When a technology startup needed some help clarifying the their pitch to VCs, they asked me to help. Only I was in a different city. So we did a web conference and we discussed their product, value proposition, and the profile of the VCs they would be pitching. As we talked, I provided real time visualization via a shared virtual whiteboard.

These are sketches-not finished visuals. The point of these is to make sense and provide insight, not to look polished.

They then turned around and used those sketches to create finished visuals to incorporate in their presentation deck. The visualization session also helped them clarify what they had to offer and how to communicate that value. This kind of back and forth conversation, facilitated by real time visualization, is what the people at Humantific call visual sensemaking.

I love that term, visual sensemaking. When you can make sense of something, that’s the first step to insight and informed action. There is nothing I like more than helping clients make sense of complex information and use it to take productive steps forward.