How we build opportunity maps

Each time we conduct a study, it includes 5 participants per behavioral audience segment, focused on a certain purpose. You can start small and aggregate over time. We begin the engagement with a discussion of the scope of research, to make sure we frame it in a non-solution-focused manner. Then we go conduct the research, giving you updates each Monday as work proceeds. We can give you transcripts of the listening sessions about halfway through, and then we deliver the mental model diagram and/or the behavioral audience segments, depending on what you’re after. We conclude with collaborative working sessions where we discuss insights, actions, and next steps with you and your stakeholders.

Find examples of the application of Opportunity Maps and Thinking Styles →

My Process

1. Frame the Study
   • begin with careful exploration of why you are seeking deeper understanding and what combination of thinking style +  purpose you want to study (1-3 weeks)
   • find and qualify candidates (2-3 weeks)
2. Conduct Listening Sessions
   • Approximately an hour with each participant (2 weeks)
   • Optional field visits (when topic is physically habitual): add concepts that didn’t come up in listening session (+2 weeks)
3. List Concepts & Summaries
   • Comb and summarize transcripts, deeply understanding 100% of the Speaker’s concepts (3 weeks)
4. Find Patterns
   • Find affinities across participants by focus of mental attention; Keep bias out of the data by building from the bottom up (2 weeks)
5. Find the Thinking Styles
   • Personas-sans-demographics; write participant descriptions, compare unique concepts to form participants into groups, write descriptions for each thinking style (1-2 weeks)
6. Generate the Mental Model Diagram
   • Use one of the tools to generate the diagram from the data sheet created in step 4 (1 hour)
   • Spend time considering what other data to layer on top of the model, such as thinking styles (1 week)
7. Create the Opportunity map
   • List a collection of org’s existing capabilities: products, support, services that your org produces (1-4 weeks)
   • Align some of the org’s capabilities beneath the one tower it supports strongly (solid line border); Also align some of the capabilities beneath towers it kind of also supports (1-2 weeks
   • Optional: also align capabilities from competition, or draw in dependencies between capabilities, or add future capabilities already planned
8. Gap Analysis
   • conduct a review of gaps & weaknesses beneath towers, deciding on priority or importance to the org (1 week)
9. Opportunity Discussion
   • map out and combine opportunity spaces; discuss prioritization; cross-pollinate with existing market segments, create opportunity studies (1-2 weeks)

Timeline

There is a lot of overlap in the steps of the process. What makes a great difference in the time of a study is the number of people during listening sessions. Reach out with your project to see how long it will take for you.

LET’S START THE CONVERSATION

The mental model diagram gave us actionable insight into what people in our target market actually DO for consideration, selection & long term support of enterprise level relational database software.

– Camille Sobalvarro - Apr-2006, Sybase

Using the empathic stories collected from our research collaboration with Indi, we were able to get all of our internal stakeholders aligned.

– Mike Oren - Jan-2015, Motorola

The way in which I could collaborate on the project was one of the most important elements of the experience. I was able to observe and then get my hands in the mix. Without that, it's abstract.

– Andrea Villa - Apr-2008, Qualcomm

Beyond the actual artifacts produced (which are still valuable in 2017), the most valuable takeaway was having learned a dynamically relevant process for viewing deeply qualitative data.

– Andrea Villa - Apr-2008, Qualcomm

We use the alignment diagrams regularly, even though we did them over 8 years ago. They are still fresh and valid.

– Craig Duncan - Jan-2012, United Nations Disaster Prevention

We were able to identify four major strategic areas to explore that could improve our overall consumer journey and business model.

– Mike Oren - Jan-2015, Motorola

We had our mental model printed out on 15ft. plotter paper in the room and the impression of the insights was awesome. For the budget the result was quite incredible, so expect it to be done again.

– Ryan Wilday - Jul-2016, Samsung Design America

Exploring solutions that supported the identified strategic initiatives helped our business better support our consumers and improved our annual sales figures.

– Mike Oren - Jan-2015, Motorola

The research, especially the mental model diagram, clarified things. It was like bringing a microscope into focus and finally getting the fine detail that eluded us. It made our work complete.

– Jonathan Baker - Jan-2010, Sybase

We gained incredible depth of knowledge, understanding of, and empathy for our audiences through the mental models approach.

– Voltaire Santos Miran - Oct-2009, mStoner

Walking through the entire project with Indi was so helpful in terms of “getting” the methodology.

– Voltaire Santos Miran - Oct-2009, mStoner

We finally have an in-focus perspective of the world according to the users. Up to this point, we could make up problems and think we knew how the users wanted us to behave. Now we have the hard data.

– Jonathan Baker - Jan-2010, Sybase

A tool to think about and describe qualitative data - and its relationship to the tangible world - is no small feat, especially in an engineering space where the prime directive is to "just fix it."

– Andrea Villa - Apr-2008, Qualcomm

The conversation around automation in our industry needs to change from equipment and technology to people and process. Our two Mental Models showed us a clear process for moving forward.

– Merrie Costley - Sep-2011, NOV

I've been able to use the mental model diagram with my team to guide design decisions and areas for further exploration. It's been great having easy to access quotes to show as support, as well.

– Alissa Briggs - Jul-2015, Brigade

Indi put both rigor and truth into our user research, which makes it impossible to go back to the bad old ways.

– Craig Duncan - Jan-2012, United Nations Disaster Prevention

Mental model diagrams are a quicker path to team building and team alignment.

– Becky Reed - Jun-2009, Healthwise

I have spent a decade in corporate design strategy, and never seen a quicker way to deep insights, in addition, it was well under our expected budget.

– Ryan Wilday - Jun-2017, Samsung Design America

The mental model project with Indi taught me to approach research and strategy in an entirely new way.

– Voltaire Santos Miran - Oct-2009, mStoner

Mental model diagrams help organizations learn their customers inside and out through rich motivational research that produces fundamental insights you can actually act on.

– Philip Brashear - Jun-2015, KCTCS

It is not about how much you know about people, but how much you really know about people, and how do you know you know.

– Craig Duncan - Jan-2012, United Nations Disaster Prevention

Experimentation happens while the engineers are fiddling, so if something seems to work, it’s rarely redone. It’s important to do all we can to have a better idea of what it is we’re actually...

– Andrea Villa - Apr-2008, Qualcomm

The concept of problem space research is super powerful. I evoke it all the time.

– Craig Duncan - Jan-2012, United Nations Disaster Prevention

The results of the research changed our way of thinking and focused our automation project team on the people involved in a profoundly clarifying way.

– Merrie Costley - Sep-2011, NOV

I now have a new superpower with which to make sure we are fixing the right thing.

– Andrea Villa - Apr-2008, Qualcomm

Coaching appointments

You may not be ready for a full fledged coaching. But, if during your work there are questions that come up you can get in touch, by booking an appointment. These are working sessions, where I will help you find out stuff.

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