How to Make Sense of Any Mess by Abby Covert

Chapter 1: Identify the Mess | Page 27

Meet Carl.

Carl is a design student getting ready to graduate. But first, he has to produce a book explaining his design work and deliver a ten-minute presentation.

While Carl is a talented designer, public speaking makes him queasy and he doesn’t consider himself much of a writer. He has drawers and boxes full of notes, scribbles, sketches, magazine clippings, quotes, and prototypes.

Carl has the pieces he needs to make his book and presentation come to life. He also has a momentum-killing fear of the mess he’s facing.

To help Carl identify his mess, we could start by asking questions about its edges and depths:

• Who are his users and what does he know about them already? How could he find out more?
• Who are the stakeholders and what does he know about what they are expecting?
• How does he want people to interpret the work? What content would help that interpretation?
• What might distract from that interpretation?

Chapter 1: Identify the Mess | Page 28

It’s your turn.

This chapter outlines why it’s important to identify the edges and depths of a mess, so you can lessen your anxiety and make progress.

I also introduced the need to look further than what is true, and pay attention to how users and stakeholders interpretlanguage, data, and content.

To start to identify the mess you’re facing, work through these questions:

• Users: Who are your intended users? What do you know about them? How can you get to know them better? How might they describe this mess?
• Stakeholders: Who are your stakeholders? What are their expectations? What are their thoughts about this mess? How might they describe it?
• Information: What interpretations are you dealing with? What information is being created through a lack of data or content?
• Current state: Are you dealing with too much information, not enough information, not the right information, or a combination of these?

Chapter 3: Face Reality | Page 61

Rhetoric matters.

Rhetoric is communication designed to have a persuasive effect on its audience.

Here are some common rhetorical reasons for making diagrams and maps:

• Reflection: Point to a future problem (e.g., a map of a local landfill’s size in the past, present, and projected future).
• Options: Show something as it could be (e.g., a diagram showing paths a user could take to set up an application).
• Improvements: Show something as it should be (e.g., a diagram pointing out opportunities found during user research).
• Identification: Show something as it once was or is today (e.g., a map of your neighborhood).
• Plan: Show something as it will be (e.g., a map of your neighborhood with bike lanes).

Chapter 5: Measure the Distance | Page 119

Meet Jim.

Jim owns a retail store. His profits and traffic have been declining for the last few years. His employees are convinced that, to save the business, the company website needs to let people buy things online. But all Jim sees is more complications, more people to manage, and more expenses. He thinks, “If we sell on the website, we have to take photos, and pack and ship each order. Who will do that?”

With rent going up and profits going down, Jim isn’t sure if changing the website will save his business. He doesn’t know the distance he needs to travel to get to his goal. He wonders, “Will improving my website even help? Or will it just make things worse?”

To think through this decision, Jim:

• Makes a list of indicators to measure the store
• Measures the baseline for each indicator
• Sets up flags that keep him informed of changes
• Identifies ways to improve towards his goals

If Jim’s goal is to increase in-store traffic and reduce expenses, an online store probably doesn’t make as much sense as other things he could do.

Chapter 6: Play with Structure | Page 143

Meet Joan

Joan is the social media coordinator for an airline that recently merged with another airline. Overnight, her team became responsible for twice as much work as before. She’s also now responsible for managing twice as many people.

As the details of the merger iron out, duplicative channels have to be dealt with. For example, they now have two Twitter accounts and two help directories on two different websites. To tie everything together, Joan:

• Conducts user and stakeholder research
• Develops a controlled vocabulary to identify the nouns and verbs of both companies across their existing channels
• States the intent of each channel and determines the best direction to serve users
• Develops specific goals and baselines
• Identifies a set of flags to keep her informed
• Maps out the channels that she manages and how the merger will affect each over time
• Organizes each channel to better serve stakeholders and users