The Back of the Napkin
Workshop
Solving Problems with Pictures
Dan Roam
MIX08 :: UX03 :: March 5, 2008 :: The Venetian

Visual thinking: what problems, what pictures, and who is
„we‟?
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Rather than draw this:
Let‟s draw this:
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Rather than focus on this:
Let‟s focus on this:
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Exercise 1: the Who is „We‟ self-assessment
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a) I‟m in a brainstorming session in a conference room that
has a big whiteboard. I want to:
1. Go to the board, pick up a pen and start drawing circles and boxes.
2. Try to decipher whatever is already written on the board.
3. Go to the board and start writing categorized lists.
Add a little clarification to what’s already up there – you know, to make
4.
it clearer.
5. Forget the whiteboard – come on here, people, we’ve got work to do!
6. I hate brainstorming sessions.
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b) Someone hands me a pen and asks me to sketch out a
particular idea. I:
1. Ask for more pens, preferably in at least three colors.
2. Just start sketching and see what emerges.
Say, “I can’t draw, but…” and then make a horrible stick figure.
3.
4. Start by writing a few words, then putting boxes around them.
5. Put the pen on the table and start talking.
Say, “No thanks, I can’t draw”, and leave it at that.
6.
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c) Someone hands me a complicated spreadsheet and
asks me to look it over. I first:
1. Glaze over and hope it will go away.
2. Flip through the pages and see if something – I dunno, whatever – pops up.
3. Read across the top of the columns or down each row in order, to identify
the categories.
4. Select a row and column at random and follow them to the data cell, then
look for similar (or different) data results in other cells.
5. Look for the largest or smallest values I can find, then trace them back to
identify them.
6. Notice that OPEX variance to budget is down for the second quarter in a
row.
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d) On my way home from a conference, I see a cute fellow
attendee at the airport cafe, and he or she asks me what I
do. I:
1. Grab a napkin and ask the waiter if I can borrow a pen.
2. Pick up three packs of Sweet-n-Low, lay them on the bar, point to one and
say, “Okay, this is me over here, and this is the customer over here…”
3. Pull out a page from my PowerPoint deck – a really good page – and start
walking through it.
4. Start to recite my original job description: “There are three things that I
do…”.
5. “What I do? Well, better buy another round, because we’re going to be
talking a while.”
6. Say it’s too complicated to explain well, but ask him/her the same question.
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f) I‟m an astronaut floating in space. The first thing I do is:
1. Take a deep breath, relax, and take in the whole view.
2. Pull out my camera.
Try to spot my house… or at least my continent.
3.
4. Start describing what I see.
5. Close my eyes.
6. Find a way to get back into my spacecraft.
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Now comes the math, I‟m afraid…
5-14 15-20 21-30
On a napkin, write your pen COLOR, and then…
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Napkin exercise, step 1
Draw a
circle and
call it
“me”…
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Step 1b
Now draw
another
circle
(more like
a cloud)
and give it
a name,
too…
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So, which problems shall we look at…
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What‟s the business strategy challenge?
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Put into words…
The challenge:
 A new strategic vision
 A refined company
mission
 A new operating
philosophy
 New retail fundamentals
 New store standards
 New customer practices
 New training materials
+
100 new staff every
month…
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How about a napkin map?
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Product development: Why are we collecting all these
numbers?
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What are the three things the CFO does want to look at?
Financial
Drivers
Date Org
Cut Unit
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So, what might *that* look like…
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Or, when executed in Expression Blend…
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Step 3
Draw in
the last
circle, only
make this
one more
of a
hotdog…
then add in
a+
symbol…
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Step 3
The
universal
visual
thinking
problem
solving
toolkit…
Draw in
the first set
of 3
blades…
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3 parts or ourselves to improve
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Step 4
Draw in
the next
set of
blades,
this time 4
of them…
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Let‟s think about „process‟ for a moment…
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The 4 steps of visual thinking:
How can I manipulate This is what I saw, and
What is out there? What do I see?
these patterns? this is what I think it
What am I looking at? Have I seen this before? means.
Can I fill in the gaps?
What are the limits? What patterns emerge?
Is this what I
Have I seen enough – expected… or not?
Which way is up? What stands out?
or do I need to go back
What seems to be and look at more? When you look at this,
do you see the same
missing?
things?
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Step 5
Now draw
in a
corkscrew,
and give it 5
twists…
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*whew* Time for a break on the islands…
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How about ten apples?
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Meet the SQVID… a.k.a „The 5 focusing questions‟
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Two ways to use the SQVID
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SQV.. examples:
Qualitativ
Simple
Vision
e
Elaborate
Quantitative Execution
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..ID examples…
Delta
(change)
Individual
Status-
Quo
Comparis
on
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Step 6
Now draw
in the last
set of 6
blades…
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The 6 ways we see:
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<6><6>
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Framework 1: “Portraits” for WHO / WHAT problems
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Framework 2: “Charts” for HOW MUCH / HOW MANY
problems
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Framework 3: “Maps” for WHERE problems
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Framework 4: “Timelines” for WHEN problems
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Framework 5: “Flowcharts” for HOW problems
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Framework 6: “Multiple-variable Plots” for WHY problems
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Step 7
Done: our
very own
visual thinking
universal
problem
solving tool kit!
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Step 8
Give it to a
friend, and help
them see the
power of visual
thinking, too.
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Speaking of airplanes…
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Dan Roam
djroam@gmail.com
Office: 415-695-0231
Mobile: 415-823-5794
39 Romain St.
SF, CA 94114
www.digitalroam.typepad.com
www.thebackofthenapkin.com
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