Have a Look on Ripples Caused by Visual Thinking

Check out the latest news about the coming conference of IFVP (International Forum of Visual Practitioners)!

A Lively and Informative Example of Visual Co-creation

This fabulous work was drawn in a event participated by Bigger Picture. You can also visit their blog. A detailed description can be found in this entry.

2 Visual Inspirations about Being Different

The picture above is cited from the blog: Gapingvoid

The video is produced by XPlane. It is cited from xblog: The visual thinking weblog. It is also an introduction of a new book written by Youngme Moon.

Q&A in Graduation Presentation

This post is going to review the questions and answers after my graduation presentation of the project, "Decipher the magic of Visual Thinking and design a tool for JAM visual thinking".
1. Do you think that the bridge can be built not only from "Logical thinking" to "Visuals" but also from "Visuals" to "Logical thinking"?A: Of course, it is possible to go two-way while re-bridging the gap. However, in the presentation, I chose the one-way metaphor ("Logical Thinking" to "Visuals") because the graduation project is focused on Visual Thinking in "Business Sessions" in which participants are usually business-oriented minds. The participants are used to think logically with numbers and facts, and Visual Thinkers in the sessions is to free their imagination by appealing and profound drawings. So the process of Visual Thinking in business sessions is more inclined with the way, from "Logical thinking" to "Visuals".

2. Can you explain the role of humor in Visual Thinkers' drawings?
A: No doubts that humor is a very important factor in Visual Thinking. Visual Thinkers can use it to attract people's first attention. This is also a good catalyst to ease the tension in sessions. And, therefore, participants can feel easier to think wilder and further than usual. This could be a trigger for creativity. However, humor should not be the only factor in the drawings. If the drawings are with no inspiration to participants' issue, people will not take them seriously.

3. Do you think there is a learning problem to think visually, for people who are used to think logically with facts and rules or for people who are trained to think creatively? Maybe we can design a tool to solve the problem.
A: I think there is no such a learning problem for anyone no matter what your background is. We, human beings, as Greek philosophers said, are born naturally to think with visions, such as when you are driving on the street, when you are playing chess with your friend, when the soccer coach is explaining the strategy.. etc. So indeed everyone are already visual thinkers. The issue only lies that It seems that visual thinking is a privilege for certain people. This stereotype compromises people's nature to think visually. The tools and techniques are already defined and designed well by plenty of scholars and practitioners. What we need now is actually to eliminate the stereotype and help people to be confident with their visual thinking nature,

4. What do you think about the applications of modern technology in Visual Thinking?
A: The applications is a still virgin territory in Visual Thinking. I do think there will be a lot of potential to apply the edgy multiple-media technology in Visual Thinking sessions, for example, to demonstrate instant drawings in front of a crowd, or to allow multiple people draw together on the same drawing remotely. I think, if the originality and freestyle of human strokes can be preserved well and shared instantly with people, any kinds of technology can be helpful for Visual Thinking in sessions.

5. What are the differences between architects and Visual Thinkers?
A: On the one hand, architects are of course thinking visually when they are developing their designs, and they are usually a process of individual visual thinking. On the other hand, Visual Thinkers in sessions are like the hands of the participants to draw their ideas or imagination vividly and instantly. They assist session participants to think visually in a group phenomena. So basically architects and Visual Thinkers all take advantages of the creativity of instant drawings in developing new concepts. The only difference is that architects perform an individual process of visual thinking, while Visual Thinkers perform a group process of visual thinking.

Thanksgiving for You All.

I still remembered the day when the graduation project kicked off nine months ago. I was not sure if I could finish the project alone since there are no many precedents to follow. It is two weeks before my final presentation now. I finally know that the answer is a simply “No. I could not.” I could never finish the project without your supports; no matter they are warm embraces or harsh criticism. The end of this nine-month journey is near. This is just about time for me to say thanks to you from the bottom of my heart.

First of all, thanks to Ingrid and Walter. It must be a hard time for you to guide a student who usually struggled with the composition of a qualified report and is really bad in time management. However, you still showed great patient to wait for me coming back on the right track again. I also appreciate that you did not compromise and kept pushing me to a better performance. It is sometimes unbearable, but eventually it turned out to be one of the best lessons I had learned in the project. I do appreciate the opportunity to have your guidance.

For my colleagues in JAM visual thinking, Wouter, Mike, Jan, Jeroen, Joost, David, and Lieke, I am so lucky to work with you, guys! You are always eager to help, to take a look on my work, and to listen to me patiently. You inspired me a lot with open-minded hearts and amazing talents. It is a pity that the amazing journey is going to end, but it is also so great that I have the chance to work with you guys. Jan, I will always remember your firm hug when I was so down. Mike, Wouter, and Jeroen, you taught me that I should be more eager to seek help, and, more than this, you let me know I am not alone on the journey. Joost and Lieke, it is so valuable to learn from your experience. David, thanks for your helps and next time please share more nice music with me!

It was often difficult for me to compose a qualified academic report. If the final thesis can reach any standards of a qualified report, that will be all because of your efforts to review my works, my friends. Many thanks to Lily, Lin Jun, Rene, CK, Sharon, Wendy, and Yuli. I will also never forget your unconditional support when I felt I cannot go on anymore. You gave me the strength to keep going.

To my family in Taiwan, I cannot wait to see you in the near future. Even though you cannot be here in my final presentation, you are always on my mind.
Finally, special thanks to Dennis. Without your steady support and endless passion, I cannot go that far till now. You gave me the chance to work with you and JAM visual thinking as the first international intern and the first graduation project in JAM visual thinking. I believe we both enjoyed the process. You have told me that it is stupid to be called master after the graduation of master program. I totally agree with this. This project is just a way for me to find a key to open the door to a new territory. But it does not show us the way to the treasure. I have to do it by myself. I am so glad that you and the JAMmers show me the wonders of Visual Thinking. And that will be something nice for me to continue in the future.

List of Literature in this Graduation Project

Here I list the books, paper, and articles which I have referred to in the graduation project. The literature in the list includes three major fields of Visual Thinking: 1. Academic publications written by scholars, such as Visual Thinking by Rudolf Arnheim, Experience in Visual Thinking by Robert H. Mckim. 2. Reflections of international visual practitioners about their practice in business sessions. Feel free to make a use of them.

References

Arnheim, R. (1969). Visual thinking. Berkeley, CA: University of California Press

Brunswik, E. (1956). “Perception and the representative design of psychological experiments”, Berkeley, CA: University of California Press.

Cannon-Bowers, J.A. and Salas, E. (1997). “Teamwork competencies: the intersection of team member knowledge, skills, and attitudes”, Workforce Readiness: Competencies and Assessment, pp. 151-74. O’Neil, H.F. (Ed.), Lawrence Erlbaum and Associates, Hillsadale, NJ.

Cannon-Bowers, J.A., Salas, E., and Coverse, S. (1993). “Shared mental models in expert team decision making”, Individual and Group Decision Making, pp. 221-46. Castellan, N.J. Jr (Ed.), Lawrence Erlbaum and Associates, Hillsdale, NJ,

Doyle, M. and Straus, D. (1976). How to Make Meetings Work. New York CA: Jove Publications

Goldstein, E.B. (2001). Sensation and perception, 6th ed. pp. 145-181. Wadsworth, Pacific Grove, CA, USA. ISBN-10: 0534558100

Margulies, N. and Valenza, C. (2005). Visual Thinking Tools for Mapping Your Ideas. Crown House, Bethel, CT, USA. ISBN-10: 1904424562

Horn, R.E. (1998). Visual Language. XPLANE Press, Portland, OR, USA. ISBN-10: 189263709X.

Isaksen, S. G., Dorval, K. B. and Treffinger, D. J. (1994). Creative Approaches to Problem Solving. Kendall and Hunt, Dubuque, IA. ISBN-10: 1882664620

Jeffery, A.B., Maes, J.D., & Bratton-Jeffery M.F. (2005). “Improving team decision-making performance with collaborative modeling”, Team Performance Management, Volume 11, Issue 1/2, pp. 40-50.

Landman R.B., Broek E.L. van den, and Gieskes J.F.B., (2009). “Creating shared mental models: The support of visual language”, Lecture Notes in Computer Science (including subseries Lecture Notes in Artificial Intelligence and Lecture Notes in Bioinformatics), 5738 LNCS, 2009, Pages 161-168

Levin et al. (1987). “On empirically validating functions of pictures in prose”, The psychology of illustration, Volume 1, pp. 51-86. Willows D.M., and Houghton H.A. (Eds), Springer, New York.

Lim, B.-C. & Klein, K.J. (2006). “Team mental models and team performance: a field study of the effects of team mental models similarity and accuracy”, Organizational Behavior, Volume 27, Issue 4, pp. 403-418.

McCloud, S. (2006). Making Comics: Storytelling Secrets of Comics, Manga and Graphic Novels. HarperCollins, New York. ISBN 9780060780944

Mckim, R. H. (1972). Experience in Visual Thinking. Monterey, California, a division of Wadsworth Publishing Company. ISBN 0-8185-0031-X

Mullen, B., Anthony, T., Salas, E. and Driskell, J.E. (1994). “Group cohesiveness and quality decision making: an integration of tests of the groupthink hypothesis”, Small Group Research, Volume 25, Issue 2, pp.189-204.

Murrey-Bradbury, S. (1995). “How People Use Pictures. IIED: London. Cited from: White, L. (2002). Size Matters: Large Group Methods and the Process of Operational Research”, Operational Research Society, Volume 53, Issue 2, pp. 149-160.

Navon, D. (1977). “Forest Before Trees: The Precedence of Global Features in Visual Perception”, Cognitive Psychology, Volume 9, Issue 3, pp. 353-383.

Norman, D. A. (1983). “Some observations on mental models”. Mental Models, pp. 7-14. Gentner D., and Stevens A.L. (Eds), Erlbaum, Hillsdale, NJ, USA

Park, O. and Gittleman, S. S. (1995), “Dynamic characteristics of mental models and dynamic visual displays”, Instructional Science, Volume 23, pp. 303-20.

Pearse, C. (2007). “Technique - Tools graphic facilitation - Putting your people in the picture”, Engineering Management, Volume 17, Issue 5, pp. 12-15.

Resker, P.C., Post, W.M. and Schraage, J.M. (2000). “Effects of two types of intra-team feedback on developing mental models in command and control teams”, Ergonomics, Volume 43, Issue 8, pp. 1167-1189.

Roam, D. (2008). The Back of the Napkin: Solving Problems and Selling Ideas with Pictures. Penguin Books Ltd, 80 Strand, London WC2R 0RL, England. ISBN 978-1-59184-199-9.

Rouse, W.B., & Morris, N.M. (1986). “On looking into the black box: Prospects and limits in the search for mental models”, Psychological Bulletin, Volume 100, pp. 349-363.

Sanders, E.B.-N. (2001). “Virtuosos of the experience domain”, Proceedings of the 2001 IDSA Education Conference, Boston.

Sleeswijk Visser, F. , Steppers, P.J., van der Lugt, R. and Sanders, E.B.-N. (2005). “Contextmapping: experiences from practice”, CoDesign, Volume 1, Issue 2, pp. 119-149.

Stout, R.J., Cannon-Bowers, J.A., Salas, E. and Milanovich, D. (1999). “Planning, shared mental models, and coordinated performance: an empirical link is established”, Human Factors, Volume 41, Issue 1, pp. 61-88.

Tassoul, M. (2006). Creative Facilitation: a Delft approach. VSSD, Leegwaterstraat 42, 2628 CA Delft, the Netherlands. ISBN 90-71301-46-X.

Tyler, C., Valek, L., and Rowland R. (2005). “Graphic Facilitation and Large-Scale Interventions: Supporting Dialogue Between Cultures at a Global, Multicultural, Interfaith Event”, Applied Behavioral Science, Volume 41, pp. 139-152.

Valenza, C. and Adkins, J. (2009). “Understanding Visual Thinking: The History and Future of Graphic Facilitation”, Interaction, Volume 16, Issue 4, 1 July 2009, pp. 38-43.

Van der Lugt, R. (2000). “Developing a graphic tool for creative problem solving in design groups”, Design Studies, Volume 21, Issue 5, pp. 505-522

Van der Lugt, R. (2002). “Functions of Sketching in Design Idea Generation Meetings”, Proceedings of the Fourth Creativity and Cognition Conference, pp. 72-79

Van der Lugt, R. (2005). “How sketching can affect the idea generation process in design group meetings”, Design Studies, Volume 26, Issue 2, pp. 101-112

Westbrook, L. (2006). “Mental models: a theoretical overview and preliminary study”, Information Science, Volume 32, Issue 6, 563-570.

Agerbeck B., (2004). Intro to graphic facilitation. Retrieved July 2, 2009, from http://www.loosetooth.com/Viscom/intro.htm

Ball, G. (1998). “Graphic Facilitation focuses a group's thoughts”. Consensus, 1998 April. A newspaper published jointly by the Consensus Building Institute and the MIT-Harvard Public Disputes Program. Retrieved Dec 22, 2009, from http://www.mediate.com/articles/ball.cfm

XPLANE, (2009). About: We visualize clarity. Retrieved June 30, 2009, from http://www.xplane.com/company/about/

Historical Division between "Logical thinking" and "Visuals"

Rudolf Arnheim suggested a historical division between "Logical thinking" and "Visuals" in his ground-breaking book, Visual Thinking (1969). He pointed out that philosophers in ancient Greek credited the direct vision as the start and end source of wisdom although they also learned possible distortion in human’s visual perception (Arnheim, 1969. pp. 12).
However, hundreds of years later, the potential of using sketching in creative problem solving are still paid less attention. Sketching is often not considered as a form of thinking. In his book, Visual Thinking, Arnheim (1969. pp. 2-3) reflected on the issue as the followed:

“Today, the prejudicial discrimination between perception and thinking is still with us. We shall find it in examples from philosophy and psychology. Our entire educational system continues to be based on the study of words and numbers … More and more the arts are considered as a training in agreeable skills, as entertainment and mental release. As the ruling disciplines stress more rigorously the study of words and numbers, their kinship with the arts is increasingly obscured, and the arts are reduced to a desirable supplement…. The arts are neglected because they are based on perception, and perception is disdained because it is not assumed to involve thought. In fact, educators and administrators cannot justify giving the arts an important position in the curriculum unless they understand that the arts are the most powerful means of strengthening the perceptual component without which productive thinking is impossible in any field of endeavor. The neglect of the arts is only the most tangible symptom of the widespread unemployment of the senses….”

Nowadays, most of us still follow similar path in contemporary educational system and are serious about producing solutions in neat computer graphics or a profound report. But Visual Thinking, as a young facilitation method in group sessions, begins to bridge the creative qualities of instant sketches in business practice.

An idea of individual visual thinking process

An idea of Individual visual thinking process has been suggested by Rober H. Mckim in the book, Experience in Visual Thinking (1972).

"The overlapping circles can be taken to represent a wide variety of interactions. Where seeing and drawing overlap, seeing facilitates drawing, while drawing invigorates seeing. Where drawing and imagining overlap, drawing stimulates and expresses imagining, while imagining provides impetus and material for drawing. Where imagining and seeing overlap, imagination directs and filters seeing, while seeing, in turn, provides raw material for imagining. The three overlapping circles symbolize the idea that visual thinking is experienced to the fullest when seeing, imagining, and drawing merge into active interplay." (Mckim, R.H. 1972. p.6)

He pictured the activities, whether they are “perceptual, inner, and graphic images”, as three kinds of visual imagery: “Seeing”, “Imaging”, and “Drawing”. The three are interacted in a fluid and dynamic way practiced as an active interplay. People keep cycling through the overlapped visual imagery until the problems are solved. And this is a nature of people when a truck driver is driving through a busy traffic, when a football coach considers a new strategy, when a lady plans what to wear, and when an architect describes a new concept to his client.

"Visual Thinking pervades all human activity, from the abstract and theoretical to the down-to-earth and everyday." (Mckim, R.H. 1972. p.6)

This idea can be compared with the one proposed by Dan Roam in the book, The back of the Napkin.

Proposed focus for Contextmapping Research

Human interactions in Visual Thinking process in group sessions are suggested as the focus of 3. Contextmapping research.

We want to know how Visual Thinkers respond to the dynamic and diverse reality, such as different backgrounds of participants, and different issues, should gain further studies. Visual Thinkers have to utilize their experience to interact with the dynamic context properly and quickly. The interactions in Visual Thinking process are still unclear although it is crucial factor to a successful Visual Thinking session.

Learned from the discussion in the previous post and 2. Analysis, the missing puzzles in preceding studies are the stages, “personal insights” and “shared vision”. Visual Thinkers should dive deep into people’s insights and lift them high to shared visions to reach the goal of Visual Thinking, to effectively help participants see problems and solve them together. All of the mentioned activities are still unclear in academic literature and publications by visual practitioners. They require close interactions between Visual Thinkers and session participants.

Therefore, I proposed the focus on the human interactions in the Contextmapping research in the context of JAM visual thinking.

Proposal to Make an Introduction Film about JAM visual thinking

This is an initial proposal to make a film about Visual Thinking in JAM visual thinking. In the film, the essential elements of Visual Thinking in the graduation project can be showcased in the film.

This idea is inspired by the film, RSA Animate: Drive, produced by Daniel H. Pink. The way to present it as a ongoing drawing process in the video, which I think, is an efficient and influential way to express a story or an idea with Visual Thinking.

Planning for the final 2 weeks to final presentation of GP

This drawing presents the planning for my last two weeks in the graduation project, a cooperated project between JAM visual thinking and TU Delft. Of course, this is already a historical document since I already graduated in the 25th of Feb, 2010. In the picture, you can still taste how intense in these two weeks when I had to finalize my 9-month project in a 30-min oral presentation.

Review V. Conclusion

As the purpose of the project is to discover the magic of Visual Thinking, then the journey is called an end here. What would be the final mile (or the first mile) of Visual Thinking?


After decades efforts to re-bridge the gap between "Visuals" and "Logical thinking" in business sessions, there is still a cloud hovering on the Visual Thinking process, which blocks the possibility to understand the magic of Visual Thinking in business sessions. It is suggested in the research that the cloud is the unclear processes in Visual Thinking sessions.


Now the cloud used hovered on the puzzle is cleared. Based on the findings of the project, the magic of Visual Thinking processes lies in the human interactions in sessions, which are indeed the final and also the first mile to re-bridge the gap. Without the interactions, there would be no magic.


However, the effects of Visual Thinking is hindered by people's stereotype that a cartoon-styled drawer cannot be a logical thinker. The double-sided name card will be a first attempt to eliminate the stereotype that a cartoon-styled drawer cannot be a logical thinker. The double-sided concept will be a starting trigger to finish the re-bridging.


As soon as the bubble disappeared, Visual Thinking can eventually bring people’s left-sided and right-sided brain together in group sessions again, like the Greek philosopher have done thousands of years ago. People will see the "Visuals" and "Logical thinking" working in a harmony again.

Review IV. Conceptualization

In order to develop an efficient concept to eliminate the stereotype in sessions, a concept will be developed to inspire participants and facilitators initial awareness about Visual Thinking in the beginning of the sessions. As a result, the effectiveness of Visual Thinking will not be shadowed by the stereotype.



3 concepts (1, 2 & 3) were developed and examined by experienced Visual Thinkers in JAM visual thinking.


The feedback from the JAMmers is summarized into two guidelines: "1. The idea should be comfortable for everyone in sessions including Visual Thinkers." and "2. It should make quick effects in a small group which is around ten people."


Finally, the suggested idea is a double-sided name card. On one side, it is a serious and polished portrait photo. On the other side, it is a hand drawing self-portrait on a piece of rough paper. This concept is to play upon with people’s stereotype that science and art cannot coexist. It is going to express the idea that actually Visual Thinkers’ works are completed with the coexistence of values in two sides of the brain.

With the design of doubled-sided name card, Visual Thinkers can easily gain attentions from the participants and have the chance to impress them in the first sight. Taking advantage of the social manners to exchange name cards, Visual Thinkers can also feel easy to hand out the name cards quickly in a small group.

Review III. Research (4)

This post will conclude the profound findings in the Contextmapping research and provide a promising direction to solve the most critical problem in Visual Thinking sessions.



The findings in the Contextmapping research provide new perspectives on Visual Thinkers’ characteristics, experience, and how they perform their roles/functions with their natural instincts and learned techniques in Visual Thinking sessions. It proved that Visual Thinkers are balanced in both sides of brain.


The stereotype is just like a perceptual bubble which prevents the human interactions, true values of Visual Thinking, to happen.


We just need a needle to burst it. Therefore, Visual Thinkers can work with session participants from the very beginning of the sessions.

Review III. Research (3)

After understanding how Visual Thinkers interact in sessions, we continued to explore the second research question: "What is the most critical problems when Visual Thinkers interact with the dynamic context in sessions?". In the post, the most critical problem is revealed, and the reasons behind it are discussed.



Research question is "What is the most critical problem in sessions?". The answer to this question will be the key to improve the performance of Visual Thinking method in sessions.


The conceptual framework is applied to map the coded phrases.


The results (see the poster above) of the “Problems & Solutions” are clustered based on the conceptual framework. Each cluster is defined with a specific problem based on the coded phrases.


According to the analysis in the research, the most critical problem is defined as "What is my role? & Where is my stage?", which indicates that JAMmers can not always gain a proper stage to interact . The problem always happens early and its influence lasts long.


The problem results in people’s stereotype on the roles of people who can draw. Because of that, session participants sometimes ignore and sometime misunderstand their functions in Visual Thinking sessions as being a problem-solver but not an entertaining cartoonist.

Review III. Research (2)

This post is going to show the finding on research question 1, "How do visual thinkers interact with the dynamic context?". The “Characteristics”, “Techniques”, and “Roles/functions” of the Visual Thinkers in group sessions will be represented in detail.



Research question 1, "How do visual thinkers interact with the dynamic context?".


To answer the research question 1, “How do Visual Thinkers interact with the dynamic context?”, the coded phrases were categorized in three groups, “Characteristics”, “Techniques”, “Roles/functions”.


The coded phrases of each group were mapped on a two-dimensional map, which emphasizes the diverse inclination of a Visual Thinker in sessions.


The result of the two-dimensional map is three posters with the categorized coded phrases. These three posters are composed on the groups of “Characteristics”, “Techniques”, “Roles/functions”. The above is the "Characteristics" poster.


Each category in the "Characteristics" poster is defined with a term, for example, "Empathetic", "Active", and "Honest". The terms of the "Characteristics" are shown on the table above. “Techniques” and “Roles/functions” posters are also processed in the same procedures.


All of the three tables are finally integrated into one table which features the relationships of “Characteristics”, “Techniques”, and “Roles/functions”. A visual translation of the table is presented as the following.



In Visual Thinking sessions, Visual Thinkers have to be rational and square to convince people and to be sensitive and flexible enough to understand people’s true expectations.


In the relations of the techniques, Visual Thinkers use the logical thinking to lead session participants with clear pictures in the left hand side, like a grown man. And in the right hand side, Visual Thinkers are like a curious girl to discover inspirations and support people.


On the left hand side, it is a logical output to translate the logical thinking into convincing and clear drawings in order to lead sessions to correct direction.


The essence of the logical output indicates that Visual Thinkers compose systematic and organized drawings to convince and challenge participants, which represents fairly the value of “Truth Teller”.


On the right hand side, it is an empathetic output to surface people’s expectations and to trigger their inspirations and actions.


The essence of the empathetic output indicates that Visual Thinkers use empathy to find out participants’ motivation and inspire them with proper drawings, which is in line with the function of “Passion Trigger”.


From right to left, it is an inside-out process to process received data into systematic and organized thinking.


The essence of the inside-out process indicates that Visual Thinkers’ nature is to actively support discussion and thinking flow in sessions, which meets the description of “Discussion Supporter”.


From left to right, is an outside-in process to read people’s thinking, body language, and the group dynamic to understand their intentions and to gain key triggers.


The essence of the outside-in process indicates that Visual Thinkers utilize their all sensory to receive explicit and implicit information in order to follow the dynamic context, which fits the description of “Sensitive Balancer”.


The visual translation above expresses how Visual Thinkers interact with session participants by their characteristics, techniques, and roles/functions. It implies a balanced mind between the right-sided and left-sided brain which eventually physically and mentally activate session participants thinking to a practical and creative vision or solution.