Capturing requirements using Visual Thinking

1. Visual Thinking for
Business Analysis
Practitioners
Kenneth McGrath
Senior Business Analyst and Project
Management Consultant
Ottawa, Canada

2. Visual Thinking
Theory and Examples

3. What is Visual Thinking?
 Simple: It’s thinking in pictures.
 Visual thinking allows us to solve
complex problems, especially once we
know more about how visual thinking
works…

4. Why Visual?
 Visual Modality & Learning
 The visual modality is our primary
source of information.
 Visual images are easily stored and
retrieved from our long term memory.
 We can associate visual images and
their meaning with messages in other
contexts.
• Example: Hypnotic Writing for Sales

5. Hypnotic Writing for Sales
Opening
1. Stopper: Get Attention > Merge to Trance
2. Reel Them In: Promise/Benefit/Curiosity
3. Build Desire: Emotion, Paint Picture, Tell Story
Pitching
4. Give Reasons: Logic, Explain/Develop
5. Dialogue: Rebut Objections (Mind Reading)
6. Prove It: Statistics, Testimonials
Closing
7. Guarantee: Risk Reversal
8. Action: Why Buy Now?
9. Reminder/P.S.: Pain/Pleasure, Added Gifts

6. Hypnotic Writing for Sales
Opening
Pitching
A+B=C ? !
Closing
Act P.S.
Now!
100% +

7. Hypnotic Writing Form
 Uses the visual icons
to depict what should
be written.
 Is way more intuitive to
use.
 Visuals aren’t even
needed after a while as
they become easily
memorized.

8. Textually-biased Learning
 We learn to speak (informally)
 We learn to read and write (formally)
 THEN the remainder of our formal
learning is largely based upon “text”
(reading and writing)

9. Text: How efficient?
 Reading (Within a language context):
 Decode written symbols to sounds
 Process sounds within grammar logic
 Derive semantic meaning
 example:
• r-a-b-b-i-t = rab-bit
• rabbit = noun, describes furry mammal
with buck teeth, long ears

10. Text: How efficient?
 Decode written symbols to
rabbit 
sounds
Process sounds within
grammar logic
 Derive semantic meaning
vs.
 Derive visual meaning

11. Text: How effective?
 We don’t know much about the
particular rabbit that the author had in
mind without more words to describe
the rabbit.
 From our individual experience of
various types and forms of “rabbit” we
are left only with a sense of “rabbit-
ness”
VS.

12. Text: How effective?
The author uses a picture to illustrate the “rabbit”…
Hence the expression “A picture is worth a thousand words.”

13. Visuals > Long Term Memory
 Because we can only encode 7 (+ or – 2)
pieces of information in short term memory
at a time, how to people remember things
that are made up more than 9 parts?

14. Visuals > Long Term Memory
 Answer: Use visual patterns and/or images.
 For example my friend “Wojie” in Poland is
memorizing Pi to well over 10,000 digits in
order to set a world record.
 His technique? Create images associated
with sequential number patterns.

15. Visual Thinking in Four Steps
x
1. Look 3. Imagine
2. See 4. Show x

16. Look = Collecting + Screening
 We do these steps automatically:
1. Orientation
2. Position
?
3. Identification
4. Direction

17. Look = Collecting + Screening
We also automatically perceive:
Pr ox im ity
Color
Shape
Shading

18. See = Selecting + Clumping
 Who or What?
 How much?
 When?
 Where?
 How?
 Why?

19. Imagine = Seeing what isn’t there.
x Simple or Elaborate?
Quality or Quantity?
Vision or Execution?
Individual or Comparison?
Delta (Change) or Status Quo?

20. Show = Making it all Clear
x
 Select Appropriate Framework
 Use the Framework to Create our Picture
 Present and Explain our Picture

21. What if I can’t Draw?!
 If you can draw the following, you can
practice visual thinking:

22. What tools can I use?
 Wall chart paper
 Physical Whiteboard
 Tablet or Electronic whiteboard
 MS-PowerPoint
 MS-Paint
 MS-Visio
 Adobe Illustrator or Photoshop

23. Six Types of Problems
Type Image Description
Things, people, roles…
Who or What? Portrait
Measuring, counting…
How Much? 1st Qtr
2nd Qtr
Chart
3rd Qtr
4th Qtr
Scheduling, timing…
When? Timeline

24. Six Types of Problems
Type Image Description
Direction, how things fit
Where? Map together…
Logic flow, how things
How? Flowchart influence one another…
Rationale, the big
Why? y
Multiple picture…
Variable
x Plot

25. S.Q.U.I.D.
There are 5 x 2 ways of drawing each type of problem:

26. Visual Thinking Codex
 In Dan Roam’s book “Back of the
Napkin” he combines the 6 types of
problems with the 5x2 ways of
drawing each of them to create what
he calls the Visual Thinking Codex.
 Hand-out is also available free of
charge on-line at
http://www.thebackofthenapkin.com/tools.php

27. Visual Thinking
Applied to Business Analysis

28. Visual Thinking Steps as Business Analysis
 Look – Data Gathering for a “Problem”
 See – Data Analysis of Current (AS IS) State
 Imagine – Brainstorming of Future (TO BE) State
 Show – Depiction of a “Solution”

29. Strategic (Portfolio Level)
Business Analysis
 Client comes with a problem
 Client wants software developed to
solve the problem (has the solution in
mind)
 Client wants this a.s.a.p.
 Client is one of many within the
enterprise
 Which client’s problem is fixed first?

30. Analyze Business Value of Projects
 This is a “how much” problem…
 How much business value comes with
each project?
 Answer to question:
 Priority = Ordination from highest to
lowest business value

31. Analyze Business Value of Projects - Look
 First step is to gather all available
information about:
 The list of projects
 How business value is measured
 Their business value
 Let’s say that we do this and we find
the following…

32. Analyze Business Value of Projects - See
 Project backlog indicated three:
 iPhone App Project – Marketing Dept.
 User Interface Re-Design – Web Channel
 New Features for Main Product – Operations
 Each group says their project is “priority #1”.
 The documentation for each project shows
missing “business value” metrics.

33. Analyze Business Value of Projects - See
So we build a chart to triage the data…
We ask the project leads to estimate the amount of return
business (a major corporate KPI) they expect to generate.
 iPhone App Project –  KPI = 20% in return
Marketing Dept. business
 User Interface Re-Design –
 KPI = 10% in return
Web Channel
business
 New Features for Main
Product – Operations  KPI = 25 % in
return business

34. Analyze Business Value of Projects - Imagine
The priority list seems clear however we notice a pattern. Both
marketing an web channel are doing UI type projects…
1. New Features for Main  KPI = 25 % in
Product – Operations return business
2. iPhone App Project –  KPI = 20% in return
Marketing Dept. business
3. User Interface Re-Design –  KPI = 10% in return
Web Channel business

35. Analyze Business Value of Projects - Imagine
So we put a meeting together to examine their projects more
closely…
 iPhone App Project  Goal is to provide
more immediate
support to product
users
 User Interface Re-Design  Goal is to enhance
product users
support experience

36. Analyze Business Value of Projects - Imagine
Brainstorming with Marketing and Web Channel some more we
discover an even BETTER solution…
 User Interface Re-Design will
create the main interface for the
iPhone App Project
 The groups estimate a 40%
increase in return business
since the new enhancements
will be available to more users.
 Therefore, the combined project
is priority #1.

37. Analyze Business Value of Projects - Show
Now we can illustrate the rationale for combining two projects that will bring
the company more business value prior to releasing the upgrade…
+ = vs.
KPI=20% KPI=10% KPI=40% KPI=25%

38. Enterprise Analysis
 What model of the enterprise will
show us the big picture so that, as we
make changes to how we do
business, we can consider the
potential impacts of those changes?

39. Enterprise Analysis - BMC

40. Enterprise Analysis
Partners Resources Offer Relationships Customers
Activities Channels
Cost Structures Business Revenue Streams
Model Canvas
by Dr. Alex
Osterwalder

41. Enterprise Analysis
CURRENT STATE (AS IS) FUTURE STATE (TO BE)
Partners Resources Offer Relationships Customers Partners Resources Offer Relationships Customers
Activities Channels Activities Channels
Cost Structures Revenue Streams Cost Structures Revenue Streams
Business Business
Model Model
Canvas Canvas
by Dr. Alex by Dr. Alex
Osterwalder Osterwalder

42. Strategy Maps
 How do we make the changes needed
take us from current state (AS IS) to
future state (TO BE)?
 Look – Consider the DELTAs
 See – Consider the Impacts
 Imagine – Brainstorm Benefits/Risks
 Show – Strategy Maps

43. Strategy Map - Look
Deltas

44. Strategy Map - See
 How might changes
in any area of the
business affect
others?
 What potential
benefits and/or risks
should be
considered?

45. Strategy Map – Imagine
This could really benefit
sales as well if we
educate our partners.
If we also change
automate billing
we’ll get more
clients!
We’ve identified three new
projects that should
We’ll need to accompany our initiative.
alert technical
support. Now we can draw strategy
maps to illustrate our plan.

46. Strategy Map - Show
Product Enhancement Project
Pictures
can help Alert Support Press
Automate Billing
us Release
identify
gaps
Create Training Material Partner Education Project
January 1st April 1st Oct 1st

47. Breaking Down the Question
 Sometimes the QUESTION needs to be
broken down in order to engage the best
drawings to solve the problem.
Example:
 What does the future of gaming look like?

48. Breaking Down the Question
 What does the future gaming look like?
 Really this involves a few key questions:
1. What does gaming look like today?
2. How does one determine the future of
gaming?

49. Breaking Down the Question
1. What does  Look for all data to
gaming look like draw a portrait of
today? the gaming world.
2. How does one  Look for all data to
determine the suggest how one
future of gaming? determines the
future of the
gaming industry.

50. Breaking Down the Question
 Data portraying the gaming world
depicts sales by game
environment.
 Experts are future-gazing based
upon history/trends and
convergence in technologies.

51. Breaking Down the Question
x  Data portraying the gaming world
depicts sales (how much) by
game environment.
 Experts are future-gazing based
upon history/trends (portraits in
timeline) and convergence (a
logical flow) in technologies.

52. Breaking Down the Question
x
? ?
 Data portraying the  Experts are future-
gaming world depicts gazing based upon
sales (how much) by history/trends (portraits
game environment. in timeline) and
convergence (a logical
flow) in technologies.

53. Breaking Down the Question
?

54. Resources
by Dan Roam
by Dr. Alex Osterwalder
by David Sibbet

55. The End
Thank you for your kind attention.
Questions and/or follow-up may be
directed to kmcgrath@edc.ca or
kenneth.mcgrath@hotmail.com