Visualizing Abstract Concepts

Psychology’s Rorschach test records subjects’ perceptions of inkblots and analyzed them using psychological interpretation, complex algorithms, or both. Some psychologists use this test to examine a person’s personality characteristics and emotional functioning.

Rorschach’s Test

Gartner’s branded Magic Quadrant (MQ) is a visual representation of the U.S. based research and advisory firms research. It summarizes their qualitative analysis into a market and its direction, maturity and participants, typically of information technology firms, products and services.

Gartner’s Magic Quadrant

The Hype Cycle is a branded graphical tool developed and used by IT research and advisory firm, Gartner for representing the maturity, adoption and social application of specific technologies .

Gartner’s Hype Cycle

Osterwalder’s Business Model Canvas is a strategic management template for developing new or documenting existing business models. It describes a firm’s value proposition, infrastructure, customers, and finances. It assists firms in aligning their activities by illustrating potential trade-offs.

Osterwalder’s Business Model Canvas

Image source:grasshopperherder.com

In economics, the Laffer curve is a representation of the relationship between possible rates of taxation and resulting levels of government revenue. It illustrates the concept of taxable income elasticity—i.e., taxable income will change in response to changes in the rate of taxation.

The Laffer Curve

According to Anderson’s Long Tail, our culture and economy is increasingly shifting away from a focus on a relatively small number of "hits" (mainstream products and markets) at the head of the demand curve and toward a huge number of niches in the tail.

Anderson’s Long Tail

Sinek’s Golden Circle

Sinek’s Golden Circle explains how great leaders and brands inspire. They do the opposite of what most people and companies do, they start with why. Communicating why they do what they do, how, they do it, and what they do.

The USDA’s Food Pyramid

The USDA created the food pyramid in 1992 to guide consumer nutrition and eating habits.

Technology Adoption Curve

Popularized by Everett Rogers in the book Diffusion of Innovations, people tend to adopt new technologies at varying rates. Their relative speed of adoption follows a bell curve, with the primary difference being individuals’ psychological disposition to new ideas.

Risk takers who have the resources and desire to try new things, even if they fail.

Are selective about which technologies they start using. They are considered, “one to check in with” for new information and reduce others uncertainty about new technology by adopting it.

Take their time before adopting a new idea. They are willing to embrace a new technology as long as they understand how it fits with their lives.

Adopt in reaction to peer pressure, emerging norms or economic necessity. Most of the uncertainty around an idea must be resolved before they adopt.

Are traditional and make decisions based on past experience. They are often economically unable to take risks on new ideas.

Ishikawa or Fishbone Diagram

Causal Diagrams popularized by Kaoru Ishikawa in the 1960’s, commonly used in product design and quality processes. Fishbone diagrams organize potential causes into a graphical format that facilitates an organized approach to problem solving.

Rich Picture

Part of the Soft systems methodology, Rich Pictures provide a mechanism for learning about complex or ill-defined problems by drawing detailed representations of them. They typically consist of symbols, sketches or "doodles". Rich Pictures are a way of relating your own experiences and perceptions to a given problem /situation.

Mind Map

Popularized by Tony Buzan, Mind Maps are a tool to record knowledge and model systems around a central theme. Composed of radiating words and pictures linked together.

BCG Growth Share Matrix

In the 1970’s Boston Consulting Group developed the concept of dividing a company’s product lines in to cash cows, dogs, stars and question marks. Based on a standard 2x2 matrix, the comparison of Market Growth and Market Share it is used as an analytical tool in product management, brand marketing, strategy and portfolio analysis.

Kim and Mauborgne’s Strategy Canvas

The strategy canvas is a diagnostic and action framework for building a compelling blue ocean strategy. The horizontal axis captures the range of factors that the industry competes on and invests in, while the vertical axis captures the offering level that buyers receive across all these key competing factors..

The Short Haul Airline Industry

Lovelock’s Flower of Service

Lovelock’s flower of service examines the service elements that surround a core product. It is used to display two types of supplementary services that surround the core product; facilitating supplementary services and enhancing supplementary services .