Yielding Powerful Insights Through Relationship Mapping
By Priyama Barua and Kim Dowd
Understanding relationships and dynamics within a system can be tough. As researchers and strategists, we rely on people to articulate the nuances of their relationships, but they might not always be the best storytellers. Relationship mapping is a great way to prompt participants to quickly paint a holistic picture of a system.
Relationship mapping is a collaborative tool to capture powerful stories. By providing participants with a tangible way to aid discussion, relationship mapping helps researchers and strategists accomplish three main goals:
- Determine linkages between actors in a system
- Show influence of the actors involved, including where and how value is gained in each relationship
- Uncover the nature of these interactions, such as frequency, topics, mode, etc.
Relationship Mapping During Research Sessions
Sometimes research seeks answers to delicate questions, and participants may sometimes be reluctant to open up or unable to articulate their views. By using relationship mapping, you will capture additional layers of information (e.g. channels used to communicate) and enable honest disclosure on complex topics. Using this method allows us to:
- Prompt participant memory and better articulate their perspectives on sensitive topics
- Cover more ground by approaching the research goal from multiple angles
- Translate inferred meaning into clear and specific answers
- Meet stakeholders’ needs of easily socialising research output
- Save time and money via a low-cost method with minimal preparation
- Remain flexible for use in a variety contexts and interview locations
Case Study: Relationship Mapping with Staff to Understand Hospital Employee Dynamics
Our team recently conducted research where the client sought to understand the social dynamics among hospital employees and how they relay feedback to each other.
Two factors made this issue particularly delicate to navigate. The first was the hospital’s hierarchical employee structure. The second was the highly emotional nature of discussion topics like employee burnout, negative interactions with colleagues, and the life-and-death nature of medical work.
In a hospital setting with busy medical staff, we were constrained to gather in-depth data with a small sample size and limited timespan. We supplemented a traditional interview with Relationship Mapping, yielding impactful results despite project constraints. Our team hypothesized and prepared materials with some elements of the system (key players, emotions, etc.) before the interview to maximize time with each participant.
Each map included:
- Roles participants most frequently interact with, or were most important to them, are closer to the center
- Arrows depict directions of communication; thicker arrows represent the direction of influence, as perceived by the participant
- Faces indicate the emotion participants felt about these interactions and the people in these roles in general
- Modes of communication such as phone, face-to-face, pager, texting, PA system, web tools, and email are represented via icons
Participants were able to better articulate complex interaction systems and communicate their thoughts, despite the chaotic backdrop of a hospital. By having visuals ready to go before the interview, we were able to get to a richer discussion and the heart of the dynamics at a faster pace than with a traditional interview. The relationship map delivered as a result of this work consequently helped inform the hospital’s feedback mechanism between staff.
Case Study: Relationship Mapping with Stakeholders in the Dental Insurance Space
Our client’s members struggled to understand how dental insurance and billing works, leading to high call volume and a negative experience.
To define the problem space, our team sought to understand the nature of interactions between several actors in dental insurance. The actors and linkages were defined at first through stakeholder and Subject Matter Expert (SME) interviews. The team then provided a blank relationship map and in a workshop activity, asked key stakeholders to provide details, such as additional linkages and reasons for interaction.
In this case, relationship mapping generated conversation and collaborative thinking amongst stakeholders and SMEs. The output of this activity yielded important details that informed experience strategy work to improve member experience.
For example, interviews determined that back-and-forth between insurers and providers was a key member pain point. By mapping this relationship, stakeholders collaborated to build empathy toward the member and service providers while envisioning the future state as a group. Understanding these linkages helped key stakeholders understand what aspects of these interactions, or lack thereof, contributed to a disjointed experience for members.
Each map included:
- Key actors and their interactions with others
- Arrows depict directions of communication
- Boxes detail topics and reasons for interaction
- Modes of communication such as phone, face-to-face, texting, web tools, and email are represented
The outcome of this project included step-by-step experience improvement recommendations, none of which would have been possible without first understanding the complexity of the relationships in this system.
The Value of Relationship Mapping
- Build empathy: A visual representation of findings rather than a lengthy document allows key stakeholders to quickly understand findings, easily socialize them throughout the organization, and empathize with the people we’re designing for.
- Appeal to multiple thinking styles: This method can be used to aid memory recall by appealing to all information processing styles via visual, auditory, and kinesthetic components.
- Cover more ground: In traditional triangulation research methods, researchers must make an inquiry from multiple points of view to achieve a holistic picture. Relationship mapping allows the researcher to approach multiple aspects of the experience without giving the impression of overly repetitive questions.
- Yield open & honest findings: By nature, people are hesitant in how they describe things they may deem controversial. By providing multiple ways to describe a dynamic, relationship mapping allows participants to navigate delicate conversations through tangible examples of emotions and touch points. This takes the burden off of participants who would rely solely on their storytelling ability in a traditional interview.
The value of this activity extends far beyond the map itself, as the true data lives in the stories that unfold while participants describe it. We encourage you to try this method and share your experiences!
Authors: Priyama Barua, Kim Dowd
