圖像思考的語言，5種在職場上幫助你溝通的圖像思考 - Visual language, 5 visuals to help communicate with others at work

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常聽到一種說法“一張圖勝過千言萬語”。人類天生就受到圖像的吸引，這有可能是受我們的祖先原始人的遺傳，因為原始人依賴他們的圖像記憶來找到打獵完回家的路。我們肯定是那些圖像記憶強的原始人的後代，因為那些圖像記憶差的人們，都在森林裡面迷路回不了家了。

當我進入職場，我的工作先是產品專員，而後晉升產品經理。我學習到如何在策略規劃、財務、研發、業務各部門間穿梭，獲得他們的幫助，將產品從無到有設計出來。每一個不同的部門都有對公司營運的見解。而我學到最好說服各部門的方法，就是要知道他們的思路是怎麼運作，並用他們熟悉的圖像思考方式來陳述事情。

透過用別人熟悉的圖像來陳述我的想法，通常能更快的讓他們接受，並且獲得很多的回應。經過歸納，有五種最常用的圖像思考方法。

策略規劃問 “我們該去哪裡？” ------定位矩陣

策略規劃喜歡用矩陣來思考哪裡值得投資。他們看世界就好像一座金礦，而生意人都在其中角逐最好的礦位。透過定位矩陣，策略家能夠畫出“哪裡有未開發的金礦”和“哪裡我們應該放棄挖礦”。策略家最喜歡看到矩陣上有一塊“便宜又大碗”的一區，也就是一塊很多經濟潛力，而只需要少少投資的地方。

矩陣是一個好用的圖來畫出所有的可能性，並且決定如何分配資源。如果你想要推薦策略家一間度假餐廳，你可以畫一張矩陣圖結合了對他重要的項目：價錢、距離、好評。在矩陣圖上，你畫出各家餐廳的價位和距離，再用泡泡的大小表示網路上的好評程度。最後你就有一張圖來說服策略家：“要不這間餐廳，地點不遠，價錢又比其他一樣好評的餐廳低？”

財務問“值多少錢？”--------現金流圖

財務最關心的事情莫過於現金流了。一間公司可以表面上接了大訂單很成功，但實際上現金流已經寥寥無幾了。這是因為現金被做成了商品庫存，或是客戶帳單未付。這也是為什麼“金錢的時間價值”是現代財務金融的根本。

現金流圖，畫出了一段時間中現金的進出。財務人用以計算各種重要指標，像是淨現值NPV，投資報酬率ROI，或甚至是股價。對財務人來說，現金流圖計算了一個東西的價值，來做為決定的依據。

就算是客戶也能看作一項現金流計算。“客戶淨值”計算，考慮了獲得一位新客戶的成本，客戶隨著時間能帶來多少報酬，甚至考量每一位滿意的客戶能多帶來幾個新客戶。

當你想要說服一位財務人，像是買一台家庭用車，試著畫出這台車短期以及長期的益處，跟車子的成本相比。舉例來說，一台價錢稍貴的省油車，可能在長期為你省下更多錢。現金流圖，讓你可以證明給財務人看，未來得到的效應比先期的投資划算許多。

設計師問“誰是客戶”------人物圖

我們知道了該往哪裡發展，以及能賺多少錢，接下來我們要專注在買我們商品的客戶上。根據IDEO設計事務所總經理Tim Brown發表的“設計思維“方法，設計師會先嘗試在紙上畫出客戶的特質，客戶遇到什麼困難，以及他們過去經驗為何。

人物圖可以用很多種方式呈現，但最常見的方式是用說故事的方式，來敘述客戶如何去解決生活中的各種難題。舉例來說，“同理心圖”試著畫出了一位客戶的周圍在聽，說，看，想些什麼事物。“經歷圖”畫出了客戶如何跟我們的產品或服務互動，來解決生活上的問題。經過了這番深度了解，才能進到下一個創意發想的階段，去想辦法改良這些圖中述說的客戶現況。有可能是透過宣傳來改變客戶的思維，或是用新的產品來改良客戶的體驗。

因此，如果你哪天需要說服一位設計師上體育館，而說做運動對身體多好沒有用時，不如談談體育館裡面形形色色的人們：有愛自拍的肌肉男，獨自做瑜伽的女孩，愛聽電子舞曲的阿嬤，和愛碎碎唸的老頭。人才是設計師最感興趣的對象，因此給他們一個他們要設計的客戶的 “印象圖”，最能打動設計師。

工程師問”該做些什麼?"------心智圖

工程師是一種特殊的人種。我能這麼說是因為我也是工科訓練出來的。我們工程師被訓練來解決問題，不論是登陸月球，或是海底鑽油井。工程師相信每一個問題，都能被一套系統所解決。因次打動工程師最好的方法，就是把問題或解決方案層層分解開來。

心智圖能幫助把一個題目拆解，創造了業界常用的“魚骨圖”和“系統圖”。這些圖用方塊跟線來解釋各成分之間的關係，各成分如何組合來解決問題，並能用來推估完成所有的成分需要多少資源。

對工程師而言，心智圖讓他們了解他們工作項目的原因，以及工作項目如何幫助整體系統。也因此工程師會了解他們項目的重要性以及緊急性。你總不想當耽誤整個計畫運行的害群之馬吧？

日前，我上街想買一件上班通勤的大衣。逛衣服時，我第一個看的就是衣服的吊牌。有沒有防水？透氣？多少錢？產地在哪裡？材質是什麼？等到一件大衣通過我上班通勤的“產品需求”後，我才會試穿看看合不合身。身為一個工程人，買衣服就像在找一件符合產品規格的商品。

業務行銷問“多少人？”------漏斗圖

成功的行銷業務最得意的事情，是不論給他們什麼商品，都有辦法把它賣出去。他們知道如何創造吸引人的訊息，提供給客戶適合他們的商品。因此，對業務行銷而言，最重要是如何把時間有效的分配在最能創造價值的客戶身上。

漏斗圖能看出一項產品所有可能觸及的客戶有多少。漏斗圖可以看作是一場贏取客戶的過程：從潛在客戶，新客戶到忠實愛用者。但漏斗圖把這一個過程套用到所有客戶身上，像是一場三鐵馬拉松的空拍圖一樣，不同的客戶在馬拉松上不同的階段一覽無遺。因此，行銷業務的工作就好比是三鐵馬拉松的主辦單位，要確保更多人能安全抵達終點線。

漏斗圖不僅能表達贏取客戶的過程，它也能形容一件頂級商品有多麽難得。以頂級香檳舉例，行銷人員會提到他們是法國的限定產區，精心挑選的葡萄，由世界上幾位頂尖釀酒師製作，由一間百年老牌酒廠限量發售的。這樣層層的篩選，不僅提高了產品稀少難得的印象，也間接地墊高了價格。

語言中很多文意，是無法完美地翻譯成別的語言。這也是為什麼學會一個新的語言，是通往了解不同文化思維的最好方法。我會說在圖像思考的世界裡，不同的領域也有他們自己的圖像語言，方便該領域中人們的交流。因此，學習使用新的圖像，能讓你一窺別的領域的人在想些什麼。好消息是，學習圖像的語言不需要學字母或繞口令，而只需要一支畫筆和一個好奇的腦袋。

There is a saying “a picture is worth a thousand words”. Human beings are attracted to visual images, might be because our ancestors relied on their visuals memories to remember the way home after a long day hunting and gathering. We are the descendant of the ones with superior visual memory, and probably not from the ones that forgot to “turn right at the big oak tree” and got lost in the forest.

When I first started working, I was first given the role as a product specialist, then as a product manager. Through the roles, I learned how to manoeuvre myself between departments: Business Development, Finance, Engineers and Sales, to gain their support and bring a product from paper to life. 

Every different departments had their own view on “the right way to do things”. And I learned the best way to get people onboard, is to get to know how their mind works and speak their “visual language”.

By presenting my ideas in a way that fits to a mental image someone is familiar with, I tend to get my idea across faster, and receive more feedback.  If we boil it down, there are five types of mental visuals that are most used in daily work.  

Strategists asks “Where do we play?” ——The positioning matrix

Strategy people, be it business development or corporate strategy, like to look at positioning matrix to where could they exploit. They view the world as a map of gold, with business miners fighting for the best mining spots. That is why the traditional 2 by 2 matrix resonates with Strategists so much, as the matrix shows strategist“where is the undiscovered gold” and “where should we give up”. Nothing excites a strategist more when they see a spot on the matrix marked as “low hanging fruits”, meaning lots of business potentials with low amount of work involved.

Matrix is a good way to plot out all the options, and decide where to allocate resources. Say you want to convince a strategist to decide which restaurant to go to during holiday. You define “distance” “price” and “reviews” are important for them. Then plot out “cost of meal vs distance from hotel” and throw in some bubble size representing “positive review online”. Now you have a great chart to convince strategist to try out a new restaurant by saying “How about this this place, its not too far, with lots of good reviews considering its price range?”

Finance asks “How much?”—— The cash flow chart

Finance is all about cash flow. Businesses could be successful on the surface taking in big orders, but under the surface they could be starving on cash flow, with money held up in unsold product on the shelf or unpaid invoices at the customers. That is why the concept of “time value of money” is fundamental for modern finance. 

The cash flow chart, which indicates the net flow of cash over time, is used by finance people to calculate important indicators such as NPV (Net Present Value) and ROI (Return on Investment) and even stock prices. Essentially, finance people try to calculate the net worth of a subject, and translates it to meaningful insights for decision making.

Even customers could be viewed as a investment, with concepts like “customer lifetime value” which evaluates the cost of acquiring a customer, the money a customers will bring back over a certain time frame, and even estimate how many new customer each happy customer brings back via word of mouth.

When trying to convince a finance person on a topic, say buying a family car, plot down the short and long term benefits in numbers, and compare them to the cost today. For example, a slightly pricier fuel saving car could save you more money down the road. The cash flow chart could prove you right in front of finance people that a little more investment goes a long way in the future. 

Designers ask “Who is the customer?”—— The persona map

Even if we knew where to play and how much money we could make, we still need to focus on understand the customer we are trying to sell to. Following the “design thinking” methodology, coined by IDEO Tim Brown, designers try to plot down the customers on a map, on what kind of personalities, difficulties and experiences a customer could have.

The map could be illustrated many ways, but most of the time in the form of a story, with the customer as the protagonist trying to overcome life’s difficulties. For example, the “empathy map” plots down what a customer hears, sees, speaks and thinks about. The “experience map” plots down how customers interact with a product or a service to overcome life’ difficulties. After this deep dive, the creative process begins on how can we influence this map. This could be done by changing customers’ mindset with targeted campaigns, or making the experience more pleasurable with new products. 

Therefore if you ever need to persuade a designer to go to a gym, instead talking about all the health benefits, talk about all the different people you could observe there: The selfie macho guy, the solo yoga lady, the disco grandma, the chatter grandpa—every time you go to the gym, there is someone new to observe. People are the most interesting part for a designer, so give them a mental “picture” of who is the customer we are trying to serve.

Engineers ask “What should be done?” —— Mind maps

Engineers are a special breed of people. I can say that because I am one myself. We are trained to solve problems, be it putting people on the moon or drilling for oil under the sea. Engineers believe that for every problem, a device could be built to overcome it. So the best way to convince an engineer to spring into action, is by breaking down the problem and the device that solves it.

Mind maps are a great way to break down a subject, giving birth to terms such as “fish bone chart” and “system thinking”. These charts uses diagrams and lines to show the relationship between different parts, how each parts could be assembled to reach the end goal, and estimate how much time and money are needed to finish the project.

For engineers, mind maps walk them through the logic behind a task and how the task fits in the bigger picture. This gives them a sense of importance and urgency of the task. You do not want to be the person holding up “the grand scheme of things”, do you?

That is why if I go shopping for a new jacket, the information tag is the first thing that attracts me: Is it waterproof? Is it breathable? How much is it? Where is it made? What material is it? After the jacket meets my “product requirements” for commuting to work, I will then try it on and see if the size fits. As an engineer, shopping for clothes is simply a task to find the product that meets my specification. 

Sales and Marketing ask “How many customer?”—— The funnel map

Successful sales or marketing functions prize themselves for their ability to sell, whatever the product may be. They know how to craft the message for different people, and provide just the right product for them. The essence is how much time they could spend, since they will like to spend their time only on customers that will contribute more growth then others.

The funnel map is a tool to help visualise all the potential customers a product could reach. It could been seen as a customer conversion journey, from prospects, confirmed leads, new customers to loyal clients. But the funnel expands this journey from one person to all customers, like a snap shot of a triathlon with people in different phases of the run. In this view, sales and marketing are the modulator of the customer conversion triathlon, making sure more and more people can reach the finish line. 

The funnel map could be used not just for customer conversion, but also to describe how strict the selection process of a premium product could be. Take the example of premium champaign: one selected region in France, with carefully picked grapes, brewed and mixed by a few specialist, bottled with limited number every year and sold by a champaign house that survived decades. Each levels of “selection” filter, adds to the premium image surrounding the product and to the price tag as well.

The phase “lost in translation” represents the gap between different languages that could not be translated directly one-to-one. That is why learning a new language is often a door openers to new ways of thinking. I would argue that in the world of visual thinking, there is also different languages among different fields, that supports the common wisdom within that field. By learning new visuals, you enter the world of that field and see how their minds operate. Luckily, the language of visuals does not involve tongue twisters and alphabets, but simply a curious mind and a drawing board to start.

Copyright 2017 EricaShaneView. All rights reserved.