VIS-IT Techniques

VIS-IT™ Techniques

Idea Processing - Introduction
VIS-IT Techniques center around "idea processing". There are, we believe, six fundamental idea processing activities: capture ideas, arrange ideas, create ideas, evaluate ideas, connect ideas, and implement ideas. VIS-IT techniques consider each distinct idea as an "object" that can be introduced into many thinking environments.
All VIS-IT techniques process ideas using VIS-IT Tools, which provide mobile, colorful, easy-to-post surfaces on which ideas are represented by words or pictures.
Twenty VIS-IT Techniques are introduced below in categories that mirror the six major idea processing activities. Click on a link below to open an Adobe pdf file, which describes and illustrates the technique.

CAPTURING IDEAS:

Thinking with Hexagons - An Overview
Thinking with Hexagons - First Meeting
Thinking with Hexagons - Speed Thinking

ARRANGING IDEAS:

Thinking with Hexagons - Six Steps (Step 4, Clustering)
Thinking with Hexagons - H.A.T.S.
Creative Thinking - Post-it Presentations

CREATING IDEAS:

Creative Thinking - Attribute Attachment
Creative Thinking - Synthesis Thinking
Creative Thinking - The 8-Fold Generator

EVALUATING IDEAS:

Matrix Thinking - An Overview
Matrix Thinking - Factor Analysis
Matrix Thinking - Options Evaluation
Matrix Thinking - Scenario Thinking
Matrix Thinking - What if and if
Prioritization - Paired Comparison Leapfrog

CONNECTING IDEAS:

Causal Thinking – Drivers Diagram
Causal Thinking – Loop Diagram
Thinking with Hexagons – Five Whys

IMPLEMENTING IDEAS:

Flowcharting with FlowShapes – User Guide
Prioritization – Nominal Group Technique

	Below are introductions to three general technique categories: Thinking with Hexagons Matrix Thinking Flowcharting with Flow Shapes™

	THINKING WITH HEXAGONS Overview The basic Thinking with Hexagons technique is quite simple. At first, it seems similar to brainstorming. Someone takes on a role of "facilitator" to guide the process. Participants are invited, in turn, to share each of their ideas that are relevant to a specific "focus question". The meeting's facilitator, or another person serving as the "scribe," writes a few words (a "headline" phrase) that represent each idea on a single hexagon, sequentially numbers the hexagon, and then posts it alongside the others on a work surface for everyone to see.

	After all ideas have been offered from everyone, the group arranges the hexagons into several "clusters" of ideas that seem to "belong together." Each cluster contains ideas that share a common association concept (the "glue"), which links them. Each cluster's common concept becomes the cluster's written label. These cluster labels become natural "synthesis ideas" for further attention or action. Finally, the group assesses how well it met the session's purpose, describes next steps, and designs, if appropriate, the next focus question. The technique uses VIS-IT Hexagons. The Thinking with Hexagons technique is significantly better than typical brainstorming sessions because: The purpose of the session is explicit, and the focus question is very clear and visible, Each participant is given a few moments of quiet time to jot down their answers to the focus question, thus empowering introverts, The ideas are captured on hexagons that can be moved around, not stuck on flip chart paper, Everyone has a chance to participate equally, and each person's idea is given equal weight when offered, Instead of stopping with lists of ideas, ideas are arranged into clusters that share a common associative concept, and therefore· Participants see the bigger picture of which the issue is a part. Back to Top
	MATRIX THINKING - Introduction One definition of a matrix is "a rectangular arrangement of elements into rows and columns". Another definition is "something within which something else originates or develops". In matrix thinking, the "somethings" are ideas. For us, matrix thinking is a structured decision support technique to help people evaluate, select - or create - preferred options. Matrix thinking is achieved by creating a matrix of rows and columns where each cell in the matrix is filled with a meaningful idea.

	Matrix Thinking utilizes multi-color, rectangular VIS-IT Big Idea Pads (BIPs) to evaluate one set of ideas against a second set of distinctly different ideas or conditions. The picture at the right illustrates a matrix with one set of potential ideas in the leftmost vertical column (white sheets), and the second see of potential ideas in the top row (blue sheets). Think of the white sheets as "row heading ideas" and the blue sheets as "column heading ideas." The body of the matrix includes all of the potential intersections between the heading ideas. At each intersection, the participants make an evaluation of how well the idea in the column fits with the idea in the row based on specific criteria. The complexity of matrix thinking increases with the number of criteria to be evaluated at each intersection.

	The major advantages of using VIS-IT Big Idea Pads instead of flip chart paper are: The ease of modifying the words at a specific intersection, The use of color to signal a level of evaluation, and The ability to easily expand, contract, or re-arrange the matrix as needed, during the course of the session Back to Top
	FLOWCHARTING with VIS-IT Flow Shapes™ The VIS-IT method for flowcharting uses VIS-IT Flow Shapes™ to accurately represent business or work process in order to:

	Help teams determine and capture the activities of a process Visualize opportunities for dramatic process improvements, and Help team members learn the correct processes. Flow Shapes™ replicate the nine ISO 9000 symbols that commonly represent the distinct elements of a work process. Each of the standard nine shapes is a die-cut, color-coded Post-it note. There are 100 sheets of each shape per pad.
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