1. Rob Gleasure R.Gleasure@ucc.ie www.robgleasure.com
IS6117 Electronic Business Development Project Lecture 5: Value curves and brainstorming
Rob Gleasure

2. IS6117
Today’s session
Value curves
Mind mapping

3. The next impossible problem
Having laid out multiple user-types with varying emotional drivers and interaction journeys, we must now narrow back into something that is both specific enough to address and broad enough to balance all that complexity
We need to distil our understanding of users into specific objectives

4. What is a value curve?
A value curve is a tool to help you understand the options available to your user when pursuing their stated goals, i.e. _____ wants a better way to ______ because ______
A value curve lets you lays out the features and qualities of existing systems and critically analyse the value of each of those features and qualities
Really important to avoid thinking in terms of a specific solution at this stage

5. Why value curves
Value curves synthesise the findings of different journey maps and bring us back to a product/market-view of our design
This completes our first major cycle of zooming in and zooming out
We zoom in to examine every interesting detail of our user’s needs and experiences
We zoom out so we can make the problem actionable and begin moving a specific holistic direction

6. Often used for ‘blue ocean’ thinking
Red Ocean Strategy
Blue Ocean Strategy
Compete in existing market space
Create uncontested market space
Beat the competition
Make the competition irrelevant
Exploit existing demand
Create and capture new demand
Make the value‐cost trade‐off
Break the value‐cost trade‐off
Align the whole system of a company’s activities with its strategic
choice of differentiation or low cost
Align the whole system of a company’s activities in pursuit of
differentiation and low cost
From Kim &

7. How to create value curves
The basic idea is very simple
We list out each competitive factor in our industry
We gauge each of these ideas according to customer needs and the capacity of existing competitors to meet those needs
Then we ask ourselves four questions…

8. How to create value curves
What competitive factors can we reduce?
What competitive factors can we eliminate?
What competitive factors can we raise?
What competitive factors can we create?

9. Problem-Abstraction: The Case of Radical Low-Cost Incubators in India
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10. Example of India/Nepal Incubators
Reduce
Increase
Precision
Adjustability
Affordability
Ease of use
Eliminate
Create
Air control
Ease to maintain
Ease to store
Ease to transport

11. Our incubators example
High
Low
Precision
Ease to maintain
Ease to store
Adjustability
Air control
Affordability
Ease of use
Ease to transport
Reduce
Reduce
Eliminate
Increase
Create

12. Example of a value curve for the Nintendo Wii
Reduce
Increase
Graphics
Narrative
Immersion
Accessibility
Fun
Social ‘living room’ gaming
Eliminate
Create
Sophisticated input
Extensive gated game progression
Gesture-based input

13. The Nintendo Wii continued
High
Wii
Mobile games
Games consoles and PCs
Low
Graphics
Living room gaming
Narrative
Immersion
Sophisticated
input
Gated game progression
Accessibility
Fun
Gesture based control

14. Example of a value curve for WhatsApp
Reduce
Increase
Connectivity
Visibility
Multimedia
Intimacy
Ease of browsing
Eliminate
Create
Profiles
Personal pages
Network compartmentalization

15. WhatsApp continued High WhatsApp Facebook Twitter Low Connectivity
Visibility
Multimedia
Intimacy
Profiles
Personal pages
Ease of browsing
Network compartmentalization

16. A template for value curves

17. When to use value curves?
Value curves are typically used during the defining stage, as they break a larger problem down into specific design-level objectives
They are also used to help position the new interaction against alternatives during the testing stage, as users can give feedback
The extent to which the new interaction design actually creates the target value curve
The extent to which that new value curve adequately represents their needs

18. Where to use value curves
Value curves are a way for the design team to bring all of their findings and ideas together and begin to agree on a high-level direction for the design
They also allow personas to be re-visited and trade-offs to be considered
Which personas are most likely to find the new value curve appealing?
Which personas are we trying to satisfice on reduced or eliminated qualities?

19. The next next impossible problem
We expanded our understanding of different users and journeys as far as possible. We then distilled it down to specific issues and opportunities
We must now expand again into imaginary future worlds using the content of our minds and what we’ve learned
We need to take a specific need and unpack it in as many directions as possible

20. How does creativity even work?
Creativity is the act of forming new things as hypotheticals or counterfactuals to current systems
Lots of views how this happens but there is a general consensus it involves two things
New associations are created
Old associations are destroyed
The outcome is a new blend and configuration of conceptual or material components

21. Structure vs. open-mindedness
The example of jazz
Images from

22. Converging and diverging
Roughly two parts to creative thinking
Converging, i.e. unpacking a idea into a more detailed solution
Relies on linear thinking and logical forming of connections from one thing to another
Heavily reliant on working memory and concentration
Diverging, i.e. breaking from the current way of thinking in favour of some other framing
Relies on stepping back out of a flow of logical and allowing alternative connections to emerge
Reliant on ability to let go of current frames or forget train of thought

23. Feeling of Knowing
So how do we figure out whether we should be in converging or diverging mode?
Feeling of knowing refers to the sense we have an answer somewhere in our mind, we just need to find it
This is usually cue-dependent
We feel like the different parts of the problem are familiar, i.e. we don’t need to think about it differently, we just need to think it through

24. Power through or take a walk?
The presence or absence of feeling of knowing can direct creative strategies
Where feeling of knowing is high, concentration and perseverance is required to unpack the solution
No new contextual or creative cues are required
Where feeling of knowing is low, we need to let go of specific ideas so we can keep the flow of new ideas coming
We keep gathering contextual or creative cues
Beware the notebook of ideas!

25. What are mind maps
Mind maps are a technique used to generate and visualise multiple possible creative directions for a particular design problem
Individual trains of thought are expanded and unpacked in different directions
Images, keywords, and other memory cues are used to heighten associations and lower cognitive burden while maintaining creative momentum
Invested by Tony Buzan, who trademarked the term on behalf of the Buzan Organization

26. What is a mind map?
Image from

27. Why mind maps
Mind maps help us to alternate between converging and diverging creative thinking for some key topic
A visual map is used to combine different elements on a single page, meaning associations are free to form between as many concepts as possible
This approach encourages the designer(s) to capture and develop sequential thinking, as well as tangents and passing insights

28. How to create mind maps (pt. 1)
Create a central idea around which to base your map, e.g. a new requirement from your value curve, or a persona you feel is at the heart of the new design
Create or find an image to mark that idea and place the image in the centre of a page
This should be something striking that demands attention and triggers associations
Ideally, you want something that represents the first thing that comes to your mind
Take your time to get the image right

29. How to create mind maps (pt. 2)
Add branches for different associations that come to mind
You don’t need to worry about how many – you can add more later – you just want to capture the first things that come to mind
A useful addition here is to colour each branch differently, e.g. use a blue pen, then switch to a green, then a red, etc.
This helps you focus on different ideas by keeping them visually consistent
Label each branch, using a single word or term that captures the essence of the idea

30. How to create mind maps (pt. 3)
Divide each branch into sub-branches for each new association they trigger
These don’t need to be hierarchical or symmetrical (though they can be, if it helps), they just need to represent associations that spring to mind
Don’t be afraid to hop between branches. You’re trying to capture what’s in your mind, not fight or control it

31. How to create mind maps (pt. 4)
Add an image for each branch and sub-branch
This should be something that jumps out and brings that idea crashing into your mind
This will be easier for some ideas than others but push yourself to come up with something
You may find yourself doodling a little here
This is fine, sometimes the white noise can create the mental silence necessary to let other ideas bubble to the surface

32. An example of a mind map
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33. Another example of a mind map
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34. And another example of a mind map
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35. When to use mind maps?
Mind maps are used during ideating to transform goals into more detailed and actionable approaches
Mind maps are also often revisited during prototyping and testing, as they help to clarify how emerging insights in those stages relate to previous ideas

36. Where to use mind maps
Mind maps are used for individual thinking as well as collective ideation
Whiteboards are amazing for trying to get all of your initial ideas together in one place
Remember the four basic rules of brainstorming
Quantity, quantity, quantity
No criticism
Encourage wild ideas
Combine and extend ideas

37. Reading
Kim, W. C., & Mauborgne, R. A. (2014). Blue ocean strategy, expanded edition: How to create uncontested market space and make the competition irrelevant. Harvard Business Review Press.
Fredrickson, B. L. (2004). The broaden-and-build theory of positive emotions. Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences, 359(1449): 1367–1378.
Interaction Design Foundation: The Basics of User Experience Design (
More details on the incubator example
Ted Talk by Tony Buzan
Ted Talk by Charles Limb