them in their 50s )   and neither did they know how nor did they want to use the new media . 

 It was a difficult task for me , because before I could even start and plan out a digital strategy   for them , I had to convince the Management and make them understand that the Marketing   of today is different than the Marketing they had learned a couple of decades ago . Most of   them were also reluctant to Social Media platforms such as Facebook and Twitter ; they had   Privacy and Security concerns , did n’t use them in their free time and thought it was just   “ something for the kiddies ” . 

 I decided to set up a meeting with all the stakeholders : owners , management , employees   and to make it more of a workshop than a traditional gathering . I knew that before I could lay   out my digital strategy for their business , I first had to make them understand how Marketing   and Social Media “ tick ” nowadays . They were a tough crowd , and I decided that instead of   having me talk for one hour straight or even more , I would have them participate in a   workshop about Social Media and Digital Communication . Visualization would help them   understand this new , exciting world much better , the tool would make sure that we are all   talking about the same thing and stay focused and in line . 

 Application 

 All stakeholders of the Health Shop participated in the workshop ; I gathered the small team   of five in the shop on a Saturday afternoon .   A big , round table was moved and placed in the   middle of the shop in order for every participant to have an open and flowing communication   with everybody else . I set up two white boards , each of them equipped with markers and   post - its in different colors . 

 Part I of the workshop : On the top of the left white board I placed a sign with the word   “ classic ” on it . On the right board the sign had written the word “ digital ” on it . I then drew a   simple , big stickman , on   both of those boards and asked each of them to think about their   customer life cycle and write each thought that comes to mind ( I set a maximum of three   words ) on a post - it note . Every participant was assigned to a specific color of post - its , in   order to keep them apart . I gave them 10 minutes and then they put their notes onto the   drawing of the stick man and connect their post - its ( thoughts ) with an arrow in order to have   the full cycle . 

 We discussed every created cycle shortly and then grouped the similar thoughts in patterns :   explore , consider , buy , use and so on . This was also done with the help of visualization tools ,   as I drew a map of this customer journey on the board and placed the post - its with a similar   meaning together in groups . 

 Part II : Then , it was my turn to focus on each of those groups we had created and stress out   the few similarities , but most importantly , the differences between the classic marketing and   the digital one . For this purpose I used again visualization in form of video and images from   social media channels and successful strategies of well - known brands which were in the   same business as my client . Along the way , I re - explained important keywords such as   “ reach ” , “ engagement ” , “ virality ” , “ digital authenticity ” , “ community ” and so on . 

 Part III ( final ): We repeated the first part of the workshop on the right board , the “ digital ” one ,   but now the team used the knowledge and insights they had gathered from the discussion in   Part II . The ideas and thoughts that were shared after completing this part were more than   amazing ! The team appeared to understand that Social Media are not just a game or a   means to share cat content , that communication is now a two way street , with much more   customer touch points and that in order to succeed in the Omnichannel business they had to   re - think and re - set their marketing approach . 

 Insight and Approach 

 To be honest , it was the first time I used Design Thinking Tools , and the first time I had a   workshop like this ! It surely wo n’t be the last time ! The visualization tool helps to bring your   point across , everyone jumps onboard and participates ; no matter if it is the boss of the   company or the intern , they all work together and brainstorm as a group . The visuals help   stakeholders to focus on the task at hand , it supports them in their thinking process and I   believe it simplifies the problem , regardless of its complexity . It also helps identify weak   areas of an organization or team , as it makes deficiencies or difficulties more clear . I will use   surely use this tool again , in combination with storytelling especially if I have to solve a   problem on multiple levels . 


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 

 Final Assignment : Reflection – Visualization 

 Challenge and Selection 

 I am a freelance Digital Marketing Consultant , with focus on Social Media . I used the   Visualization tool in a project of a client of mine ; let ’s call him Health Shop ( for Privacy   reasons ) . Health Shop is a well - established physical retail store in a small town . Health Shop   sells everything you need for your well - being , from head to toe , and they specialize in   alternative fitness methods as well as oral hygiene . Two years ago they launched an online   shop , with poor sales so far . The consulted me in order to figure out their Omnichannel    Marketing strategy as the team was n’t in the digital natives category ( all of them in their 50s )   and neither did they know how nor did they want to use the new media . 

 It was a difficult task for me , because before I could even start and plan out a digital strategy   for them , I had to convince the Management and make them understand that the Marketing   of today is different than the Marketing they had learned a couple of decades ago . Most of   them were also reluctant to Social Media platforms such as Facebook and Twitter ; they had   Privacy and Security concerns , did n’t use them in their free time and thought it was just   “ something for the kiddies ” . 

 I decided to set up a meeting with all the stakeholders : owners , management , employees   and to make it more of a workshop than a traditional gathering . I knew that before I could lay   out my digital strategy for their business , I first had to make them understand how Marketing   and Social Media “ tick ” nowadays . They were a tough crowd , and I decided that instead of   having me talk for one hour straight or even more , I would have them participate in a   workshop about Social Media and Digital Communication . Visualization would help them   understand this new , exciting world much better , the tool would make sure that we are all   talking about the same thing and stay focused and in line . 

 Application 

 All stakeholders of the Health Shop participated in the workshop ; I gathered the small team   of five in the shop on a Saturday afternoon .   A big , round table was moved and placed in the   middle of the shop in order for every participant to have an open and flowing communication   with everybody else . I set up two white boards , each of them equipped with markers and   post - its in different colors . 

 Part I of the workshop : On the top of the left white board I placed a sign with the word   “ classic ” on it . On the right board the sign had written the word “ digital ” on it . I then drew a   simple , big stickman , on   both of those boards and asked each of them to think about their   customer life cycle and write each thought that comes to mind ( I set a maximum of three   words ) on a post - it note . Every participant was assigned to a specific color of post - its , in   order to keep them apart . I gave them 10 minutes and then they put their notes onto the   drawing of the stick man and connect their post - its ( thoughts ) with an arrow in order to have   the full cycle . 

 We discussed every created cycle shortly and then grouped the similar thoughts in patterns :   explore , consider , buy , use and so on . This was also done with the help of visualization tools ,   as I drew a map of this customer journey on the board and placed the post - its with a similar   meaning together in groups . 

 Part II : Then , it was my turn to focus on each of those groups we had created and stress out   the few similarities , but most importantly , the differences between the classic marketing and   the digital one . For this purpose I used again visualization in form of video and images from   social media channels and successful strategies of well - known brands which were in the   same business as my client . Along the way , I re - explained important keywords such as   “ reach ” , “ engagement ” , “ virality ” , “ digital authenticity ” , “ community ” and so on . 

 Part III ( final ): We repeated the first part of the workshop on the right board , the “ digital ” one ,   but now the team used the knowledge and insights they had gathered from the discussion in   Part II . The ideas and thoughts that were shared after completing this part were more than   amazing ! The team appeared to understand that Social Media are not just a game or a   means to share cat content , that communication is now a two way street , with much more   customer touch points and that in order to succeed in the Omnichannel business they had to   re - think and re - set their marketing approach . 

 Insight and Approach 

 To be honest , it was the first time I used Design Thinking Tools , and the first time I had a   workshop like this ! It surely wo n’t be the last time ! The visualization tool helps to bring your   point across , everyone jumps onboard and participates ; no matter if it is the boss of the   company or the intern , they all work together and brainstorm as a group . The visuals help   stakeholders to focus on the task at hand , it supports them in their thinking process and I   believe it simplifies the problem , regardless of its complexity . It also helps identify weak   areas of an organization or team , as it makes deficiencies or difficulties more clear . I will use   surely use this tool again , in combination with storytelling especially if I have to solve a   problem on multiple levels .
### Output: 