Data science that listens

Explanations – Thinking Styles

What are Thinking Styles?

Quick Summary

Thinking Styles are the archetypes that you would base characters on, like characters in TV episodes. (Try writing your scenarios like TV episodes, with constant characters.) Characters think, react, and made decisions based on their thinking style archetype. BUT they also switch thinking styles depending on context. For example, if you take a flight as a single traveler versus bringing a young child along–you’ll probably change your thinking style for that flight, including getting to the gate, boarding, and deplaning.

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First page of comic: Help My Parent Recover - Day 1 (Thinking style: Give Dignity & Agency) Your parent had an event (surgery, accident) rendering them temporarily unable to walk. A thinking style is your approach to your purpose. At first your thinking style as a caretaker is to support your parent as the person they really are, not treat them like an invalid. (You don't even like that word.) You make sure they have a say in everything you help them with. The comic frames depict the caretaker getting instructions from the doctor, taking their mom home, and putting on some music for her because she asked. Seeing that Mom looks depressed, the caretaker suggests calling Tio Tico, who relates a story about when Mom was 6 and had a bad reaction to a pain reliever when she broke her arm. The caretaker calls the doctor in concern, who suggests switching to another pain reliever. The caretaker feels better about giving Mom the other pain reliever.
Second page of comic: Help My Parent Recover - Day 8 (Thinking style: Push Past Resistance) On the 8th day, your thinking style changes. Your parent has spent the last four days either on the couch or in bed. They have not done any of the exercises that the physical therapist says will speed recovery. You are worried they won't recover in the time period you had imagined. Now you want to urg your parent to do what needs doing. A person can change thinking styles depending on context. Usually the shift happens because of a life event, but it can shift even faster. Airline passenger thinking styles can shifr from flight to flight. Here your thinking style has shifted becasue of your reaction to the prospect that your parent's recovery might drag on. The comic shows Mom watching TV and the caretaker handing her the stretchy therapy bands. They promise Mom a hamburger if she gets through her physical therapy, which sounds yummy to Mom. But it hurts a lot. The caretaker counts down to the last lift, then goes to get the hamburger, returning with a celebratory expression, two soft drinks, and the bag with the hamburger in it.
Third page of comic: Help My Parent Recover - Day 17 (Thinking style: Avoid the Stew) Your parent is refusing to do what it takes to recover. They are complaining about their situation. You have memories of how they have complicated other situations like this. This combination has affected you. Now your thinking style shifts again. Gone is the idea of urging them or giving them a say. Now your interior cognition has blocked your tolerance for their behavior. You want to get out of there. A thinking style that is judged as "negative" needs support, too. Label this thinking styls with words that people feel okay saying about themselves. If your org can get past the judgment, there is a lot that can be done to support this thinking style without intending to change them. For all you know, the parent has been abusive in the past. There are valid reasons to support this thinking style. The comic shows a lot of dark feelings coming from both Mom and the caretaker. The caretaker accuses Mom of not doing the exercises and delaying her recovery, and Mom insists that it hurts too much. So the caretaker grabs their backpack and leaves. It's their day off work, and they need a day off from Mom, too. They tell mom she's on her own for lunch, deciding that they don't care anymore if Mom falls trying to do stuff for herself in the kitchen.
Fourth page of comic: Help My Parent Recover - Day 24 (Thinking style: Give Dignity & Agency) After a week of distancing yourself from your parent, your emotions subside. You see a bit of your parent's perspective. So your thinking style shifts back to letting them "have the final say," even through it isn't what the physical therapist wants them to do. But, you set some boundaries for yourself. Often orgs segment their audience by role. However, one role can represent several thinking styles. By creating support for each thinking style, your org can support people in a way that is valuable to them. Creating a solution that ignores thinking styles actually harms some of those people. Doing harm isn't your org's intent. The comic shows the caretaker entering the house saying that it's a beautiful day, but Mom responds, "I wouldn't know. I'm stuck inside." This inspires the caretaker to get Mom out in the sunshine, perhaps with a wheelchair ride to the park. Mom's favorite jasmine is in bloom, and she says that it lifts her spirits so much that she doesn't feel pain anymore. The two return to the house, planning a salad and jasmine tea to celebrate. The caretaker remembers to ignore the stretchy therapy bands and instead puts flowers in a vase near Mom and sets out some garden books for her to look at.

I teach a course on how to find the patterns that represent thinking styles.

This is a researcher’s explanation video –I need to make a non-researcher version of it.

Thinking Styles Are Used in Two Areas

Strategy Space

The strategy space is where decisions are made about the direction you want to go with your solutions. Typically, product strategists and product managers, along with other stakeholders, make the decisions here. Up until now, these decisions seem to be less focused on supporting people, and with thinking styles, you can intentionally and systematically consider people you’ve been unintentionally harming. You can decide what part of the landscape you want to explore, see where to better support people there, and innovate in directions that have not been considered at all.

Thinking styles are used in the strategy space to:

  • Define metrics of support by thinking style + tower/block (layered on OppMap)
  • Realize who we are not supporting (recognize the narrowness of current solutions) by aligning org’s capabilities beneath towers then doing gap analysis
  • Prioritize who to support first/next/not (urgency based on who is being harmed) by thinking style + lens (discrimination, physiology, culture, environment)

Solution Space

The solution space is where ideas about solutions are created, and where solutions are improved based on user research. It’s the area in which organizations spend most of their time.

Thinking styles are used in the solution space to:

  • Create tailored/differentiated experiences by thinking style + lens (discrimination, physiology, culture, environment)
  • Track strength/weakness analysis of your solution over time, by thinking style
  • Frame other studies by thinking style (e.g. surveys, card sorts, usability tests, big data models, etc.) for cross-reference clarify the matrix of scenarios, with casts of characters based on different thinking styles

Problem vs. Solution

Thinking Styles

Demographic Assumptions

Transcript of Video

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