the value of visual thinking in social business

The Value of Getting VisualIn Social Business blogworld 2009

David ArmanoPrincipal, Dachis Group

dachisgroup.com@dachisgroup

® 2009 Dachis Group. Confidential and Proprietary

“Tell me and Iʼll forget; show me and I may remember; involve me and Iʼll understand.”

~ Chinese proverb

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Iʼm standing here talking to you not because of these (words), but because

of this...

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The Value of Visual Thinking in Social Business | Date October 16, 2009

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and this...

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and even this...

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People find these (visuals) valuable. Theyʼve been the catalyst behind some

pretty interesting numbers.

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10Nearly 17k Raised. Over 12k in 24 hours.


Iʼve also been asked to write a book or two. But right now Iʼm too busy doing this.

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Social business design


Letʼs take a step back.

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® 2009 Dachis Group. Confidential and Proprietary 14

Which of your 5 senses would you fear losing most?


The eyes are not responsible when the mind does the seeing.

~Publilius Syrus


this is art



this is design

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this is simplicitySource: Picol (History of the internet) 18



this is how you get there.

Source: Dave Gray 19


A picture is worth a thousand words is a

saying/cliche that refers to the idea that complex stories can be described with just a single still image, or that an image may be

more influential than a substantial amount of text.

~wikipedia


Getting Visual In

4 “M”s



Source: Information Architects (2007)

metaphor

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Source: Stephen P. Anderson

model

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24Foundation

USEFUL

serves purpose

satisfies needs

practical

functional

helpful

effective

USABLE

intuitive

easy

seamless

accessible

efficient

DESIRABLE

enjoyable

pleasurable

delightful

memorable

differentiated

SUSTAINABLE

scalable

maintainable

adaptive

pliable

BUSINESS OPTIMIZATIONINTERNAL CONSTITUENT COLLABORATION

EXTERNAL CUSTOMER PARTICIPATION

The Basics(often broken)

SOCIAL

shareable

open

distributed

dynamic

collective

Natural Progression

(toward socialexperiences)

social experience

(metaphor & model)



Source: Dan Roam

mindmap

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manifest

you are here

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6 Steps ToGetting Visual


The Value of Visual Thinking in Social Business | Date October 16, 20091. Empathize: See the world as a child

ObserveNotice the little things that

others miss

AskAsk questions, even silly ones

ExploreEntertain your curiosity

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The Value of Visual Thinking in Social Business | Date October 16, 20092. Memorize: Commit thoughts to memory

Dave Gray (Can Draw)

Me(Can’t Draw) 29


The Value of Visual Thinking in Social Business | Date October 16, 20093. Analyze: Take a step back

you

your subject30


The Value of Visual Thinking in Social Business | Date October 16, 20094. Synthesize: Filter signal from noise

input

synthesis

output

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The Value of Visual Thinking in Social Business | Date October 16, 20095. Visualize: See it, then do it

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The Value of Visual Thinking in Social Business | Date October 16, 20096. Materialize: make it tangible, make it stick

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Example: How do you visualize a“dynamic signal”?

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Twitter = streams of data (streams, too obvious to overlook)

35image uploaded to Flickr by Rob Shenk



What does a signal look like? (ask google)

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Memorize: Signals, streams, how can they translate?

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Visualize: signals along the stream, flowing dynamically

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Making it stick: Keeping it simple

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® 2009 Dachis Group.


How about “hiveminded?”

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Hivemind: what makes a hive?

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Hivemind: what makes a hive(mind)?

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Hivemind: what makes a hive(mind)?

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® 2009 Dachis Group.


The “wrong” question:“what software do you use”?

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The answer wonʼt help you as much as you think

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Execution matters but the thinking matters even more

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How we got there:

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+ +



The bar is rising...

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This stuff really works

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131897 views, 209 favs, 472 embeds (one month)



+

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A checklist for making your content more visual



Gets peopleʼs attention quickly

Helps us to learn faster + more effectively

Lets people do their own thinking

Helps us tell stories55

Why your content should be visual



tufte gray

roam krug

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Where to start


The Value of Visual Thinking in Social Business | Date October 16, 2009And a word of advice

can’t do this

without this57

The Value of Getting VisualIn Social Business blogworld 2009

David ArmanoPrincipal, Dachis Group

dachisgroup.com@dachisgroup