Reflection - Visualization 

 Challenge 

 I just joined as a Product Manager in a government agency with an engagement and product   management portfolio . I have been tasked by my supervisor to work with other government agencies   to understand their problem spaces and identify pain points and opportunities amongst diverse   groups of stakeholders within each government agency . Typically , how this is done is usually through   face - to - face discussion or skype calls , with the occasional screen - sharing of an email correspondence .   With that being said , there are hardly any visualization or visual thinking cues used during discussions   and this translates to me trying to imagine most of the stuff which the agencies have been describing   in the conversation , or that I ’d have to spend time writing to them after the meeting to re - clarify on   the points discussed . 

 Selection 

 The tool selected was the tool of visualization which honestly was a tool which was underutilized in   my course of work . I chose the visualization approach as it was a tool that could help the stakeholders   and myself think in a non - verbal way , which was lacking in our usual mode of discussions . It has a role   to play in all phases and it basically emphasizes the use of diagrams and pictures to help with   extrapolation of a certain topic that we are concerned with . I began to use the visualization approach   on a couple of occasions starting with my discussions generally also because I wanted to hone the   ability to use the visualization tool , which made it possible with the daily discussions with multiple   stakeholders to understand their pain points . 

 Application 

 With the work - from - home situation and now that discussions are conducted via skype / zoom calls by   default , I started to share my screen to the stakeholders on every discussion , making sure there was   existing material or diagrams or drawing available on - screen for me to annotate or draw on . If I   required multiple stakeholders to provide their opinions , I ’d make sure that I give them the access to   the annotation tool so that they are able to also draw on the existing material . If materials are not   available , then a white canvas ( like powerpoint / paint etc ) would suffice and the annotation tool will   be utilized in this case to draw on the white canvas . The process of visualization is simple as it only   requires the drawing of circles , squares , arrow - heads , stick - man , emotions on the stick - man . This   usually gives rise to very dependable conversations where stakeholders see the need to clarify each   single drawing that comes across ambiguous or non - defining . This gives rise to longer but deeper   conversations that can be further divided into sub - topics ( with pictures ) if need be . These sub - topics   pictures would then be further prioritized based on a needs - prioritization matrix – and this is via the   visualization tool again as each stakeholder has a list of sub - topics pictures to consider . During the   discussion , there will be interviews with all stakeholders to make sure that we address items that are   missing from the sub - topics , redefining the problem space if needed , and most importantly the sorting   of the various sub - topics into the needs - prioritization matrix . This will be digitized with insights and   sharings from the stakeholders to seek a common agreement on the proposed projects that they   agreed upon . 

 Insight & Approach 

 I have learnt that visualization gives rise to longer conversations that have more depth rather than   breadth , which is helpful in the case of getting the government agency ’s stakeholder to identify the   operational pain points and their aspirations of the project . I believe this is possible because the 

 motivation and the lengths at which the stakeholders would define and redefine a visual that ’s   representing the problem statement appears to be rather intrinsic and there is immeasurable value in   that . Discussion with visual cues also tended to be more focused and intense as compared to verbal   conversations without any visual cues . For newcomers like me , visualization actually helps to slow the   conversation down to a speed where everyone is on the same velocity , and that helps me to build a   conversation around small sub - topics more easily than I could if I were to just rely on verbal   discussions . Since the conversations are also now guided by visualization , discussions tend to be more   thorough with a very clear agenda , and where there are lapses in ideas , it is easier to spot and identify   them . I ’ve since fully appreciate the effect and value that visualization brings about , and this would   shape my future discussions at any phase . 


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 

 I just joined as a Product Manager in a government agency with an engagement and product   management portfolio . I have been tasked by my supervisor to work with other government agencies   to understand their problem spaces and identify pain points and opportunities amongst diverse   groups of stakeholders within each government agency . Typically , how this is done is usually through   face - to - face discussion or skype calls , with the occasional screen - sharing of an email correspondence .   With that being said , there are hardly any visualization or visual thinking cues used during discussions   and this translates to me trying to imagine most of the stuff which the agencies have been describing   in the conversation , or that I ’d have to spend time writing to them after the meeting to re - clarify on   the points discussed . 

 Selection 

 The tool selected was the tool of visualization which honestly was a tool which was underutilized in   my course of work . I chose the visualization approach as it was a tool that could help the stakeholders   and myself think in a non - verbal way , which was lacking in our usual mode of discussions . It has a role   to play in all phases and it basically emphasizes the use of diagrams and pictures to help with   extrapolation of a certain topic that we are concerned with . I began to use the visualization approach   on a couple of occasions starting with my discussions generally also because I wanted to hone the   ability to use the visualization tool , which made it possible with the daily discussions with multiple   stakeholders to understand their pain points . 

 Application 

 With the work - from - home situation and now that discussions are conducted via skype / zoom calls by   default , I started to share my screen to the stakeholders on every discussion , making sure there was   existing material or diagrams or drawing available on - screen for me to annotate or draw on . If I   required multiple stakeholders to provide their opinions , I ’d make sure that I give them the access to   the annotation tool so that they are able to also draw on the existing material . If materials are not   available , then a white canvas ( like powerpoint / paint etc ) would suffice and the annotation tool will   be utilized in this case to draw on the white canvas . The process of visualization is simple as it only   requires the drawing of circles , squares , arrow - heads , stick - man , emotions on the stick - man . This   usually gives rise to very dependable conversations where stakeholders see the need to clarify each   single drawing that comes across ambiguous or non - defining . This gives rise to longer but deeper   conversations that can be further divided into sub - topics ( with pictures ) if need be . These sub - topics   pictures would then be further prioritized based on a needs - prioritization matrix – and this is via the   visualization tool again as each stakeholder has a list of sub - topics pictures to consider . During the   discussion , there will be interviews with all stakeholders to make sure that we address items that are   missing from the sub - topics , redefining the problem space if needed , and most importantly the sorting   of the various sub - topics into the needs - prioritization matrix . This will be digitized with insights and   sharings from the stakeholders to seek a common agreement on the proposed projects that they   agreed upon . 

 Insight & Approach 

 I have learnt that visualization gives rise to longer conversations that have more depth rather than   breadth , which is helpful in the case of getting the government agency ’s stakeholder to identify the   operational pain points and their aspirations of the project . I believe this is possible because the 

 motivation and the lengths at which the stakeholders would define and redefine a visual that ’s   representing the problem statement appears to be rather intrinsic and there is immeasurable value in   that . Discussion with visual cues also tended to be more focused and intense as compared to verbal   conversations without any visual cues . For newcomers like me , visualization actually helps to slow the   conversation down to a speed where everyone is on the same velocity , and that helps me to build a   conversation around small sub - topics more easily than I could if I were to just rely on verbal   discussions . Since the conversations are also now guided by visualization , discussions tend to be more   thorough with a very clear agenda , and where there are lapses in ideas , it is easier to spot and identify   them . I ’ve since fully appreciate the effect and value that visualization brings about , and this would   shape my future discussions at any phase .
### Output: 