#3 Quantify and Visualize: Seeing Is Believing

This is an ongoing series, based on conversations with Bruce Mau, to help people working in the brand-experience medium embrace and apply the 24 Design Principles. I believe that spending time with these interrelated, non-linear habits of thinking can help us realize better outcomes – at work, in our personal lives, and in the world at large.

We’ve already talked about the need for designers to begin any project by gathering all the available, relevant data. With our third design principle, Bruce Mau urges us to quantify and visualize that data. “The key concept is visualize – which is sharing,” Bruce explains.  I’m sure there are people who can discover everything they need to know from a comprehensive excel spreadsheet – and that’s a good start. But spreadsheets don’t tell the story behind the data. They tell the “what,” and maybe even the “how,” but not the “why.”

“The difference between a spreadsheet and a visualization,” says Bruce, “is that we have to individually experience the spreadsheet, but we can collectively experience the image. The image is social. So … if I can take that quantification and visualize it, we can all see the it simultaneously, and experience it together. That makes it accessible to all kinds of thinkers.”

Data may show us that we have a piano and a kitten and six feet of rope. A visual shows us the Steinway dangling over Fluffy’s head – and totally clarifies the problem, potential solutions, and our sense of urgency.

We now have software that will convert data into graphs — I love that. Even better, smart designers can interpret data in graphics that take complex, qualitative data and present it in such a compelling and easy-to-grasp visual that it ignites breakthrough gestalt moments. A good infographic can inspire understanding, consensus and action.

As leaders, we want to inspire belief in a shared goal, and seeing is believing. Yale statistician, author and artist Edward Tufte understands the power of visualizing data and teaches seminars on how to tell complex stories in a compelling way. It’s a science-meets-art thing. He describes this as “Simple design, intense content.”

In 2010, computer-graphics master Kai Krause famously created an uproar when he demonstrated how Mercator maps distort the relative size of the African continent to the advantage of the USA and other countries. By graphically showing, in his map entitled “The True Size of Africa,” that the United States, India, Western Europe and China all fit easily within its borders, he forced people to reconsider the scale and geographic importance of the African continent and, perhaps, its 54 distinct and diverse countries.

Visualizing the data doesn’t need to be a two-dimensional process. When the engineers in Houston had to help the astronauts on the damaged Apollo 13 spacecraft convert air filter canisters from the command module to fit the lunar module, they began by assembling all the plastic bags, cardboard and tape available to the astronauts. With no time to spare, they took visual inventory and then devised a solution, in Houston, that the astronauts could implement 200,000 miles away, orbiting the planet.

In the brand experience biz, we are used to diagraming logistical info – timetables, rigging grids, floorplans, exhibit models, and so on. We are getting better at using storyboards to help a client see the recommended solution long before we start to build.  But what if we used data to plot traffic flow by personas, based on things like time of day, alternate activities, outdoor temperature, seasonal implications, and even sport/music/food preferences? We could not only staff exhibits more efficiently, but could also make sure the right docents and SMEs were on hand – in the right location – to engage with our guests. How might our experience design change if we layered in data that revealed extrovert and introvert preferences? How might we help different personas engage and interact? What new sponsors might we attract?

Think about your most complicated project or assignment. What kind of data do you need to design a better outcome? Can you visualize it? What might we achieve if we had a tool to help decipher and connect all the data collected through the various apps, surveys, game devices, registrations and social media activities attached to the events we create? What if we could literally see the opportunities for improvement and innovation?

I know this much – seeing is believing – and I’ve seen enough to believe that if we act with intent we can find a way to visually quantify the relevant data – and make the most amazing brand experiences possible.

I totally believe that great leaders offer their people unconditional love — a safe place to learn, to grow, to take risks, and to become the next generation of great leaders.  Sometimes, however, we have to work with people we don’t necessarily love.  This can be a simple difference in personalities, interests and even politics. And in cases like these, we need to understand the value of trust.

I can work with people I don’t personally like, as long as they are effective and I’m confident that they will do the right thing.  No question — it’s more fun working with people I love. They make me feel good. They make it easy for me to help them. But with apologies to John Lennon, all you need is trust.

When we trust someone to execute to our own high standards, when we know their core values are solid, it doesn’t really matter if we want to each lunch together. Trust is foundational; trust is an essential requirement. When leaders don’t know whether or not they can trust someone on whom they rely, the result is stress. Stress amplifies every opportunity to fail. Trust illuminates every opportunity to win.

It’s not enough for leaders to trust their followers; leaders must inspire trust in their followers.  If employees can’t trust you to look out for their needs, they will be forced to look out for themselves; selfishness replaces any sense of teamwork. We can all recount stories about companies whose business failures boiled down to a bankruptcy of trust. Too often, would-be leaders acted the part of bad managers by demanding loyalty and sacrifice from people they’d trained to be distrustful and selfish.  That formula will never work for long.

The soldiers who followed Henry V into the Battle of Agincourt in 1415 knew the odds were not in their favor. They may or may not have liked Henry, but they trusted his leadership, they trusted that he would execute the best plan given the circumstances, and they trusted that he would share whatever glory and rewards came their way. The result was a big win for Team Henry.

In 2006, when Bruce Mau was asked to help Guatemala unite its beleaguered citizenry behind a common vision, his team started by addressing the trust factor. The people of Guatemala had been made promises before, and were suspicious of institutions. (There’s a great case study here.) A design-thinking approach helped surface compelling evidence of successful entrepreneurial projects springing up across the country—small businesses and community ventures run by real citizens. These became the rallying point for a grassroots movement. It was something people could trust, and they embraced it.

Someday, you may earn the love of people who will follow you anywhere – into any situation, any risky proposition, any physical or philosophical battle. But first, you’ll have to earn their trust. Without trust, love is blind.

Check out my latest interview with Rachel Wimberly of Trade Show News Network (TSNN) where I share some of my insights on the experience industry as well as lessons learned along the way. Read the full story here.