Reflection :   Mind Mapping Tool 

 Describe your challenge . 

 A few years ago , I was managing one of the largest frozen prepared meals brands in the United States . Our 

 media spend was in the double digits , but sales were softening , and appealing to new consumers was nearly 

 impossible . Several forces were colliding all at once , driving this downward trend . Consumers were growing 

 distrustful of large companies , and the definition of " healthy eating " was rapidly changing ; frozen was out , 

 fresh /"homemade " was in , lengthy ingredient statements were out , short and simple was in , and so on . As 

 millennials grew up and the food network became their entertainment , meal expectations rose ! 

 For a few years , the team believed that we did n't need to appeal to everyone and that our target market 

 ( boomers ) was satisfied . What the team failed to realize was the " health " revolution was not a characteristic 

 of a younger segment , but a massive trend impacting all consumer segments at different rates . Based on this 

 fact and the lack of growth , the organization agreed to move forward on a project that would guide the 

 evolution of the brand positioning . Evolving a brand positioning has impacts on both marketing and product 

 strategies , and it was critical to secure senior enrollment in the project and throughout the process . 

 Describe the tool you selected . 

 I choose to focus on Mind Mapping because it is a tool that serves as the foundation of the What if phase of 

 design thinking . It is also my most favorite part of design thinking because I get to play detective with my 

 teams . " Mind Mapping is looking for patterns and insights in the large quantity of data you collected during 

 the exploration of What is . " Mind mapping bridges the What is and the What if stages by developing clear 

 design criteria statements that align with the problem or opportunity defined in What is . Because we are not 

 yet in concept development , it is critical to ask , if anything were possible , what criteria would the new design 

 meet . This keeps the team focused on the problem without constraints . 

 Describe how you applied the tool you selected to your challenge . 

 First and foremost , we created a large cross - functional team made up of many different functions , including 

 marketing , research , finance , sales , operations , purchasing , food scientists , R&D , and more . We divided the 

 teams into top , medium , and low participants . The top participants were group leaders , and most of their time 

 was dedicated to the project . The medium participants were on the team and met weekly with the group 

 leaders . The low participants were the broader group and served to help secure data , insights , and provide 

 critiques . Before the mind mapping , we organized and analyzed data into four key themes : market trends , 

 consumer insights , competitive landscape , company orthodoxies . These four themes allowed the group to 

 form into four teams made up of top / medium / low participants . Each team ( i.e. , the market trends team , the 

 consumer insights team , the competitive landscape team , and the company orthodoxy team ) had to provide 

 the data or insight on a ppt slide , a post - it , a picture , etc . to be hung in a war room . 

 It was now time to start mind mapping ! The room looked like a modern art masterpiece , with pictures , words , 

 quotes , collages , and lots of post - it covering the walls . Each team read their insights and added some color 

 around the data point before the team physically connected the data points . Each team had a chance to 

 connect the insights to one another and form clusters . Project managers took notes and pictures of the 

 various clusters , keeping tabs of the " lone " insights . The top and medium participants regrouped and 

 discussed all the themes that had emerged . Examples of themes included " nutritious but taste good , " 

 " comfort food and emotional eating , " " homemade vs. frozen , " etc . These teams reorganized to create insight 

 statements that would guide the criteria in the What if stage . 

 The tool was extremely useful in taking a lot of information and aligning with the most relevant themes . As the 

 team narrowed in size ( into marketing and research ) , it was easier to build insight statements . I believe the 

 key to the process was knowing when to expand and limit the participants . Most of the time , we did an 

 excellent job because we were aware of the design principles of collaboration . But there were a few moments 

 in the project that a smaller team of cross - functional members would have sufficed and prevented tangents . 

 Describe the insight you gained from applying the tool you selected to your challenge 

 I believe the most essential part of mind mapping is the discussion . I think some folks thought the project was 

 complete once the insights and data were grouped into themes . There is a lot to articulate behind an idea . It is 

 incredible how people can see one theme and interpret it differently than another individual . Discussing the 

 themes after they were formed helped to generate keywords needed to build strong insight statements . 

 These insights statements guide the design criteria . This criterion is essential to thinking about possible 

 solutions to the design challenge and the foundation of the What if ? phase . 

 Describe what you might do differently next time . 

 Mind mapping is an excellent tool to navigate through a lot of data and insights . It definitely takes a 

 commitment from many people in the organization , especially on a large - scale project like evolving the brand 

 positioning . The marketing team and market research team understood the process , but many other functions 

 quickly discussed solutions throughout the mind mapping process . This often - created moments of pause and 

 frustration . The next time I use this tool , I will use a storytelling technique to help cross - functional team 

 members understand the purpose and outcomes of   this process . Every meeting started with an objective , but 

 it was often forgotten . I believe repeating the " yard sale " example at the start of every meeting ( and where we 

 are in the " yard sale " ) would have resonated with cross - functional team members not as familiar with design 

 thinking . 


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 :   Mind Mapping Tool 

 Describe your challenge . 

 A few years ago , I was managing one of the largest frozen prepared meals brands in the United States . Our 

 media spend was in the double digits , but sales were softening , and appealing to new consumers was nearly 

 impossible . Several forces were colliding all at once , driving this downward trend . Consumers were growing 

 distrustful of large companies , and the definition of " healthy eating " was rapidly changing ; frozen was out , 

 fresh /"homemade " was in , lengthy ingredient statements were out , short and simple was in , and so on . As 

 millennials grew up and the food network became their entertainment , meal expectations rose ! 

 For a few years , the team believed that we did n't need to appeal to everyone and that our target market 

 ( boomers ) was satisfied . What the team failed to realize was the " health " revolution was not a characteristic 

 of a younger segment , but a massive trend impacting all consumer segments at different rates . Based on this 

 fact and the lack of growth , the organization agreed to move forward on a project that would guide the 

 evolution of the brand positioning . Evolving a brand positioning has impacts on both marketing and product 

 strategies , and it was critical to secure senior enrollment in the project and throughout the process . 

 Describe the tool you selected . 

 I choose to focus on Mind Mapping because it is a tool that serves as the foundation of the What if phase of 

 design thinking . It is also my most favorite part of design thinking because I get to play detective with my 

 teams . " Mind Mapping is looking for patterns and insights in the large quantity of data you collected during 

 the exploration of What is . " Mind mapping bridges the What is and the What if stages by developing clear 

 design criteria statements that align with the problem or opportunity defined in What is . Because we are not 

 yet in concept development , it is critical to ask , if anything were possible , what criteria would the new design 

 meet . This keeps the team focused on the problem without constraints . 

 Describe how you applied the tool you selected to your challenge . 

 First and foremost , we created a large cross - functional team made up of many different functions , including 

 marketing , research , finance , sales , operations , purchasing , food scientists , R&D , and more . We divided the 

 teams into top , medium , and low participants . The top participants were group leaders , and most of their time 

 was dedicated to the project . The medium participants were on the team and met weekly with the group 

 leaders . The low participants were the broader group and served to help secure data , insights , and provide 

 critiques . Before the mind mapping , we organized and analyzed data into four key themes : market trends , 

 consumer insights , competitive landscape , company orthodoxies . These four themes allowed the group to 

 form into four teams made up of top / medium / low participants . Each team ( i.e. , the market trends team , the 

 consumer insights team , the competitive landscape team , and the company orthodoxy team ) had to provide 

 the data or insight on a ppt slide , a post - it , a picture , etc . to be hung in a war room . 

 It was now time to start mind mapping ! The room looked like a modern art masterpiece , with pictures , words , 

 quotes , collages , and lots of post - it covering the walls . Each team read their insights and added some color 

 around the data point before the team physically connected the data points . Each team had a chance to 

 connect the insights to one another and form clusters . Project managers took notes and pictures of the 

 various clusters , keeping tabs of the " lone " insights . The top and medium participants regrouped and 

 discussed all the themes that had emerged . Examples of themes included " nutritious but taste good , " 

 " comfort food and emotional eating , " " homemade vs. frozen , " etc . These teams reorganized to create insight 

 statements that would guide the criteria in the What if stage . 

 The tool was extremely useful in taking a lot of information and aligning with the most relevant themes . As the 

 team narrowed in size ( into marketing and research ) , it was easier to build insight statements . I believe the 

 key to the process was knowing when to expand and limit the participants . Most of the time , we did an 

 excellent job because we were aware of the design principles of collaboration . But there were a few moments 

 in the project that a smaller team of cross - functional members would have sufficed and prevented tangents . 

 Describe the insight you gained from applying the tool you selected to your challenge 

 I believe the most essential part of mind mapping is the discussion . I think some folks thought the project was 

 complete once the insights and data were grouped into themes . There is a lot to articulate behind an idea . It is 

 incredible how people can see one theme and interpret it differently than another individual . Discussing the 

 themes after they were formed helped to generate keywords needed to build strong insight statements . 

 These insights statements guide the design criteria . This criterion is essential to thinking about possible 

 solutions to the design challenge and the foundation of the What if ? phase . 

 Describe what you might do differently next time . 

 Mind mapping is an excellent tool to navigate through a lot of data and insights . It definitely takes a 

 commitment from many people in the organization , especially on a large - scale project like evolving the brand 

 positioning . The marketing team and market research team understood the process , but many other functions 

 quickly discussed solutions throughout the mind mapping process . This often - created moments of pause and 

 frustration . The next time I use this tool , I will use a storytelling technique to help cross - functional team 

 members understand the purpose and outcomes of   this process . Every meeting started with an objective , but 

 it was often forgotten . I believe repeating the " yard sale " example at the start of every meeting ( and where we 

 are in the " yard sale " ) would have resonated with cross - functional team members not as familiar with design 

 thinking .
### Output: 