Campaigns to End Violence against Women and Girls - Virtual ...

The following are two easy-to-use creative tools commonly used in problem analysis:
mind maps and problem trees.
Mind maps visualize ideas gathered in a brainstorming process
Practical instructions for mind mapping:
– Write a phrase summarizing the problem for analysis in the middle of a large sheet of
paper, or on a card that you place in the middle of a pin board.
– Identify key factors that have a bearing on the issue and write them, or place cards,
in the space around the issue. Connect each factor to the issue with a line (dark grey
in the example above). Factors that exert particularly strong influence should be
placed closer to the central issue.
– Identify secondary factors related to the key factors identified and write them next to
the relevant key factors, connecting them again with lines (see bottom-right corner in
the example above).
– Draw lines or use logos to visualize the respective weight of each factor, or links
between factors. The resulting image may look “messy”, but it is an effective way to
map the complex factors that influence a campaign issue and decide which to
prioritize.
The example below using Mindmeister, an online mind-mapping software, shows a mind
map on the problem of family violence, placed at the center of the map. Participants in
the mapping exercise have added the different factors likely to contribute to or reduce
family violence, leaving some relatively vague and adding detail to those of special
interest to the group (e.g. abuse, services). Subsequently, differently colored lines and
arrows were drawn to show connections between the key factors identified.
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Campaigns December 2011