The visual problem solving framework proposed by Dan Roam in his books The Back of the Napkin: Solving Problems and Selling Ideas with Pictures
The Back of the Napkin
The basic hypothesis for the framework is, that human perception is highly visually oriented (75% of the neurons in the brain dedicated to perception are for vision), and therefore, by discussing and communicating a complex problem visually, we are better able to comprehend and find creative solutions to the problem. This is underlined with a slightly long description of the cognitive and physiological aspects of human perception in the beginning of the book.
Once past this background, the components of the framework are introduced - and these are extremely useful and beautifully supplement one another. In a nutshell, there are six aspects of any problem and consequently six different approaches - and, of course, six corresponding visualizations: Who/What? How many? Where? When? How? and Why?
The framework is utilizing and combining one or more of these six aspects of a problem to identify (and visualize) the problem - and thereby creating a path for finding good solutions.
In the follow up, Unfolding the Napkin
The exercises are fun, if a little simplistic, but it seems the primary purpose is to remove the aversion to putting pen to paper, and for this they are very effective. Further, the books offer some very basic icons that everyone can draw - and thus removes the frustration of not being able to accurately depict a given object or situation.
I enjoyed both books immensely and - while I am definitely no master of visual problem solving - I have caught myself going to the white board more often to sketch and have consistently found this to be a very useful exercise.
The framework is not a problem solving framework in itself - you still need your analytical skills and ability to refactor a problem - but gives you additional avenues to approach a problem and the means to visually work through them.
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