Renewed Graduation Subject Description

I tried to reflect deep on what has triggered me to do this project and then what will be my expectations (or my dream) for it. (see My 10-min in JAM!) Then, according to the new insights and a "tangible" goal, I changed the Graduation Subject Description a lot. Hopefully, it could be a better and less abstract ground for the GP description.

Introduction
In a gradually “globalizing” world, people have less time to communicate but have to deal with more issues in rather diverse groups, i.e. cultural difference, and professional backgrounds, etc. It is so relevant to help people to cross the barriers of misunderstandings and reach a common ground in a complex and changeable reality.

Hand drawings stand out in this domain because of its unique qualities which represents the values of imagination, naivety, creativity, freedom and error-tolerated. People can speak out-loud and to use their imagination freely without being afraid of offending others or embarrassing themselves.

For the last five years, JAM have used their drawing techniques to help people deal with complex issue within public organizations, private sectors and personal projects. In a given assignment, JAM help their clients build up shared understandings in a one-day or multi-day workshop for new ideas, solutions or visions, depending on types of assignments. In JAM, they already accumulated abundant experience in their practice and are eager to contribute their knowledge in visual thinking/graphic facilitation (VT/GF) to a promising future.

Problem definition
Due to a busy schedule and demanding daily work in JAM, people in JAM have less time to share their knowledge at work. So, what happened in the process of workshops is like a black box, which is never deciphered in a thorough research.

The research will focus on the people in JAM, their experience at work, their techniques, their limitations and expectations regarding to the VT/GF. Based on a thorough research, we can unveil the magic of the drawing power, which leads to unlimited creativity and free communication in diverse group.

Furthermore, the results of the research will also be beneficial to the world by giving a certain platform to document JAM’s works and inform benefits of the VT/GF. This platform can be, on one hand, an encyclopedia for people to explore the beauty of the drawing power in VT/GF. On the other hand, it could update with time by receiving others’ opinions.

Assignment
Decipher the “Magic” of drawing power in visual thinking/graphic facilitation, and share its benefits to the world.

Approach
1. Conduct an Analysis research on literature research and real world practice:
In the literature research, the following questions will need to be answered:
- How are creative facilitation applied in complex problem-solving? What is the purpose of using hand drawings in VT/GF? (VT/GF theories)
- What are the relationships between team mental model and team performance? How does a diverse group get shared understanding? (Shared understandings)
- How effective or in-effective are the facilitation methodology based on reviews of the outcomes? (Review of outcomes of empirical VT/GF cases )
- How should a contextmapping research be conducted in JAM? (Contexmapping theory)
In the real world practice, there would be two aspects to explore:
- In JAM’s previous projects study, the outcomes of works will be sorted and examined.
- In universal trends study, the trends of visual thinking/graphic facilitation will be looked into in websites, companies, conferences, and personal blogs.
The results of Analysis phase will form the theoretical framework for the Contextmapping phase. A research protocol will be formulated, and it will consist of research questions, theoretical framework, and methodology for contextmapping phase.

2. Conduct a Contextmapping research in JAM:
By using the theoretical framework as a fundamental, the Contextmapping research will focus on mapping the context of the real practice in JAM in VT/GF. The research will be conducted in two aspects; internal and external research. The internal research will focus on the overall graphic facilitation experience of people in JAM. In the external research, several case studies will be done and researcher will ask for opinions of their clients and experience of their partners. The results will form a model to describe VT/GF process and suggest improvement in JAM’s real practice.

3. Conceptualization and Evaluation:
This phase will mainly focus on conceptualizing a possible solution to inform the findings of the Analysis phase and Contextmapping phase. The concepts will be tested and evaluated regarding to their performance to inform and potential to evolve with time.

Results/Deliverables
• An analysis report with focuses on literature research and real world practice.
• A contextmapping report including results in contextmapping phase.
• A JAM’s VT/GF model describing VT/GF process and suggesting improvement in JAM’s real practice.
• A concept to inform benefits of drawing power reporting development of the project and receiving comments. The concept could be a platform which is a website, a booklet, a lecture, or an exhibition.
• A final thesis, an informative poster, and an oral presentation