visual problems to solve

The Ultimate Collection of Brain Teasers To Keep You Thinking All Day

• December 4, 2020

Brain teasers are fun. People have been solving them for millennia and still we enjoy them. Putting the brain to the test, pushing beyond cognitive thinking, and utilizing logic and creativity, brain teasers satisfy our inherent urge to solve problems.

So, here we have compiled an ultimate list of brain teasers — from logic and lateral thinking to visual puzzles, from math and numbers brain teasers to riddles, and more — all that’ll challenge your thinking and keep you busy for hours. Can you solve them all? 

Logic and Lateral Thinking Brain Teasers

Logic and lateral thinking brain games provide a complete mental exercise by working on both logic and creative thinking. Some of these brain teasers require you to find the logic behind the puzzle to get the solution while some require out-of-the-box thinking that breaks from the traditional notions. Try these ones to get started.

1. Which Way Is the Bus Going? (This Is a Bus in the US.)

Answer: The bus is traveling left.

Look at the bus — the doors are not visible. This means the passengers would get on the bus from the opposite side. And since the bus is in the US — where they drive on the right side — the bus is traveling left.

Did you know kids are slightly quicker in answering such visual brain teasers (although they can be inaccurate sometimes)? And research by the University of London found out this is because children under 12 perceive visual information differently from adults.

2. This Brain Teaser Requires High Observation Skills: Guess Who’s Married?

This brain teaser is all about observation and some logic-lateral thinking. Look at pictures carefully, do you see any signs or indications to identify a married woman? Yes, the second woman has a ring on her ring finger.

3. Find Which Glass Will Fill up First? (Tip: Look at the Pipes Carefully.)

If you thought it is 6, it’s wrong. Look at the pipes connected to beakers. The lower pipe connected with the first beaker is closed — the water won’t go through it.

So now eliminating options with closed pipes, it’s the beaker number 5 that’ll fill up first.

4. This Logic Brain Teaser Will Test Your Visual Judgment.

Just look at the opposite sides of the triangle. You’ll get the answer.

5. Guess the Car’s Parking Spot Number.

To solve this you’ll need to look at the puzzle from a different angle. What you see are inverted numbers, the actual sequence is 86, 87, 88, 89, 90, 91.

Enjoying these brain teasers? We have something better for you. Download Smart Brain, the top-rated brain game for iOS and Android.

6. guess the correct top view of the tower..

First, look at the reference tower carefully. It has orange on the top, yellow beneath it  — but of equal size so won’t be visible from the top, a larger yellow with a slightly larger orange at the bottom.

So the aerial view of the tower should consist of a pattern from a smaller orange pattern followed by a larger yellow base and again comparatively larger orange. That’s the first pattern — A.

7. Can You Guess the Total Number of Blocks?

Did you count the blocks that are hidden behind? The bottom layer has 5 blocks, the second layer has 3 and the top layer has 1 block.

Visual Puzzles and Brain Teasers

Visual puzzles test your ability to visualize things. If you have a knack for visual-spatial judgment, you might have visual-spatial intelligence — one of the intelligences as per Gardner’s theory of multiple intelligences — that enables you to think in three-dimension and picture concepts in mind.

8. Can You Spot the Panda?

9. Can You Spot the Pig?

10. Can You Find Which Butterfly Will Reach the Flower First?

So how long did you take to find out?

Mazes are great brain teasers because it really makes you think. To navigate through a complex labyrinth and find out a way, you indeed have to use enough cognitive resources.  Mazes are also great brain games for kids as they help build their problem-solving and visual-motor skills.

11. Guess the Correct Shadow.

12. quick — can you find the mistake.

Answer: “Mitsake” is the mistake.

It’s funny how our mind fails to recognize the simple mistake. This phenomenon is called intentional blindness in which we fail to notice other things while focusing on one particular object. Here, you were focusing on numbers and missed the word.

13. Stroop Test

Stroop effect is the phenomenon when you recognize the semantic meaning of the word instead of the color. If you’re doing it for the first time, it can be difficult to recognize the color as the meaning of the words conflicts with your brain. Try it yourself.

Speak the color of the words — not the semantic meaning — from the following graphic.

14. Advanced Stroop Test

Along with the colors, shapes are added in this Stroop test to challenge your brain. Try it.

Speak out the color and shapes — not the semantic meaning of the word — in the following graphic.

Riddle Brain Teasers

Riddles are the old but goodie brain teasers that have stood the test of time. They are fun, engaging, enable you to think creatively, and of course, utterly satisfying. Here, let’s start with some easy ones.

15. What’s the Thing That Shoots but Never Kills?

Answer: Camera

Okay, that was an easy one. Let’s see if you can solve the next riddle.

16. Who’s the Doctor?

Answer: The doctor is the boy’s mother.

The picture of fishing with the son conjures a “son-dad time” picture. Our mind perceives it must be the son’s dad or a male figure who went fishing.  Well, that’s how these riddles play with our minds.

17. A Woman Born in 1975 and Died in 1975. She Was 22 Years Old at the Time of Death. How?

Answer: One of the numbers (1975) could be the hospital room or even a postal code.

Science-Based Brain Teasers

At some point, we all have studied the basic principles of physics, chemistry, and other science. But what’s funny is these basic principles and laws have washed away from our memory, sometimes making us wonder about the basic science behind the things. 

These science-based will take you back to the science class and test your knowledge with some brain-teasing science problems.

18. Look at the Picture: Will the Scale Remain Balanced or Will Tilt To One of the Sides?

Answer: It will tilt.

It’s because of the principle of Buoyancy. Although the two objects are of the same weight, when they are immersed in water they go through weight loss. And the weight loss is equal to the water displaced. So the larger object — the stone — will displace more water than the iron weight. So the scale will tilt.

19. Brain Trivia: Name One Animal That Has Blue Blood

Answer: Octopus, Squid, Horseshoe Crabs 

The reason why these animals have blue blood is because of hemocyanin, a copper-rich protein present in their blood. While animals with red blood including humans have Hemoglobin, an iron-containing protein responsible for the red color.

Math and Number Brain Teasers

Math brain teasers are a treat for every math lover. Some require pure logic and a knack for calculations while others are just lateral thinking problems masquerading in numbers. We’ve put together some of these brain teasers to get you started.

20. What’s the Missing Number?

This brain teaser requires you to observe the number and find-out the logic. Look carefully the number in the center circle of each line is half the sum of numbers towards its left and right. So, for the last line, the answer’ll be: 9 + 3 = 12 (÷ 2) = 6.

21. Find the Total Number of Students in the Class.

Since Alex ranked 9th from the top there are 8 students ahead of him. And he ranked 38th from the bottom that means 37 students are behind him.

So the total number of students will be 8 + Alex + 37= 46.

22. Number Brain Teaser – Guess the Missing Number.

Here’s the trick. The wheel is a piechart. Each number and the section represents the percentage. So 100 – 66 (total of the numbers) = 34. Were you baffled?

23. Can You Guess the Number?

The trick is to count the total number of intersections. In the first the lines intersect 9 times, in the second it’s just 1 and in the third one it’s 4 times.

24. What Should Be the Time in the Last Watch?

Answer: 7:05 

Observe the time difference in each watch, there’s a pattern.

(1st watch) 9:05 – 12 mins = 8:53 (2nd watch)

8:53 – 24 mins = 8:29 (3rd watch )

8:29 – 36 mins = 7:53 (4th watch)

7:53 – 48 mins = 7:05 (5th watch)

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Problem-solving flowchart: A visual method to find perfect solutions

Reading time: about 7 min

“People ask me questions Lost in confusion Well, I tell them there's no problem Only solutions” —John Lennon, “Watching the Wheels”

Despite John Lennon’s lyrics, nobody is free from problems, and that’s especially true in business. Chances are that you encounter some kind of problem at work nearly every day, and maybe you’ve had to “put out a fire” before lunchtime once or twice in your career.

But perhaps what Lennon’s saying is that, no matter what comes our way, we can find solutions. How do you approach problems? Do you have a process in place to ensure that you and your co-workers come to the right solution?

In this article, we will give you some tips on how to find solutions visually through a problem-solving flowchart and other methods.

What is visual problem-solving?

If you are a literal thinker, you may think that visual problem-solving is something that your ophthalmologist does when your vision is blurry. For the rest of us, visual problem-solving involves executing the following steps in a visual way:

• Define the problem.
• Brainstorm solutions.
• Pick a solution.
• Implement solutions.
• Review the results.

How to make your problem-solving process more visual

Words pack a lot of power and are very important to how we communicate on a daily basis. Using words alone, you can brainstorm, organize data, identify problems, and come up with possible solutions. The way you write your ideas may make sense to you, but it may not be as easy for other team members to follow.

When you use flowcharts, diagrams, mind maps, and other visuals, the information is easier to digest. Your eyes dart around the page quickly gathering information, more fully engaging your brain to find patterns and make sense of the data.

Identify the problem with mind maps

So you know there is a problem that needs to be solved. Do you know what that problem is? Is there only one problem? Is the problem sum total of a bunch of smaller problems?

You need to ask these kinds of questions to be sure that you are working on the root of the issue. You don’t want to spend too much time and energy solving the wrong problem.

To help you identify the problem, use a mind map. Mind maps can help you visually brainstorm and collect ideas without a strict organization or structure. A mind map more closely aligns with the way a lot of our brains work—participants can bounce from one thought to the next defining the relationships as they go.

Mind mapping to solve a problem includes, but is not limited to, these relatively easy steps:

• In the center of the page, add your main idea or concept (in this case, the problem).
• Branch out from the center with possible root causes of the issue. Connect each cause to the central idea.
• Branch out from each of the subtopics with examples or additional details about the possible cause. As you add more information, make sure you are keeping the most important ideas closer to the main idea in the center.
• Use Collaborative AI to generate or expand on your ideas, so your mind map is as complete as possible.

Alternatively, you could use mind maps to brainstorm solutions once you discover the root cause. Try our free mind map template  or add the mind map shape library to quickly start your own mind map.

Create a problem-solving flowchart

A mind map is generally a good tool for non-linear thinkers. However, if you are a linear thinker—a person who thinks in terms of step-by-step progression making a flowchart may work better for your problem-solving strategy. A flowchart is a graphical representation of a workflow or process with various shapes connected by arrows representing each step.

Whether you are trying to solve a simple or complex problem, the steps you take to solve that problem with a flowchart are easy and straightforward. Using boxes and other shapes to represent steps, you connect the shapes with arrows that will take you down different paths until you find the logical solution at the end.

Flowcharts or decision trees are best used to solve problems or answer questions that are likely to come up multiple times. For example, Yoder Lumber , a family-owned hardwood manufacturer, built decision trees in Lucidchart to demonstrate what employees should do in the case of an injury.

To start your problem-solving flowchart, follow these steps:

• Draw a starting shape to state your problem.
• Draw a decision shape where you can ask questions that will give you yes-or-no answers.
• Based on the yes-or-no answers, draw arrows connecting the possible paths you can take to work through the steps and individual processes.
• Continue following paths and asking questions until you reach a logical solution to the stated problem.
• Try the solution. If it works, you’re done. If it doesn’t work, review the flowchart to analyze what may have gone wrong and rework the flowchart until you find the solution that works.

If your problem involves a process or workflow , you can also use flowcharts to visualize the current state of your process to find the bottleneck or problem that’s costing your company time and money.

Lucidchart has a large library of flowchart templates to help you analyze, design, and document problem-solving processes or any other type of procedure you can think of.

Draw a cause-and-effect diagram

A cause-and-effect diagram is used to analyze the relationship between an event or problem and the reason it happened. There is not always just one underlying cause of a problem, so this visual method can help you think through different potential causes and pinpoint the actual cause of a stated problem.

Cause-and-effect diagrams, created by Kaoru Ishikawa, are also known as Ishikawa diagrams, fishbone diagrams , or herringbone diagrams (because they resemble a fishbone when completed). By organizing causes and effects into smaller categories, these diagrams can be used to examine why things went wrong or might go wrong.

To perform a cause-and-effect analysis, follow these steps.

1. Start with a problem statement.

The problem statement is usually placed in a box or another shape at the far right of your page. Draw a horizontal line, called a “spine” or “backbone,” along the center of the page pointing to your problem statement.

2. Add the categories that represent possible causes.

For example, the category “Materials” may contain causes such as “poor quality,” “too expensive,” and “low inventory.” Draw angled lines (or “bones”) that branch out from the spine to these categories.

3. Add causes to each category.

Draw as many branches as you need to brainstorm the causes that belong in each category.

Like all visuals and diagrams, a cause-and-effect diagram can be as simple or as complex as you need it to be to help you analyze operations and other factors to identify causes related to undesired effects.

Collaborate with Lucidchart

You may have superior problem-solving skills, but that does not mean that you have to solve problems alone. The visual strategies above can help you engage the rest of your team. The more involved the team is in the creation of your visual problem-solving narrative, the more willing they will be to take ownership of the process and the more invested they will be in its outcome.

In Lucidchart, you can simply share the documents with the team members you want to be involved in the problem-solving process. It doesn’t matter where these people are located because Lucidchart documents can be accessed at any time from anywhere in the world.

Whatever method you decide to use to solve problems, work with Lucidchart to create the documents you need. Sign up for a free account today and start diagramming in minutes.

About Lucidchart

Lucidchart, a cloud-based intelligent diagramming application, is a core component of Lucid Software's Visual Collaboration Suite. This intuitive, cloud-based solution empowers teams to collaborate in real-time to build flowcharts, mockups, UML diagrams, customer journey maps, and more. Lucidchart propels teams forward to build the future faster. Lucid is proud to serve top businesses around the world, including customers such as Google, GE, and NBC Universal, and 99% of the Fortune 500. Lucid partners with industry leaders, including Google, Atlassian, and Microsoft. Since its founding, Lucid has received numerous awards for its products, business, and workplace culture. For more information, visit lucidchart.com.

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Visualization for innovation: How to use flowcharts for smarter problem solving

In December 1921, industrial psychologists Lillian Gilbreth and Frank Bunker Gilbreth presented a new model for problem solving to the American Society of Mechanical Engineers in New York City. 

Their “process chart” — known today as a flowchart — is a method of visualizing a process in order to improve it. More than one hundred years later, companies from manufacturing to tech startups use flowcharts to pinpoint bottlenecks, improve efficiency, and enhance decision-making for their biggest challenges. 

How flowcharts simplify problem solving

Visualizing a problem lets us see it in its entirety and process how different components interact. That’s because, according to the Gestalt Principles , with visual representation, our minds can quickly perceive individual elements as a whole and understand a problem better. 

“Every detail of a process is more or less affected by every other detail,” the Gilbreths theorized . “Therefore, the entire process must be presented in such [a] form that it can be visualized all at once before any changes are made in any of its subdivisions.” 

Once you see how individual elements work together to create a process, you can take steps to modify elements to improve the whole. 

• What is a problem-solving flowchart?

A problem-solving flowchart is a flowchart that helps process improvement, troubleshooting, or decision-making. Flowcharts use shapes, symbols, and connecting arrows to map out a problem or flow. This technique illustrates how many steps are in a process, entry and endpoints, the flow of information and materials, and any branches or decision points. 

For example, this problem-solving flowchart template shows how you can use a flowchart to troubleshoot a technical problem. The flow guides users through basic questions and actions to a likely solution. 

Use this template

• When to use a flowchart for problem solving

Flowcharts can be useful in several instances:

• When you’re aware of a problem, but aren’t sure of the root cause or the best way to solve it. 
• When you want to improve a product or service or specific outcomes, like delivery time. 
• When you’re entering a new market and want to create solutions that are a market fit for real customer problems. 
• The stages of problem solving

To understand how to use flowcharts for problem solving, we’ll use the double diamond design-thinking process . This approach divides problem solving into four stages: discover, define, develop, and deliver. Most people start problem solving in the middle of the diamonds, believing that they know the problem and can start on solutions right away. Instead, you should start even earlier. 

https://www.designcouncil.org.uk/our-resources/the-double-diamond

1. Discover

Starting with research helps people understand, rather than simply assume, the problem. Design Council co-founder Jonathan Ball advises , “Go back and ask, ‘Have I been asked to solve the right problem?’”

Problem-solving requests normally come to product or engineering teams from leadership or customers. Statements like “This isn’t selling well” or “This process takes too long” describe pain points, but they’re too vague to form functional solutions. 

There are multiple ways to explore the root of a problem:

• Qualitative user research like user interviews
• Quantitative user research like user testing and heatmap tracking
• Workshops, like Upwork’s problem-solving workshop with Miro that led participants through brainstorming, discussing, and voting on top problems to solve
• Flowcharts to illustrate challenges in the “as-is” process . 

As-is process mapping

Flowcharts can help solve problems by first mapping out the problematic process. If a process map doesn’t exist, isn’t updated, or hasn’t been well communicated, this is the best starting point. 

Ask all teams involved to participate in mapping out the current process. During the process, you may identify bottlenecks or areas of misunderstanding. 

Next, refine your discovery into a single statement. A problem statement should explain who is affected, their end goal, the challenge, and the impact of the challenge. Here’s an example of a problem statement:

“Users of [software name] encounter frustration when they try to customize a monthly sales report. They are not able to customize the data within the platform reporting, and instead are abandoning the process and exporting raw data to compile outside of the platform. This takes longer, makes it harder for them to reach business goals, and lowers satisfaction with the software.”

You can get to the heart of a problem by asking why solving the problem is important and how the problem originated. Miro’s problem statement template is useful for this exercise. 

Once you’ve defined the problem, you’re ready to move to the second diamond — the solution space. Flowcharts are ideal for mapping out potential solutions for testing. Just like an as-is process map, a proposed or to-be process map illustrates how a process should work, showing entry points, decision points, actions, parties, and endpoints.

In the development stage, use testing to reject ideas that don’t work and refine your solution. “The earlier and more often you can prototype and test, the better the outcome will be,” shares Ball. 

It’s important to note that changing a process isn’t always the solution to your problems. Simply visualizing it and addressing misplaced expectations can also be a solution. 

Once you ship a solution, your work isn’t done. Communicate the update to users, collect feedback, track outcomes, and commit to continuous improvement . 

• How to make a visual problem-solving flowchart

Interested in trying your hand at visual problem solving? The specific techniques for visual problem solving are as numerous as there are problems, but below we’ll outline three to get you started. All of them use Miro as their foundation, which allows for collaboration in real time, so you can create effective visuals to guide your process. 

1. Cyclical problem-solving process

This structured problem-solving process by Senior UX Designer Marcos Rezende walks teams through eight steps for tackling organizational challenges. It includes identifying the problem, gathering and analyzing data, generating solutions, and implementing them. Because this process is cyclical, it’s valuable for continuous improvement.  

2. Cross-functional flowchart

If you’re attempting to solve internal workflow problems, a cross-functional flowchart can help you pinpoint challenges across silos. This template from Hiro Studio walks teams through outlining process steps and their relationships, identifying unnecessary complexity or duplication, and uncovering opportunities for improvement. 

Consultant John White explains why this technique is effective: “When we document a process flow, we get everyone on the same page by removing assumptions of what we think is happening, and we document what is actually happening.”

Embed intro video: https://miro.com/miroverse/cross-functional-flowchart/

3. Problem tree 

Instead of a traditional flowchart, this technique visualizes a problem as a tree. This visualization approach is designed to give a holistic view of a problem (the tree trunk) with its impacts (branches) and root causes (roots). 

• Frameworks for decision-making

Beyond flowcharts, visualization can help leaders make better decisions by framing decision criteria in visual form. Here are a few ways you can illustrate your thought process in visual form for more effective decisions. 

1. Risk matrix template

This risk matrix template helps leaders visualize the likelihood of adverse events happening by placing them on a matrix from rare to very likely and trivial to extreme.

2. Project scope template

How often do you need to argue that a request is “out of scope”? This simple framework helps you define a project scope at the beginning, so you have a touchstone to return to as a project evolves. This helps to manage goals, increase clarity, and keep projects within timeline and budget. 

2. Priority matrix template

When you have competing priorities, deciding how to invest your time and budget is difficult. To determine the best outcomes, use this priority matrix template to map out initiatives by urgency and importance. This brings agility to your team and keeps your focus on what matters most. 

You can find more decision-making visualization templates here . 

• From visualization to optimization: How visual problem solving leads to innovation

Over a century after its birth, the flowchart remains a valuable tool to help companies approach a problem differently, using visual cues to understand all the moving parts. 

With flowcharts and other visual tools, you can:

• Explore and define the right problem to solve
• Map out current processes to pinpoint the root cause of problems
• Propose and test new workflows and solutions
• Visualize a problem at a high level and work through frameworks for better decisions

Visualizing problems helps our brains “see” problems and solutions where we might have otherwise missed a connection. Using problem-solving flowcharts as a tool, you’ll set your teams up for better communication and innovation, too.

Ready to create flowcharts with just a few easy clicks?

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Visual Problem Solving with Mind Maps and Flowcharts

Updated on: 25 July 2023

Everyone has problems, and we spend most of our working lives solving them. For those who find this quite negative, problems can be also termed as Issues, Challenges or Opportunities.

Some people are especially gifted at problem-solving while others struggle. Some are only good at solving some types of problems, while some other are simply great at finding viable solutions for any problem. Society generally calls the latter, smart.

What if I was to tell you that there’s a simple way to solve any problem you may encounter. In fact, it can be regarded as the smart way to solve problems.

Before we get into it, let’s see how people really fail at solving problems.

Problem-Solving   Fails

You Solve the Wrong Problem

Well, if you don’t know what the problem area is and don’t understand it very well, you’ll probably solve a problem that actually doesn’t exist while the actual problem remains as it is.

You Solve It Half Way

Again, this happens if you don’t know what the full problem is. Identifying and understanding the problem is so important before you start.

You Solve it but New Problems Show Up

This is typical when you don’t know much about the background about the problem area. If you know nothing about computers and you try to fix a broken computer, you probably won’t get very far and will likely make it worse.

You Don’t Know How

Well, obviously if you are trying to solve a problem that you have no clue about, this is going to be hard. When that’s the case, get the help of an expert in the domain the problem you are trying to solve belong to.

How to Solve Any Problem

As it’s quite clear the first step to solving any problem is understanding it thoroughly. Apart from getting a domain expert involved, the best trick I can bring you in is to draw it out. If you are a visual person this is the first thing you should do.

Different kinds of problems require different diagrams, but mind maps and flowcharts are common solutions to most problems.

Thinking Around the Problem

To get a background idea on what the problem and problem area is, mind maps can help greatly. Start with the core idea and branch out as you think about various aspects of the problem.

A mind map is a good place to start visual problem solving ( click on image to create your own mind map )

After thinking about wide aspects of the problem, it’s best to document what the immediate context of the issue is.

To do this, a concept map helps. A concept map is a diagram where you use various shapes to show areas of the problem and how they are connected.

Breaking It Down

Any big problem can be broken into a series of smaller problems. These are usually connected so a flowchart helps . Break the problem into smaller steps with a flowchart.

If you are analyzing an existing solution and trying to optimize it, a flowchart makes perfect sense as it also does the ‘defining’ part of the problem as well.

Analyze your problem further with a flowchart

Once you have broken down the problem into smaller easily solvable problems in a flow chart, you can start creating another chart for the solution as well.

Getting Help

You should always get help if it’s available when you are solving any problem. A second opinion or a second pair of eyes can help a lot in getting the optimal solution.

Tools to Aid Visual Problem Solving

While there is a myriad of tools to help you draw things, Creately is definitely one of the easiest ways to visualize your problem.

We support mind maps, flowcharts, concept maps and 50+ other diagram types which you can use for visual problem-solving.

Our professionally designed templates and productivity features  help you just focus on the drawing as it’s really easy to draw a beautiful diagram in it.

It also comes with built-in real-time collaboration so it helps when you want to get someone else to collaborate on your problem.

Other choices for drawing diagrams to solve problems include Dia, Google Draw or even Microsoft office packages.

Join over thousands of organizations that use Creately to brainstorm, plan, analyze, and execute their projects successfully.

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10 Visual Brain Teasers Kids will Love!

Written by Holly (Teach Starter)

Using visual brain teasers in the classroom encourages critical thinking in your students, plus, kids love them! We have found our favourite simple, yet effective visual brain teasers that will encourage logical thinking and develop problem solving skills. Teachers may get some enjoyment out of trying to work out some of these brain teasers too!

Put one up towards the end of class as a fast finisher activity . The discussions you have around how the students worked out the brain teasers are crucial.

1. What comes next?

A brain teaser for pattern recognition. Can your students work out which patterned block goes in the fourth spot?

2. How many blocks are in this tower?

A brain teaser to test students’ spatial visualisation and their ability to study 3D features . Can your students work out how many blocks are in this 3D tower?

3. Can you work out the net?

This brain teaser is great to test spatial visualisation. Students have to mentally put together the 3D cube to work out the correct net.

4. How many triangles?

In this visual brain teaser, students need to work out how many triangles there are in the image.

5. How many squares?

Similar to the visual brain teaser above, however, students need to work out how many squares they can see.

6. Move one glass only

In this visual brain teaser students can see three glasses on the left that are full, and three on the right that are empty. They can only move one glass to make a row of alternately full and empty glasses. Which one do they move?

This is a great problem solving brain teaser. Students need to remove six matches to make 10. Which ones do they move?

8. Top view

In this non-verbal brain teaser, students must work out which is the top view. You may like to time them to see who can work out this one the quickest…

9. What parking spot?

This visual brain teaser was on a Hong Kong first grade student admissions test. A great brain teaser to encourage children to think laterally. Can you work it out? Apparently children around the age of 6 are much more likely to solve this problem over older students and even adults.

10. What is our weight?

A great mathematical problem solving activity for students to work out the weight of all three animals in the fourth image.

Finished these ten visual brain teasers with your class? No worries – check out some of our brain teaser resources:

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• Opposite squares are exchanged in this problem, so the answer is A.
• There are 9 blocks.
• B and C can be immediately rejected visually. D will create the mirror image of the given cube. So the correct answer is A.
• There are 44 triangles.
• There are 40 squares.
• Pour the second glass from the left into the empty  class second from the right.
• You can make the word ‘ten’ by removing the bottom matchstick and two side matchsticks from the first letter. The far right matchstick on the second letter and the top and bottom matchstick on the third letter.
• The answer is C.
• Turn the picture upside down. You will then see the following number sequence: 86 ? 88, 89, 90, 91. So the answer is 87.
• Maths calculations will give the weight of the horse as 17 kg. Therefore the weight of the sheep and frog are 10 kg, so the answer is 27 kg.

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Your answer is correct but the explanation may not be helpful as they already know the frog + sheep = 10. Here's the working incase someone is trying to find it . 1. frog + sheep = 10 2. frog + horse = 20 3. sheep + horse = 24 Therefore: f = 10 - s h = 24 - s f + h = 20 substitute in the 2 rearranged values for frog and horse 10 - s + 24 - s = 20 -2s = 20 -24-10 -s = -14 /2 s = 7 If s = 7 then h= 24-7 h = 17 f = 10 - s f = 10 - 7 f = 3 Frog = 3Kg (a very big frog) Sheep = 7Kg (a very very small sheep) Horse = 17 Kg (a very small miniature horse!) Total = 27Kg

#3's answer is incorrect. My students and I cut out the nets and assembled them because we couldn't believe your answer. A is definitely correct!

Hi there, thanks so much for your comment. I'll have to double check the website I got this information from and get back to you.

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6 simple steps to visual problem solving.

Oct 30, 2018 | Productivity , Project management , Remote Work , Strategy , Thinking tools

Chances are, you’d describe yourself as a visual thinker. Scientific studies reveal between 65% and 80% of people fit this category. Visual thinking likely played a big role in our evolution; the ability to see a threat and react to it ensured our survival. Communicating ideas visually significantly improves effectiveness. A 1986 study from the University of Michigan showed that presentations using visuals were 43% more persuasive.  [source: http://misrc.umn.edu/workingpapers/fullpapers/1986/8611.pdf ] Visual tools help us think more creatively and efficiently, especially when grappling with complex problems or pondering big decisions. Involving your team members or colleagues will create a larger pool of ideas to help solve your challenge. The more ideas you incorporate from people who understand the problem and its complexity, the more options you will have to solve it. Here at Cardsmith, we focus on visual problem solving every day. We’ve found that six simple steps can take you from struggle to success.

Here’s how to amp up your visual problem solving:

1: start with a clear objective..

Before brainstorming, you’ll want to set up the problem you’re aiming to solve. Try posing it as a question. For instance, “How can we increase our sales?” Or you might ask, “80% of our sales come from one large customer. How can we reduce the risk this poses to our business?”

2: Dump out all the Legos ®.

Get all the ideas out on the table. This is where you express as many ideas as possible in a rapid flow without judging, structuring or organizing them. You don’t want to disrupt the free flow of ideas. Even the crazy ones count, and the ones that don’t seem to fit into any particular category. These ideas may be symptoms of the problem or related thoughts, fears and hopes. Don’t worry if your thoughts are long or complex, and don’t try to edit them. Whatever is in your mind, dump it out! Once you write all these things down, your mind can relax. Move on when you feel like all participants’ brains are empty. Read more about “Dumping out the Legos” .

3: Create right-sized information chunks.

When working with cards at this point, make each one discrete and stick to single sentences. Avoid using the word “and” because that will introduce too many ideas at once. A card in Cardsmith or 2” x 2” sticky notes have the perfect amount of space to enforce this rule. These constraints also help you be concise and clear about each thought. If you have longer ideas from the previous step, this is the time to edit those down to make them shorter and more focused. Here are some examples of information chunks, right-sized by using Cardsmith cards.

Figure 1. Cardsmith Cards with information “chunks”.

4: Remember that problem solving is a creative act.

Be intentional about whether you are in the divergent or convergent phase of the creative process. These are phases of Design Thinking, the cognitive process from which design concepts emerge. A divergent phase is when you are looking for more: lots of thoughts, many ideas, etc. “Dump out the Legos” is the perfect example of a divergent activity. At some point, you’ll want to transition from divergent to convergent thinking. Convergent means using criteria to sort, group or organize the ideas. It’s making decisions that focus on fewer, rather than many. When you transition to the divergent phase, create a new framing question or objective, then repeat the process.

Figure 2. Example of divergent and convergent phases in Design Thinking.

5: Get clear on the problem before proceeding to solutions.

This concept is related to #4 but worth calling out as its own step. Often we think we understand the problem at hand and jump into problem-solving mode prematurely. First, spend a moment getting clear about the exact problem, and consider if it is the most important problem to solve. You will be more effective in the long run. Ask yourself questions like, “Are we jumping into solution space too quickly?” “Do we truly understand the problem?” “Is this the most important problem to solve now?” If you are not 100% certain, use step #1 to brainstorm all the possible problems. Try constraining the brainstorm to one area. For example, if you know you are having problems with sales, brainstorm to understand all the symptoms of the sales problem before moving on to seek a solution. Here’s a hypothetical brainstorm around this question:

Figure 3. Problem Brainstorm in Cardsmith.

6: Select the right visual tool

Think about the type of question being asked. Would a tree, map or list best suit your problem-solving process? There are many options for mapping diagrams such as mind maps, fishbone diagrams, and affinity diagrams. We will discuss these options more in another post, but for now let’s focus on the affinity diagram. This is a great visual tool to use immediately after dumping out the Legos. Affinity diagramming is simply a way to group like with like. Cardsmith makes it easy to drag your ideas into clusters. If you are working in a team, doing this together yields benefits beyond the creation of the diagram itself, as you will discuss in detail why certain cards belong together with others. This will reveal hidden assumptions useful to downstream decision processes.   Here is an affinity diagram example, based on the above problem brainstorm:  

Figure 4. Affinity Diagram in Cardsmith.

Try out visual problem solving to improve your own life!

Now that you know the 6 steps, try this challenge to become more experienced in creative visual problem solving:

• Create a Cardsmith board called “Life Problems”. Find a quiet time and place to reflect on all your dissatisfactions with your life. Add the first card to the board and title it something like, “What things in my life are less than ideal?”
• Take a moment to thank your mind for all the problems and complaints it tracks on your behalf. Tell your mind it’s okay to think these things, and now is a chance to get free from such a heavy burden, by putting everything on the board.
• Then just start dumping out all of the Legos. Write down any thought that comes, whether negative or positive. You have just practiced steps #1 through #4!
• Now create an affinity diagram by grouping related cards together. You’ll likely start to see themes or areas of your life that you’d like to improve. I did this myself and while I came up with 27 things that I’m not happy about, when I created the affinity diagram I realized there were only three unique areas that I’d like to improve. Most of the cards are under health and fitness, so wellness activities are clearly worth pursuing!

What will you tackle next?

Now that you know the six simple steps, what problem shall we solve next? Tell us how you’ve used this process—and Cardsmith cards—to solve complex problems in your own work or life.

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Elevate your thinking and accelerate your results with visual thinking tools

Solve problems faster with these 9 visual thinking techniques

By Chuck Frey

Not surprisingly, visual thinking tools like mind maps and diagrams can help you cut your challenges down to size, achieve clarity and generate high-value solutions to them.

Here are 9 mind maps and diagrams that can help you creatively define and solve your most vexing problems:

Mind mapping software can help, because it acts like a prism, separating a major task or challenge into its component parts and enabling you to see the relationships between them, so you can more effectively develop creative solutions to address it. To subdivide the components of your task or challenge, ask yourself questions that begin with the famous “5 W’s”: who, what, when, where and why.

Fishbone diagram

Fishbone diagrams, also known as cause and effect or Ishikawa diagrams, are useful for determining the root cause of a problem or challenge. They are especially useful during the problem definition segment of brainstorming sessions, where they helps individuals and teams to deconstruct problems and challenges.

Force field analysis

A “force field analysis” is a little-known but powerful creative problem-solving technique that can help you to deconstruct your current challenge into its strengths and weaknesses in – and to focus on those that will help you ensure a successful outcome. Force field analysis gives you a visual way to better understand your challenges and visualize these forces at work, so you can brainstorm ways to minimize your weaknesses, build upon your strengths – or add new positive skills or conditions to better counterbalance your weaknesses.

Deconstruct your challenge into its attributes

One skill you ought to cultivate if you want to be more creative is deconstructing challenges and situations into their elements. In so doing, you will inevitably reveal the bits and pieces that may be turned to creative advantage. A mind map is the perfect medium for breaking bigger elements down into smaller ones – while also revealing the relationships between them.

25 creative lenses for problem solving

To help us solve our biggest challenges, my friend Stephen Shapiro has written a marvelous book called Invisible Solutions. It outlines 25 mental filters or “lenses” that can help us systematically frame our problems, challenges and opportunities and release our best thinking. I’ve created a mind map that lists each of them, along with questions to help you think creatively about them.

Board of directors

Have you ever been stumped by a creative challenge? It seems like your muse has flown away. Your creative well is dry. Maybe you just need to whack yourself upside the head, figuratively speaking. Maybe you just need to look at your challenge from a new, creative perspective. This technique gives you permission to REALLY throw off your creative blinders and create a “board” of remarkable thinkers to help you whack YOUR thinking!

Ultimate SCAMPER map

During the last several decades, one of the most widely used and successful brainstorming techniques has been SCAMPER. Its name is a mnemonic for Substitute, Combine, Adapt, Modify/Magnify/Minify, Put to other uses, Eliminate and Reverse/Rearrange. The reason it is so popular is because it forces you to look at challenges or problems from a variety of creative perspectives. I’ve adapted it into a mind map – with over 200 creative prompts to jump-start your thinking in new directions!

5-step CPS process

A popular perception about creativity is that it’s random and uncontrollable. Terms like “a flash of insight,” “a bolt from the blue” and the iconic “A-ha!” support this notion. Writers and artists speak of a fickle creative “muse” that ebbs and flows unpredictably. A more reliable way to be consistently creative is to adopt a proven process for ideation and creative problem-solving, like this proven 5-step process – which I adapted into a mind map.

Personal problem-solving template

This mind map template contains 8 thought-provoking questions that you can use to help you with personal problem-solving – better defining problems and then brainstorming solutions for them. These questions have a lot of value for personal problem solving. And the mind map format is perfect for divergent thinking.

What problems will you solve?

Armed with this toolkit of visual creative problem-solving techniques, what challenges will you tackle?

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Visual problem-solving: The secret sauce of successful teams

Reading time: about 7 min

• Strategic planning

Our brains process visual cues faster and more easily than written or verbal cues. That’s why many of us rely on landmarks to help us navigate around town and why outdoor advertising is heavy on images and light on text.

Because images can often convey meaning more effectively than words, implementing visuals into your problem-solving will help your team easily find solutions faster.

What is visual problem-solving?

Visual problem-solving includes using visual aids like flowcharts, maps, diagrams, and sticky notes in your problem-solving process. 

Visual problem-solving helps you to:

• Understand the problem : Visuals reveal the way that different elements relate to each other, offering enhanced clarity.
• Simplify the problem : Visuals help identify past patterns in your work, allowing you to apply previous solutions to current issues. Visuals can also break down complex elements into smaller, more manageable pieces.

Your exact visual problem-solving process might vary, but it will likely include the following basic steps:

• Identify and understand the problem
• Gather information that pertains to the problem
• Brainstorm and identify missing pieces
• Select the best solution
• Develop a plan and implement the solution
• Review the results and revise as necessary

How can you make problem-solving more visual?

Let’s break down the steps mentioned above to further explore how visuals can take your team to the next level of problem-solving.

Step 1: Identify and understand the problem

There are several different visual tools you can use that will help you identify and better understand the problem at hand. Here are just a couple of suggestions.

A mind map is a visual tool that closely aligns with how our brains work. You start with a central idea and then bounce from one thought to the next in a non-linear fashion while identifying relationships as you go.

Steps for identifying a problem with a mind map might include:

• In the center of a page, digital canvas, or whiteboard, write the problem you’re dealing with.
• Surrounding your central idea, add what you think might be possible causes of the problem. Connect these ideas back to your initial problem with lines or arrows.
• Continue to branch out from each of the ideas circling your central problem. Add examples, details, and any information that will help you to further identify the root problem and its causes. Be sure to show connections between ideas while keeping the most important ideas closest to the center.
• Use different colors, diagrams, and shapes to organize the different levels of thought—anything that makes sense to you and helps you identify the most pertinent information.

Mind maps have an endless number of uses. Students can utilize mind maps to brainstorm essay topics, creatives can implement mind maps into their workflow to collect strategy ideas, and management teams can use mind maps to illustrate potential effects of  company-wide initiatives.

Cause-and-effect diagrams

To draw a cause-and-effect diagram :

• In a box at the right side of a canvas or whiteboard, write your main issue or problem.
• Draw a horizontal line from the left edge of the box. This line is known as the spine.
• From the spine, draw angled branches that represent a potential cause of the main problem. Each branch can also have sub-branches that contain information that relate to the stated cause.

By analyzing the relationships between your potential causes, you can more easily pinpoint (and solve) the core problem.

Step 2: Gather information that pertains to the problem

Gather information from surveys, website statistics, and so on. Then examine this feedback through pie charts, graphs, sticky notes, and more. By presenting the information visually, you’ll be able to analyze it more efficiently.

Step 3: Brainstorm and identify missing pieces

When brainstorming, encourage quantity over quality. As they say, no ideas are bad ideas when brainstorming. Reinforcing this attitude will empower your team to think quickly, creatively, and collaboratively. It will also provide a platform for everyone to feel comfortable sharing ideas. 

Unsurprisingly, this step also generally becomes more effective when visual diagrams are implemented. As previously mentioned, mind maps in particular are great tools to use in a brainstorming session . 

Step 4: Select the best solution

You should have a board or canvas full of ideas now. Next, you’ll need to eliminate any proposed solutions that seem less feasible or effective than the others. Once you’re left with plausible ideas, analyze and discuss the potential outcomes of each to determine which one might work best to solve your problem.

You’ll often find that there isn’t just one obvious fix to your problem. You might need to combine several ideas into a solution that will best suit your needs.

One simple exercise developed by Tom Wujec, a pioneer in business visualization, asks you to take two to three minutes to draw your process for making toast . This helps emphasize both how different people think, as well as how many approaches there are to solving a problem. 

An exercise like this encourages collaboration and provides your team with applied practice in brainstorming and identifying the best ideas.

Step 5: Develop a plan and implement the solution

To implement a solution, you need to develop a plan—even just a simple one. A plan ensures that your team understands the path to success and knows what actionable steps to take next.

Flowcharts are effective visual aids in plan creation because they typically represent a more linear set of sequences. Using specific shapes and connectors to represent steps and decision paths, it’s easy for people to understand a process flow from start to finish. For example, use a flowchart template to help new hires understand the organization of a company or to illustrate the steps of a work task, like using the copy machine or replacing the printer ink. Or, use flowcharts on a marketing team to visually prepare for a product rollout or an upcoming campaign.

After implementing the solution, share the flowchart so everyone has access to the step-by-step plan. This helps your team members understand their role in the overall solution process.

Step 6: Review the results and revise as necessary

You may have fixed your problem, but that doesn’t mean you’re completely finished with the problem-solving process. Continue to monitor the implementation of your solution and analyze its results. That way, you can revise the process if necessary to increase effectiveness.

Flowcharts can be useful in this step, as well, to preemptively identify issues and process bottlenecks, anticipating and mitigating potential problems before they even occur.

Things to avoid with visual problem-solving

Cut down on inefficiency and wasted time by avoiding these common problem-solving mistakes:

• Not having a well-defined problem : Avoid trying to tackle too much at once. Break your problem down into smaller pieces and work your way up to the bigger problems.
• Giving up if your solution doesn’t work : Sometimes a clear answer is difficult to find, but exhaust all potential resources before throwing in the towel.
• Experiencing new problems when an initial solution is implemented : Don’t expect all issues to be solved right away. Ensure you’ve analyzed every facet of a possible solution in order to avoid future problems down the road. 
• Failing to create an action plan : Without a strategic action plan, your team will struggle to align and act. Make sure to include a testing period within your plan. 

As you get more comfortable using charts, diagrams, and other visuals, you’ll find that it’s easier for team members to quickly align and process important information. Potential problems will be easier to spot and data will make more sense.

Supercharge your problem-solving with a virtual whiteboard like Lucidspark. Lucidspark’s  visual collaboration tools bring the whole team together no matter where they are located, keep ideas organized, and empower you to take action on the best ideas.

Take your problem-solving to the next level with Lucidspark.

About Lucidspark

Lucidspark, a cloud-based virtual whiteboard, is a core component of Lucid Software's Visual Collaboration Suite. This cutting-edge digital canvas brings teams together to brainstorm, collaborate, and consolidate collective thinking into actionable next steps—all in real time. Lucid is proud to serve top businesses around the world, including customers such as Google, GE, and NBC Universal, and 99% of the Fortune 500. Lucid partners with industry leaders, including Google, Atlassian, and Microsoft. Since its founding, Lucid has received numerous awards for its products, business, and workplace culture. For more information, visit lucidspark.com.

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Visual puzzles and brain teasers for kids

As we all know, formula learning + playing is a road to successful learning. Visual brain teasers are a great way to awaken a kid’s mind without any pressure. Such riddles are aimed at visualization skills. This includes the ability of visual-spatial judgment, three-dimensional thinking, and picturing concepts. Visual brain teasers develop critical thinking and, at the same time, usually appeal to kids (and sometimes to adults, too). Here are some visual brain teasers, which are simple and effective to help your children develop problem-solving skills and logical thinking.

1. Find a place for a tool

This visual brain teaser develops a child’s spatial thinking. The task is to help the worker repair broken tools and find correct places for all of them.

Answer : 1 — H, 2 — B, 3 — E, 4 — D, 5 — G, 6 — C, 7 — A, 8 — F.

2. Logic sudoku

This brain teaser requires mathematical skills. You have to solve sudoku so that there are different numbers (from 1 to 9) in each big triangle, each horizontal row, and each diagonal line.

3. Make a cube

In this visual brain teaser, you need to decide which template can form a glass cube in the left corner. It also boosts a child’s spatial thinking skills.

Answer : 4.

4. Calculation with pictures

Here you are to solve a mathematical calculation, but with pictures instead of numbers. The task is to replace a question mark with a correct sign.

5. A missing part

This visual brain teaser trains children’s attention. To solve it, you need to find a part that fell off the honeycombs.

Answer : 13.

6. Value of the card

In this mathematical puzzle , you have to analyze some of the calculations with playing cards and afterward define the value of each card.

7. Count the triangles

This geometrical brain teaser offers you to count how many triangles are there in the bigger triangle. It trains your concrete thinking and analytical skills.

Answer : 16.

8. Finish building the houses

In this 3D puzzle, your purpose is to help the worker finish building the houses. You do it by finding the missing part for each house.

Answer : 1 — C, 2 — E, 3 — A, 4 — B, 5 — D

9. Maths crossword

In this brain teaser, you have to find a mathematical pattern and complete a crossword. It effectively upgrades your analytical skills.

Answer : The sums of the numbers in the rows are part of the multiplication table by 6: the first row — 6 (6*1), the second row — 12 (6*2) the fourth — 24 (6*4). So, the third row might be 18 (6*3). How can we get 18 in this row? Rigth, it is 18 – 11 – 3 = 4 . So, the answer is 4 .

10. Double calculation

Here your task is to analyze an example and solve a mathematical puzzle by analogy. It is a great training of logical thinking skills.

Answer : Here is the pattern in the first picture: 14 / 7 = 2 → 8 * 2 = 16 . Let`s solve the second one the same way: 8 / 4 = 2 → 10 * 2 = 20 . So, the answer is 20

11. What comes next

This is another brain teaser where you have to find a pattern. However, this time, you are dealing with the position of the object, not numbers.

Answer : 1.

12. The next element

This brain teaser is very similar to the previous one. The difference is that here you also have to deal with colors which make this riddle a bit more complicated.

Answer : 2.

All in all, visual brain teasers are an effective and joyful way to develop your kid’s spatial and logical thinking, boost his/her analytical skills and instill huge love to solve tricky problems. The learning process gets better when you add some beneficial entertainment into it. Combine different riddles according to your child’s age and to the aims you want to achieve, and be sure — the result will not take long.

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Blog Beginner Guides Brainstorming Examples + Techniques For Problem Solving

Brainstorming Examples + Techniques For Problem Solving

Written by: Krystle Wong Sep 08, 2023

So — you’re faced with a complex problem that seems as daunting as a mountain. You’ve tried all the usual approaches, but the solution remains elusive. What do you do? That’s where a good brainstorming mind map maker comes into play. 

This article is your backstage pass to the world of brainstorming. I’m not just going to give you the playbook; I’m going to show you how it’s done with brainstorming examples that will have you saying, “Why didn’t I think of that?” 

So, no more beating around the brainstorming bush. Let’s roll up our sleeves and dive into the many effective techniques and examples that will turbocharge your problem-solving game. It’s time to unleash your inner brainstorming genius!

Click to jump ahead:

What are the 4 rules of brainstorming

12+ brainstorming mind map examples for problem solving, 10 effective brainstorming techniques that work, 5 common mistakes to avoid during brainstorming, brainstorming examples faq.

• 5 steps to create a brainstorming mind map with Venngage

The concept of brainstorming was introduced by Alex Osborn, an advertising executive and he outlined four key rules to facilitate effective brainstorming sessions. 

These rules are often referred to as the “Four Rules of Brainstorming” and are designed to encourage creativity and a free flow of ideas within a group. Here are the four rules:

No judgment: All ideas are welcomed and accepted without criticism or evaluation during a brainstorming session. This rule encourages participants to feel free to express even unconventional or seemingly impractical ideas.

Quantity over quality: Forget about perfection for now. In brainstorming, it’s like a numbers game – the more ideas, the merrier. Don’t get bogged down in refining each idea to perfection; just get them out there.

Build on the ideas of others: Teamwork makes the dream work. When someone throws out an idea, don’t just nod and move on. Add your spin, build on it or take it in a different direction. It’s all about collaboration and bouncing off each other’s creativity.

Encourage wild and creative ideas: Embrace the weird, the wild and the wacky. Sometimes the most outlandish ideas can be the seeds of genius solutions. So, don’t be shy – let your imagination run wild. 

So, the next time you’re in a brainstorming session, remember these rules. They’re not just guidelines; they’re the keys to unlocking your team’s creative potential. With these principles in play, you’ll find yourself reaching new heights of innovation and problem-solving.

Mind maps are a powerful tool for brainstorming, helping individuals and teams visualize ideas, make connections and unleash their creative potential. 

Whether you’re conducting a team retrospective or embarking on a corporate brainstorm, you can significantly enhance idea generation, boost efficient learning and note taking with mind maps . Get started with one of the brainstorming mind map examples below. 

1. Team retrospective board

When creating a mind map for a team retrospective, it’s essential to strike a balance between structure and flexibility. 

To achieve this, consider color-coding categories such as “What went well,” “What needs improvement,” and “Action items.” This visual differentiation helps participants quickly identify and prioritize discussion areas. 

Additionally, incorporating a timeline element within the mind map can provide a visual representation of the project’s progression, enabling the team to recall specific events and experiences. 

You can further enhance the visual appeal and emotional context by using icons or symbols to represent sentiments, such as happy faces for positive experiences and sad faces for challenges.

2. Business model brainstorm

Designing a mind map for brainstorming a business model necessitates a structured approach to represent various model elements coherently. 

Incorporate color to cover essential components like value proposition, customer segments, revenue streams and distribution channels. Color coding can help visually organize your ideas and make the map more visually appealing.

To make each component stand out and aid comprehension, incorporate icons or relevant images. For instance, use a dollar sign icon to represent revenue streams. Consistency in color schemes helps differentiate sections and highlights essential elements.

3. Collaborative brainstorm

Collaborative brainstorming often involves multiple participants contributing ideas simultaneously. 

To ensure efficient organization and clarity, assign specific branches within the mind map to individual participants. This approach helps maintain ownership of ideas and prevents overlap. 

Encourage participants to contribute further context by adding comments or annotations to each branch. Utilize mind mapping software that supports real-time collaboration if the brainstorming session involves remote teams, enabling seamless teamwork and idea exchange.

These collaborative brainstorming examples can be helpful in generating ideas during your next brainstorming process:

4. Product improvement brainstorm

Brainstorming product improvements requires an effective categorization and prioritization of ideas. Organize your mind map by creating branches for different areas of improvement, such as usability enhancements, additional features or performance optimization. 

Begin by sharing user feedback, reviews or customer pain points related to the product. This provides context and helps participants understand the existing challenges.

Then, organize your mind map into categories based on different aspects of the product, such as features, user experience, performance or customer support.

Product improvement is an ongoing process so make sure to not limit your brainstorming to a one-time event. Schedule regular sessions to continually enhance the product.

5. Corporate brainstorm

In a corporate brainstorming session, where diverse topics and ideas are on the agenda, systematic organization is crucial. 

Divide your mind map into sections and subsections to address various corporate aspects, such as HR, marketing, finance and operations. For example, this mind map on corporate initiative ideas divides the sections into different CSR programs and initiatives that the company can do to enhance public image:

To highlight potential synergies between related ideas from different sections, connect them with clear cross-references. Additionally, for practicality, include action items or tasks linked to specific ideas to facilitate a smooth implementation process within the corporate framework.

6. Creative brainstorm

Creative brainstorms thrive on spontaneity and inspiration — which is why your mind map design should encourage free-flowing ideas and unconventional thinking. 

Opt for a non-linear, organic structure within the mind map, avoiding rigid hierarchies that can stifle creativity. Embrace the use of visuals, such as images, sketches or mood boards, to stimulate creativity and inspiration. 

Here’s a brainstorming mind map example that teachers can use to generate exciting classroom activities and keep students engaged:

Allow branches to extend in unexpected directions, reflecting the dynamic and imaginative nature of creative brainstorming. This approach encourages participants to explore unconventional ideas and perspectives, fostering a truly creative atmosphere during the session.

Brainstorming aside, mind maps are versatile tools useful for organizing complex information, creating study aids, structuring project plans and facilitating communication and knowledge sharing in collaborative settings.

Browse our selection of mind map templates or learn about the best mind mapping software to help enhance creativity, solve problems and organize ideas.

Unleashing your team’s creativity through effective brainstorming techniques is a game-changer when it comes to generating new ideas and innovative solutions. Let’s delve into ten creative brainstorming techniques that can breathe life into your brainstorming sessions:

1. Mind mapping

Like concept maps , mind mapping is great for emphasizing the connections and relationships between ideas. You start with a central idea and then let your thoughts branch out like tree branches. Mind mapping is a great way to spot connections you might have missed.

2. Brainwriting

Forget talking — this one’s all about writing your ideas down. Brainwriting lets you pass your ideas around and let your team add their two cents. It’s a great brainstorming strategy for getting everyone involved especially if you’re brainstorming with a large group.

3. SCAMPER Method

SCAMPER stands for Substitute, Combine, Adapt, Modify, Put to another use, Eliminate and Reverse. This technique encourages participants to explore these strategies for idea generation.

4. Storyboarding

Create a visual narrative or storyboard to explore ideas sequentially. This can help enhance understanding the flow and practicality of concepts, especially in product development or process improvement. Check out our gallery of storyboard templates you could use to generate new ideas.

5. Role storming

Ever tried brainstorming as someone else? In this technique, you put on different thinking caps, like playing pretend. It’s awesome for seeing things from fresh angles.

6. Worst possible idea

This one’s my favorite! Deliberately come up with the crummiest, silliest ideas you can think of. Oddly enough, they can spark some brilliant ones!

7. Round-robin brainstorming

One of my favorite group brainstorming techniques, everyone gets a turn to share their ideas with round-robin brainstorming — no interrupting or dominating the conversation. This technique ensures that everyone has an equal opportunity to contribute.

8. SWOT Analysis

Analyze the Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats related to the problem or idea. This structured approach helps identify potential areas for improvement or innovation. Browse our SWOT analysis templates for more inspiration.

9. Random word or image association

Start with something random, like “banana” or “dolphin,” and brainstorm from there. It’s like mental gymnastics and it can lead to some seriously cool ideas.

10. Nominal group technique

For this brainstorming technique, Participants individually generate ideas, which are then anonymously shared and discussed as a group, ensuring balanced participation and minimizing the influence of dominant voices.

To further fuel your brainstorming sessions, you could always consider using a brainstorming tool to facilitate collaboration, structure ideas and provide visual frameworks. From virtual whiteboards to mind maps, here’s a list of brainstorming tools that can cater to various needs and preferences in brainstorming sessions.

Brainstorming sessions can be exhilarating bursts of creativity, but they can also veer off course if not handled with care. Here, we’ll explore five common missteps to steer clear of and conduct a successful brainstorming session.

1. Criticizing ideas too early

When participants criticize or judge ideas too soon in the brainstorming process, it can discourage creativity and stifle the generation of innovative solutions. To avoid this, it’s essential to foster an environment where all ideas are welcomed without immediate criticism.

Solution: Embrace the “No Judgment” rule we mentioned earlier. Encourage a judgment-free zone where all ideas are welcome to generate as many ideas, no matter how unusual or impractical they might seem initially. 

2. Groupthink

Ah, groupthink – the silent brainstorming killer. It’s when the desire for harmony within the group overrides critical thinking. Everyone nods along to ideas, not because they believe in them, but to avoid conflict.

Solution: Foster an atmosphere where dissenting opinions are not only tolerated but encouraged. Encourage team members to play devil’s advocate and don’t let conformity hold your brainstorming sessions hostage.

3. Ignoring introverted participants

In the whirlwind of brainstorming, extroverted voices can dominate the conversation, leaving introverts feeling like they’re stranded on the sidelines. Their valuable ideas may get lost in the noise.

Solution: Implement techniques like brainwriting or round-robin brainstorming, which give everyone an equal chance to contribute without the pressure of immediate verbal expression. 

4. Prioritizing quantity over quality

Yes, quantity matters in brainstorming, but swinging the pendulum too far toward generating sheer volume can leave you drowning in a sea of mediocre ideas.

Solution: Balance is key. Encourage the generation of many ideas, but once you’ve amassed a list, focus on quality. Sort through them, identify the most promising ones and build upon them collectively.

5. Neglecting follow-up and implementation

Brainstorming is exhilarating, but it’s just the first lap in the race. Failing to follow up on the ideas generated and implementing the best ones is like baking a cake and never eating it.

Solution: Assign responsibility for each idea’s follow-up and implementation. Establish clear timelines and action plans. Make sure the fruits of your brainstorming labor don’t gather dust on the shelf.

By sidestepping these brainstorming bloopers, you’ll be on your way to brilliant solutions and groundbreaking ideas, all while avoiding the pitfalls of the brainstorming jungle. 

Ready to kickstart your brainstorming session? These brainstorm presentation templates might come in handy to help spark creativity, ideation and foster collaborative problem-solving within a team. 

How does brainstorming help with the writing process

Brainstorming helps the writing process by generating a pool of diverse ideas, facilitating idea organization and overcoming writer’s block. It allows writers to explore different angles and perspectives for their content.

Are there any online tools or software for collaborative brainstorming?

Yes, there are several online tools and software for collaborative brainstorming, such as Miro, Stormboard and Google Jamboard. These platforms enable teams to brainstorm ideas in real-time, regardless of physical location.

What are some brainstorming activities for team building and creativity?

Brainstorming activities for team building and creativity include “Two Truths and a Lie,” “Role Reversal” and “The Six Thinking Hats.” These creative exercises promote trust, collaboration and out-of-the-box thinking among team members to generate creative ideas.

How do I encourage creative thinking during a brainstorming session?

To encourage creative thinking during a brainstorming session, create a non-judgmental environment, encourage wild ideas, use creative prompts and mix up the group dynamics. To facilitate productive brainstorming sessions, reward creativity and emphasize the importance of novelty and innovation.

What role does creativity play in effective brainstorming?

Creativity plays a central role in effective brainstorming as it drives the generation of innovative ideas and solutions. Without creativity, brainstorming sessions can become routine and fail to produce breakthrough concepts.

What are the benefits of using brainstorming examples in a business or creative context?

Using brainstorming examples in a business or creative context can provide tangible illustrations of successful brainstorming outcomes. They can inspire participants, provide a framework for idea generation and demonstrate the practical application of brainstorming techniques. Additionally, they can serve as a reference point for future brainstorming sessions.

5 steps to create a brainstorming mind map with Venngage 

In conclusion, mastering the art of brainstorming is like unlocking a treasure chest of solutions to your most challenging problems. By exploring a variety of brainstorming techniques and with the help of the above examples of brainstorming, you’ve gained valuable tools to tackle issues with confidence and creativity.

Now, to bring it all together, consider harnessing the power of visual thinking through a brainstorming mind map. Venngage offers a seamless solution that can transform your brainstorming ideas into organized, inspiring journeys using mind maps . To create a brainstorming mind map with Venngage:

• Sign in or create a free Venngage account.
• Pick a brainstorm mind map template to get started. 
• Add your central idea in the central node.
• Create branches and subtopics by clicking, dragging and labeling.
• Customize your mind map with colors, fonts, icons and connectors to make it visually appealing.

Remember, the beauty of brainstorming lies in its boundless potential, always ready to surprise you with fresh perspectives and creative solutions.

So, whether you’re tackling complex business dilemmas or personal puzzles, put your thinking hat on for a productive brainstorming session and let all the ideas roam free. 

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Visual problem solving with flowcharts and mind maps

What’s life without problems? Probably a little boring, if we’re being honest. If everything were perfect all the time, there would be no challenges, and things would get pretty monotonous. This is a rather optimistic view on what many believe to be an aggravating part of life. No matter how you feel about problems, one thing is true: problems are inevitable . You can’t always control how many problems you encounter in your life, but you can learn better ways to solve them. So, what can we do for those really complex issues that aren’t easily solved? Visual problem solving is the perfect way to see solutions and break down complex issues.

Make your own flowchart with Gleek .

What is visual problem solving?

Visual problem solving is the process of using aids like charts or diagrams to display all the aspects of a problem in order to find viable solutions. When problem solving, sometimes it’s hard to see what’s causing the problem, or other relationships and correlations that are affecting whatever it is you’re working on. Two common methods for problem solving include mind maps and flowcharts . A mind map is a non-linear diagram, used for making new ideas or breaking down complex issues. A flowchart is a linear diagram, used for making action plans and describing processes.

5 steps to solve problems

Identify the true problem

Maybe you know what the issue is in clear terms, or perhaps it’s still a little confusing. A good way to get a concrete vision of the problem you need to solve is to pose it as a question, or a short statement. You might come up with something like ‘our sales have dropped’, or, as a question ‘what can we do to increase sales?’.

Get information

Now that you have a clear objective to solve, the next step is to gather all the relevant information that pertains to the issue. This can look like statistics, comments from customers, employee feedback, and more. Once you’ve collected the data, you’ll need to analyze it from all angles to get a clear view on the topic.

Brainstorming session

Get any and all potential solution ideas out on the table. Doesn’t matter how silly an idea seems, just put anything that comes to mind on the drawing board. This is where your visual aids will really come in handy, especially mind maps. You might need more than one chart, depending on how complicated the issue is.

Choose the best idea(s)

Whether on your own or with a team, you’ll have to eliminate the potential solutions that just won’t work. To find the solution that’ll work best, it’s good to analyze it in the same way you did the problem – by looking at potential outcomes, and all facets involved.

Make an action plan

So you think you’ve found the perfect solution! Now what? If your problem is complicated, usually the solution will be too. Here is where another visual aid, like a flowchart, will be helpful. Map out the specific steps you need in order to implement your solution. Then, it’s time to put your plan into action.

These are just the basic steps you can use to start problem solving. You may find that other actions are needed during your own journey.

Common mistakes when problem solving

Mistakes? We all make them from time to time. Here are some common mistakes we are prone to when trying to fix problems.

Undefined problem – When identifying the problem, it’s possible that the problem is too big, multi-faceted, or too complex to tackle all at once. A way to avoid this is to break the problem down into chunks, following common themes.

More problems arise – This isn’t always a direct result of anything we do, but it can happen nonetheless. The best way to deal with more problems that arise when you’re trying to solve the original one is to think of the possible things that could go wrong during the solution stage. When you’re prepared for any situation, you’ll rarely have any setbacks.

No action plan – Finding a way to solve your problem doesn’t mean that the planning is over. On the contrary, you need to create a strategy to properly execute your solution so you won’t end up with a half-solved problem and even more issues than you started with.

When to use flowcharts

One way to chart your problems and progress is through flowcharts. For those who like to think in a step-by-step or linear fashion, flowcharts are the best way to visualize things. Let’s have a look at some situations that are best suited to flowcharts.

Big problems – Flowcharts can help break down a large problem or solution into specific steps or stages from start to finish.

Decision trees – This type of flowchart is helpful when diagramming actions that will happen as a result of other actions, whether they be in a software system or actions taken by people.

Cause and effect – Similar to a decision tree, a cause and effect flowchart is where you can analyze the potential results of various actions, past or present.

Check out our 20 flowchart templates that you can also easily edit !

When to use mind maps

Mind maps are great for brainstorming sessions, and non-linear problem solving. Here are some situations that are best visualized through a mind map.

Finding the problem – So, what is the problem exactly? Sometimes it’s hard to see. Making a mind map offers you the opportunity to see all the moving parts involved with a situation, and how they relate to one another, and can help you suss out the true problem.

Core and branching ideas – You start with a core idea, such as ‘online sales’, then add related ideas or issues branching off from that, like maybe ‘ad revenue’, or ‘social media campaigns’. Then those ideas can have their own branches. This is an easy way to analyze all aspects of a problem.

Source: Problem Solving with Mind Maps (Tutorial)

Looking to create your own flowchart? Gleek has the solution for you. With Gleek, you can create your own flowcharts using a text-based command center, without ever using your mouse. Not only can you create flowcharts, you can create many other UML-based diagrams that will wow your colleagues and bring new life to your presentations. Get started for free today .

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A step-by-step guide to creating a flowchart in Google Docs

7 stages of the product development process (flowchart example)

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Brain · Continuous Improvement · Creativity · Cultural Enablers · Engagement · Problem Solving · Visual Management

Visual problem solving.

Tom Wujec is a Fellow at Autodesk, the world’s leader in 2D & 3D design software.  He has brought several software applications to market, including SketchBook Pro, PortfolioWall, and Maya which won an Academy Award for its contribution to the film industry.  Given Tom’s expertise with technology and software, some might find it surprising to learn that he is also a pioneer in the use of simple, interactive visuals to help teams solve problems.  Using images, sketches, and animations, Tom and his team make complex ideas understandable by making them visible and tangible.

So why should Tom’s work at Autodesk be of interest to you?  As I have written before, neuroscientists have discovered that we don’t actually “see the world as it is.”  Rather, our brain filters the information it receives based on past experiences to create the view of the world we have around us.  As Tom describes it, our brains conduct a “visual interrogation” of everything we see by asking a series of questions and creating a mental model based upon the answers.  The depth and variety of questions our brains ask (where, how, location, number, why, color, when, shape, size, what) is dictated by the richness of the images it encounters.  The richer and more diverse the images, the more of the brain’s three primary regions are utilized in processing the image to create meaning.

Since one of our goals as leaders is to improve the effectiveness of our organizational problem solving, Tom’s work provides us with a couple of interesting lessons:

First, make problem solving more visual.  Rather than merely using data points and words to describe, analyze and solve problems, use images.  Images help the brain clarify ideas, identify underlying patterns of logic, and create meaning.  As opposed to numbers and words, a good visual invites the eyes to dart around and engage the entire brain to create a visual logic and make sense of the information to which it is being exposed.  The more fully the brain is engaged in the act of analyzing and creating meaning, the richer the outcome of the problem solving activities will be.

Second, make your problem solving more interactive.  The act of creating a visual narrative of the problem solving process is critical to the team’s ownership of the problem as well as their engagement in finding a solution.  The more the team creates the visual logic used to tell the story of the problem and what caused it, the more vested they will be in the outcome.

Creating a culture of continuous improvement requires both engaging people in the process of identifying and solving problems as well as providing them with the tools to do so.  Most traditional approaches to problem solving fail to inspire people and generate creative solutions.  They lack both a visual component to kick the entire brain into action as well as a sufficient level of interactivity to create ownership between the team and the problem.  By challenging teams to use images to identify underlying patterns and create meaning, you just might be surprised at the improvement in both the quality of thought as well as improvement ideas.

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Nine essential problem solving tools: The ultimate guide to finding a solution

October 26, 2023 by MindManager Blog

Problem solving may unfold differently depending on the industry, or even the department you work in. However, most agree that before you can fix any issue, you need to be clear on what it is, why it’s happening, and what your ideal long-term solution will achieve.

Understanding both the nature and the cause of a problem is the only way to figure out which actions will help you resolve it.

Given that most problem-solving processes are part inspiration and part perspiration, you’ll be more successful if you can reach for a problem solving tool that facilitates collaboration, encourages creative thinking, and makes it easier to implement the fix you devise.

The problem solving tools include three unique categories: problem solving diagrams, problem solving mind maps, and problem solving software solutions.

They include:

• Fishbone diagrams
• Strategy maps
• Mental maps
• Concept maps
• Layered process audit software
• Charting software
• MindManager

In this article, we’ve put together a roundup of versatile problem solving tools and software to help you and your team map out and repair workplace issues as efficiently as possible.

Let’s get started!

Problem solving diagrams

Mapping your way out of a problem is the simplest way to see where you are, and where you need to end up.

Not only do visual problem maps let you plot the most efficient route from Point A (dysfunctional situation) to Point B (flawless process), problem mapping diagrams make it easier to see:

• The root cause of a dilemma.
• The steps, resources, and personnel associated with each possible solution.
• The least time-consuming, most cost-effective options.

A visual problem solving process help to solidify understanding. Furthermore, it’s a great way for you and your team to transform abstract ideas into a practical, reconstructive plan.

Here are three examples of common problem mapping diagrams you can try with your team:

1. Fishbone diagrams

Fishbone diagrams are a common problem solving tool so-named because, once complete, they resemble the skeleton of a fish.

With the possible root causes of an issue (the ribs) branching off from either side of a spine line attached to the head (the problem), dynamic fishbone diagrams let you:

• Lay out a related set of possible reasons for an existing problem
• Investigate each possibility by breaking it out into sub-causes
• See how contributing factors relate to one another

Fishbone diagrams are also known as cause and effect or Ishikawa diagrams.

2. Flowcharts

A flowchart is an easy-to-understand diagram with a variety of applications. But you can use it to outline and examine how the steps of a flawed process connect.

Made up of a few simple symbols linked with arrows indicating workflow direction, flowcharts clearly illustrate what happens at each stage of a process – and how each event impacts other events and decisions.

3. Strategy maps

Frequently used as a strategic planning tool, strategy maps also work well as problem mapping diagrams. Based on a hierarchal system, thoughts and ideas can be arranged on a single page to flesh out a potential resolution.

Once you’ve got a few tactics you feel are worth exploring as possible ways to overcome a challenge, a strategy map will help you establish the best route to your problem-solving goal.

Problem solving mind maps

Problem solving mind maps are especially valuable in visualization. Because they facilitate the brainstorming process that plays a key role in both root cause analysis and the identification of potential solutions, they help make problems more solvable.

Mind maps are diagrams that represent your thinking. Since many people struggle taking or working with hand-written or typed notes, mind maps were designed to let you lay out and structure your thoughts visually so you can play with ideas, concepts, and solutions the same way your brain does.

By starting with a single notion that branches out into greater detail, problem solving mind maps make it easy to:

• Explain unfamiliar problems or processes in less time
• Share and elaborate on novel ideas
• Achieve better group comprehension that can lead to more effective solutions

Mind maps are a valuable problem solving tool because they’re geared toward bringing out the flexible thinking that creative solutions require. Here are three types of problem solving mind maps you can use to facilitate the brainstorming process.

4. Mental maps

A mental map helps you get your thoughts about what might be causing a workplace issue out of your head and onto a shared digital space.

Because mental maps mirror the way our brains take in and analyze new information, using them to describe your theories visually will help you and your team work through and test those thought models.

5. Idea maps

Idea maps let you take advantage of a wide assortment of colors and images to lay down and organize your scattered thought process. Idea maps are ideal brainstorming tools because they allow you to present and explore ideas about the best way to solve a problem collaboratively, and with a shared sense of enthusiasm for outside-the-box thinking.

6. Concept maps

Concept maps are one of the best ways to shape your thoughts around a potential solution because they let you create interlinked, visual representations of intricate concepts.

By laying out your suggested problem-solving process digitally – and using lines to form and define relationship connections – your group will be able to see how each piece of the solution puzzle connects with another.

Problem solving software solutions

Problem solving software is the best way to take advantage of multiple problem solving tools in one platform. While some software programs are geared toward specific industries or processes – like manufacturing or customer relationship management, for example – others, like MindManager , are purpose-built to work across multiple trades, departments, and teams.

Here are three problem-solving software examples.

7. Layered process audit software

Layered process audits (LPAs) help companies oversee production processes and keep an eye on the cost and quality of the goods they create. Dedicated LPA software makes problem solving easier for manufacturers because it helps them see where costly leaks are occurring and allows all levels of management to get involved in repairing those leaks.

8. Charting software

Charting software comes in all shapes and sizes to fit a variety of business sectors. Pareto charts, for example, combine bar charts with line graphs so companies can compare different problems or contributing factors to determine their frequency, cost, and significance. Charting software is often used in marketing, where a variety of bar charts and X-Y axis diagrams make it possible to display and examine competitor profiles, customer segmentation, and sales trends.

9. MindManager

No matter where you work, or what your problem-solving role looks like, MindManager is a problem solving software that will make your team more productive in figuring out why a process, plan, or project isn’t working the way it should.

Once you know why an obstruction, shortfall, or difficulty exists, you can use MindManager’s wide range of brainstorming and problem mapping diagrams to:

• Find the most promising way to correct the situation
• Activate your chosen solution, and
• Conduct regular checks to make sure your repair work is sustainable

MindManager is the ultimate problem solving software.

Not only is it versatile enough to use as your go-to system for puzzling out all types of workplace problems, MindManager’s built-in forecasting tools, timeline charts, and warning indicators let you plan, implement, and monitor your solutions.

By allowing your group to work together more effectively to break down problems, uncover solutions, and rebuild processes and workflows, MindManager’s versatile collection of problem solving tools will help make everyone on your team a more efficient problem solver.

Download a free trial today to get started!

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MindManager helps boost collaboration and productivity among remote and hybrid teams to achieve better results, faster.

Why choose MindManager?

MindManager® helps individuals, teams, and enterprises bring greater clarity and structure to plans, projects, and processes. It provides visual productivity tools and mind mapping software to help take you and your organization to where you want to be.

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Visual Problem Solving

Visual problem-solving is a method where an individual or team uses visual tools such as charts, indicators, diagrams, infographics, and pictures as an integrated part of the problem-solving process to both understand and generate solutions to given problems.

Visual problem-solving has several characteristics, including simplifying complex issues and lends itself to use in business when practised correctly. It has key dependencies, such as access to information.

Problem-solving is a key skill, whether in business or one’s personal life. Selecting and utilizing an appropriate and effective method to support the problem solver is essential.

Visual problem-solving provides a toolset that extends beyond the traditional methods of solutionizing and can help accelerate the process.

In today’s article, we’ll be covering visual problem-solving we’ll be looking to cover:

What is visual problem solving

Visual problem solving and the problem-solving process, visual management as a problem-solving aid..

• Why use visual problem skills

Information and Visual problem solving

Visual problem-solving skills, problem-solving in a visual domain.

• Benefits of visual problem solving

Issues with visual problem solving

Problem-solving is a required skill, whether in business or our personal lives.

Problem-solving involves taking a particular situation where the status is worse than planned and returning it to the state it should be (or improving it).  

We are faced with issues and problems daily, problems that require investigation and resolution, some more important than others, some with higher impacts than others.

To solve problems effectively, we require systems and processes that help support both understanding the issue and root causes, together with developing viable solutions.

In business, assessing, diagnosing and resolving problems is a key enabler of competitiveness.

The types of problems that a business might experience are varied and potentially complex; they might include the following:

• A downturn in customer perception of your business, 
• Rapidly increasing costs
• Reduced output vs plan
• Absenteeism and reduced staffing levels
• Safety issues
• Decreasing quality of products
• New entrants into the market that take market share
• System Security

There are a variety of problem-solving methods that we can deploy. Of key importance is that they are the:

Visual problem-solving has several characteristics that lend it to being deployed:

• It uses imagery/tools to simplify complexity.
• Imagery can be used in any stage of the problem-solving process.
• It can be used by an individual or group.
• It is more appropriate for some types of problems than others.
• It’s a learned skill that a user can become more proficient in through repetition and practice (where visualization used is consistent)
• In some industries, visualization is integrated into the process.

But what do we mean when we use the term visual? What we mean is an artefact, a visual representation relating to the problem being experienced, this could be varied, and examples include: 

• An infographic
• A process map or workflow
• A graphical alert on a computer system
• A whiteboard

We can use a mix of these in a number of ways at each stage of the problem-solving process, for example:

What is the problem? – Graphs, Traffic lights, alerts/icons, RAG Status

What is the impact? – Charts/Graphs

Where is the problem happening? – Maps, Venn diagrams, charts

Why is the problem happening? – Flowcharts, Process maps, diagrams, pictures

When did the problem occur? – Timelines, flowcharts

What is the solution? – Whiteboards, process maps, flow charts, graphs

What is the outcome? – Graphs, charts, icons

Visuals help us present the problem, highlight relationships between influences and articulate why things are happening.

They are effective because the brain sees the images and then translates them within the context of what’s being described enabling us to assimilate complex information at pace.

Visual Problem-solving can be used as a stand-alone methodology or in combination with other methods.

Certain visuals may be better suited to solving particular problems than others.

So, how might we utilize visual problem-solving? Let’s use the example of increased costs.

In this example, we might be faced with numerous methods. We are likely to also be faced with moderate to large sizes of data that will require investigation if we are to ascertain the root cause and deploy appropriate mitigation.

We are faced with two methods:

• Manually analyzing large volumes of data from our financial system.
• Summarising views (perhaps multiple) of financial data, representing costs using visuals which may help Pareto expenditure and help point at root causes

Manually analysing large amounts of information/data is clearly complex and time-consuming.

In this example, a simple Pareto chart of expenditure helps us understand part of the cause, but we then need to dig deeper to get to the root cause.

We can see that the organization buys the same raw material from several suppliers, one of which has increased its price.

In this simple process, we have simplified a complex problem through the use of visual tools (graphs and charts) that we have used to interpret the situation and develop potential solutions.

Importantly, despite using a potentially effective solution, we still need to understand the context of the problem with some knowledge of the business and its activities.

Problem-solving requires a series of steps to be executed in order to understand events leading to current status and develop interventions to correct them.

While there are several variations, most problem-solving is built around some common steps.

• Define the Problem
• Define the goal
• Identify the Root Cause
• Develop & execute an action plan
• Evaluate the Results.

We could look to implement some of these steps into our management review processes so we can apply review and corrective actions as a matter of course, but can we learn anything from industry on how we can apply visual problem-solving more tightly into our processes?

A further example of how visual problem-solving is used, this time in real-time, is in the role of the air traffic controller.

Air traffic controllers utilize inputs from visual displays (be that from radar, positioning, route overlays etc.)and direct interface with pilots. 

These data-driven interfaces not only provide information on the status of air traffic but provide real-time information, which can be interpreted, allowing air traffic controllers to assess problems as they arise and make rapid decisions to remedy the situation.

Clearly, air traffic controllers require a significant deal of domain knowledge (they are, after all, securing people’s lives). This is a further example of how training can help develop people’s ability to interpret simple, contextual information in problem-solving.

Air Traffic control, as you’d expect, is highly complex. How might we utilize these methods in a simpler situation?

The most obvious is that we can apply visual management in the workplace, which can present real-time (or near real-time) information as problems emerge to drive decision-making.  

Let’s consider a modern manufacturing facility with day boards. Shadow boards, alerts and a variety of data displays all of these provide inputs to make real-time decisions in order to drive output to the required standard.

Such systems can be simple, however, in more complex situations, data can appear from various diverse systems, and there is a clear dependency on clean data in order to enable correct decisions.

With some thought, methods such as these can be applied across business functions. 

Ultimately, however the problem is visually presented, there is a requirement for the individual or team to mentally assess and resolve it, especially where the problems have high levels of complexity.  

So tools to support reasoning only help in the process of understanding and determining route cause and possible corrective action; they do not remove the requirement for a level of reasoning completely.

Indeed, without the proper context, incorrect mitigation may be deployed, which might cause further issues.

Implementation of corrective action also requires a degree of planning and execution that probably benefits from other appropriate tools.

Why use visual problem solving

As we discussed in our introduction, problem-solving is one of the more common skills that you’ll utilize in life and business and being adept at analyzing situations that have deviated from the state they should be to one that is underperforming and then developing a logical resolution is a common feature of most day to day’s life.

Given that there are numerous problem-solving skills, why should you use visual problems solving? 

That is probably an inappropriate question, and you should ask yourself which problem-solving technique suits the situation you find yourself in.

Visual problem-solving does have some specific characteristics, such as:

• It can facilitate rapid decision-making based on the interpretation of visual indicators.
• It can simplify complex situations.
• Inputs/Events can be displayed in numerous ways and tuned to specific audiences.
• If a business adopts common ways of displaying information, then users can be trained easily and can become more proficient through further exposure to methodology.

Utilizing common methods of presenting information is something to explore further.  

There are ways that businesses can use common methods of displaying information throughout the business; this can help not only with interpretation but allow everyone within the business to participate by using a common set of indicators.

I personally believe that in utilizing visual-problem solving methods, barriers can be broken down through simplification, allowing for teams to collaborate on the process, in particular, the ability to outsource elements to 3rd parties (sometimes in real-time).  

Once the indicators have been established together with rules around interpretation and prioritization, then it becomes easy to share information.

A key dependency of visual problem-solving is information. Information that can be summarised and visually presented (You can’t chart information if you don’t have the data to begin).

Successful results clearly require not only on presentation but the robustness of the data.

It goes without saying that many organizations find obtaining clean and reliable information for decision-making challenging.

Once they have it choosing an appropriate way of displaying it is another challenge!

Businesses and individuals should consider the use of visual problem-solving carefully if they are likely to face major challenges in obtaining data/information that will be used in the process.

Challenges might include

• Data can’t be obtained
• The data is not clean and has errors
• Disparate data sets cannot be related in a way to make visual problem-solving viable
• Low levels of understanding of what the data represents.
• Incorrect visual methods are used and do not simplify the process.

Problem-solving as a process is still universal and relies on the traditional well-established step-by-step process.

Utilizing visual problem-solving does not replace problem-solving skills per se but does necessitate several skills that, whilst not necessarily unique, are worth bearing in mind.

These skills include:

• Ability to follow a standard step-by-step process
• Ability to select data and appropriate visual indicators that support the methodology
• Ability to Interpret indicators
• Ability to prioritize actions based on indicators (and triage where necessary)
• Ability to analyze data sets (sometimes disconnected data sets)
• Ability to select appropriate graphical representations for use in problem-solving 
• Ability to model what-if scenarios

Visual Problem solving does assume reliance on information, and while there is no implied link between data analysis and presentation, for many, they will be involved in both ends of the process, both gathering data and presenting it in a format that can be used in a problem-solving situation.

In many professions, individuals assess complex situations and make decisions on the basis of visualizations in the workplace.

We have already discussed air traffic controllers who make decisions based on complex graphical representations of real-time air traffic situations.

Other professions who are required to solve complex problems through visualization include doctors, scientists, soldiers etc.

All will utilize technology to capture and present information using visual stimuli to differentiate performance or situations that are to expectations vs those that aren’t; many may have workflows built around situations that don’t meet expectations allowing users to resolve in real-time.

The complexity of these graphical tools varies, but nevertheless, the process is based on problem-solving principles; the individual is required to read the information being presented, interpret it and consider various decision routes and their outcomes ahead of deciding on an appropriate course of action.

As we see more automation in industry, the ability to incorporate visual problem-solving directly into working routines is becoming more common.

Unsurprisingly as individual expertise grows, the ability to more rapidly choose an outcome and a successful outcome increases. 

Benefits of visual problem-solving.

Visual problem-solving can offer many benefits that, include:

• Simplification of the problem-solving process
• Simplication of complex situations
• Rapid resolution of problems (through simplification)
• Use of indicators (colour, shapes etc.) that help triage situations
• Facilitate the wider organization taking part in problem-solving activities
• Can enable outsourcing of optimization activities

As we’ve discussed, there are several issues that you’ll want to explore:

• Reliance on data being accurate
• Visualization does not remove the need for contextual understanding
• Visual tools do not mitigate the need for an effective problem-solving process.
• Likely to require a level of user skill
• Setting up infrastructure for real-time visual problem-solving can take time and cost.

Visual problem-solving offers a part of the problem-solving toolkit (rather than replacing it completely).

The use of Visual Problem-solving shows that given the right situation, businesses have an effective route when solving problems, particularly complex situations which require detailed analysis and summarisation.

The use of visual indicators to help simplify and triage situations can improve the performance of the problem-solving process where it is practical (when considering the dependencies of the method).

There are further advantages that can be obtained when this methodology is built into working processes allowing operators to capture and resolve issues in real time, mitigating the impacts that problems may deliver.

Does your business utilize visual problem-solving? What’s your experience been? Have you seen advantages? As ever, we’d love your contribution to the discussion. You can reach us on Twitter or via the comments section below.

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Creative Ways to Use Graphic Novels in the Classroom! 🎥

Teaching Math Word Problems with Pictures

Help your students visualize their answers.

If you google word problem jokes, this one will pop up a lot:

“If you have 4 pencils and I have 7 apples, how many pancakes will fit on the roof?

Purple, because aliens don’t wear hats.”

It’s hilarious because it’s true! Many of our students see nonsense in word problems. They not only have to figure out what the word problem is asking them to do, but then they have to actually solve it. It’s a process. However, if we want them to internalize the concept, not just the numbers, pictures can help! Visuals can help students comprehend meaning when the words aren’t making sense to them. Don’t underestimate the power of teaching word problems with pictures. Here are a few easy ways to incorporate visuals into everyday math:

The power of “acting it out”

Before you go from manipulatives to drawing, try having students act out problems. If the problems involve eating, bring in food and have a student actually act like they are in the story problem. If the problem involves a specific number of boys and girls, have that many students get up and show the class what is going on in the problem. Taking this step will help students visualize the problem and think about the actions rather than just guessing if they should add, subtract, multiply, or divide.

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Getting ready to draw

When you’re ready to start solving word problems with pictures, follow Jan Rowe’s steps :

• Read the entire problem: Get all the facts and underline keywords.
• Answer the question: What am I looking for?
• Draw a picture or diagram: Visualize as a real-world situation.
• Solve the problem: Set up the equation and solve.
• Check your solution: Is this answer reasonable?

Drawing as a step of the process

Visual representations are a good starting point for word problems because it is an intermediate step between language-as-text and the symbolic language of math . Drawing lowers the affective filter because it can be less stressful. We aren’t stepping straight into that equation; we are just drawing to figure out what the question is actually asking us. Remind students that we are not in art class. It is perfectly OK for your math pictures to be just scribbles as long as you know what they represent. Another great perk of the “Draw a Picture” strategy is that you, as a teacher, can really step inside the student’s brain to see how their mathematical brain works. Encourage labeling so that you can catch misconceptions right away. These drawings can lead to great math talk conversations, which build that academic language that we all want to hear.

Jayden had two boxes of books with twelve books in each box. He gave four books to his sister. How many books did Jayden keep for himself?

Draw a picture:

Try photography instead of drawing

Story problems are grounded in reading. Photograph Math is an activity that can help visual learners grasp the math skill first, then add in the language. All you’ll need is a camera (or phone) to take pictures. Here’s how it works:

• Students brainstorm the ways in which, and the places where, they use math.
• They stage a photograph representing one of these ideas.
• Students write their own real-life word problems to go with their posed photograph(s).
• Students take a photograph of the menu inside the cafeteria. They write problems that help them figure out how much money they need to get specific lunches, snacks, or drinks. Extension: Think about how much you would need to get a snack every day, for a week, etc.
• Someone might take a photo of a number on a library book. Then try to figure out what value that number would have based on the number of digits and round the number to the nearest whole, tenths, or hundredth.
• Students take a photo of your stash of whiteboards markers. They could write problems about the amount of each color you have. They may choose to think about what happens if another teacher borrows a certain number of markers, etc.

Photograph math can help students to start thinking like a mathematician in all aspects of life. If students begin to see the math around them, then they can truly begin to comprehend the story problems that we present to them in class.

Read a math picture book

Remember when I said story problems are grounded in reading? Why not use actual stories? Children’s picture books can provide a rich context from which to begin mathematical investigations . As students see math concepts play out in stories and illustrations, they are engaged and better able to construct meaning. Seeing the problem-solving process in action through a book can serve as a model for students when they go off on their own to solve problems. Here is a list of 16 picture books about math .

Assign math as picture prompts

Consider starting each week with a relevant picture prompt. Sometimes, the picture is of a mathematical error we came across in real life. The challenge to students is to figure out the mistake. Other times, we simply provide an image and challenge students to come up with a story problem to accompany it. Giving students ownership of these problems can strengthen and extend their comprehension of story problems.

• Put up a sign of a price mistake in a store. Then write on the board: “Ms. Caudill saw this sign at Walmart this weekend and laughed. Why? How might you fix it?”
• Show students the following prompt: Write a story problem using the photo and the following word bank: apples, tomatoes, sweet potatoes, pound, gallon, farmer’s market.

The truth is, story problems are challenging for all students. We have to find ways to make the story problems relative to students’ lives if we want them to succeed.

How do you teach word problems with pictures? Share in the comments below.

Want even more strategies for teaching word problems check out 14 effective ways to help your students conquer math word problems ., want more articles like this make sure to sign up for my weekly newsletter for third grade teachers .

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Solving Problems, Visually.

More than just a scientific illustrator, I’m a visual problem solver! I work with scientists, organizations, authors, and publishers to unveil the invisible, simplify the complex, and make science accessible.

Capability Statement |  Resume

Illustrated by Kelly

• Viruses: Biology, Applications, and Control  by David Harper, published by Garland Science (2011)
• A Garden for Iggy  by the ECHOS team
• Busy Beach Day by the ECHOS team
• What’s Down the Block? by Krista Kaiser
• Bye Bye Bubbles by Romina Pastorelli
• Summer Splash  by the ECHOS team
• Why is this Rock Special? By Ted Meyers
• Inspire Science Curriculum, published online by McGraw Hill Education
• Making Modern Meals by Amy Trubek, published by UC Press (2017)

As Seen In…

• American Mineralogist
• Biochemical Society Transactions
• Biomaterials Science
• Elements Magazine
• Elementa: Science of the Anthropocene
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• Journal of Archaeological Science
• The Journal of Experimental Biology (cover art)
• Journal of Evolutionary Biology
• Mining Engineering
• Nature Communications
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• The Scientist

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American Society of Microbiology – Boston Medical Center – The Center for Disease Control and Prevention – The Children’s Discovery Museum – Clean Oceans International – Frost Museum of Science – Harvard University –  McGraw Hill Education – The National Aquarium in Baltimore – The Nature Conservancy – Northeast Wilderness Trust – The Paleontological Research Institution – Pearson Education – Vermont Center for Ecostudies – UC Press – Yosemite National Park

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Testimonials.

“Kelly was a Scientific Visualization Fellow with us when I was the Director of an institute inside Yosemite National Park. She is awesome. I was amazed by the range of people that she helped with scientific illustrations – from NPS staff, to University Professors, to students working on research projects. Her work is also incredibly versatile, from anatomically accurate illustrations of flora and fauna, to more interpretive illustrations that illustrate information better than a photo, to more creatively playful pieces of art. Kelly was a joy to have around and a pleasure to work with. We really missed her when she left!”

Dr. Eric Berlow, TED Fellow

“I, and all involved in these efforts, have been more than pleased with the quality of Kelly’s work, and with her ability to capture the essence of new creatures in a new landscape. Others with better credentials than mine for criticizing art work have seconded this opinion on numerous occasions.”

Dr. Bill McLarney, Executive Director, ANAI

“[Kelly] has created two water color images for me. Both images were accepted for publication without any request for change. More importantly, I have used her images in teaching workshops, giving talks and in giving professional presentations to my clients. My business focusses on using stable and radiogenic geochemistry, not something common to many of the people that I work with. Kelly’s ability to construct clear, well-designed and highly aesthetic images has helped me convey complex geochemical reactions and geochemical patterns with ease. In fact, people do remember the illustrations that she has made for me and I have had several conversations with people about her graphics. In fact, in the review of my latest paper in the journal Elements, a reviewer commented ‘and the very nice diagram illustrating the systematics of supergene processes in Fig. 2.’ Compliments are not common during the review process.”

Dr. Ryan Mathur, geologist and author

“Just wanted to let you know that it was truly a pleasure working with you. I appreciated your ability to turn around work quickly and go with the (sometimes hectic) flow of the project.  You were very accessible and responsive in communicating. I could count on you to get the job done. And the artwork fit the bill for a wide range of simulations. By the way, the publisher was especially complimentary about the beauty of the “Plant a Garden” simulation.”

Shannon Lavery, Product and Project Manager, EdTech

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6 Steps for Visual Problem-Based Learning

I've blogged about how my classroom experiences taught me that students learn more deeply when I let them apply their prior knowledge to solve problems, before jumping in and teaching them the mathematical procedures.

But, I sometimes hear our  ST Math teachers say, “I don't want my students to play this ST Math game yet because I haven't taught this topic in class.” In most cases, that’s putting the cart before the horse. The games can help students build a visual schema for concepts before they are formally taught in class. This gives students opportunities to make sense of the math by using what they already know to solve new problems.

Beginning with visual problem-solving opportunities sets students up to better understand a math lesson because they can connect the new learning to the concept introduced visually. If you've ever seen students' eyes light up when they make those connections on their own, you know the power of this kind of learning! Here are some practices to get you started:

1. Present students with an engaging visual problem

When selecting a visual math problem, consider whether students of all backgrounds and levels can engage with it. Students should understand what is happening in the problem, but the solution (what to do and how to do it) should not be immediately obvious.

Project the problem for the whole class to view together. ST Math teachers can choose from thousands of animated puzzles arranged by grade level and standards-based topics. Each puzzle presents a visual math problem. Project the puzzle in "teacher mode" for this demonstration. ( Log in to the ST Math Teacher Resource Site for instructions. )

2. Allow students to discuss and make sense of the context

Ask students to share with a partner three things they notice about the problem. ST Math games present problems without words or instructions, so students need to figure out for themselves what is being asked of them mathematically and how to play the actual game. You can move the cursor over different parts of the puzzle to show things that light up and things that don’t. 

3. Demonstrate the value of learning from mistakes 

Make a couple of intentional mistakes in front of the class and model how to use information learned from those mistakes to inform your next solution. In ST Math "teacher mode," you can examine the animation that follows an answer, which provides students with this kind of informative feedback that visually represents why the solution didn't work. 

4. Have students generate solutions  

Allow students to use tools (blocks, legos, whiteboards or simply paper and pencil) to solve the problem. This is the part where you leave it open to students to relate their prior understanding and schemas to the situation. Students bring what the have to the table and strategize, recreate the puzzle and formulate a solution.

5. Discuss and analyze mistakes

To reinforce the power of continually learning from mistakes, identify some students whose solutions didn't work and give them the opportunity talk about why it didn't work. ST Math students respond well when you involve the beloved main character of the games, JiJi the penguin: "What is JiJi asking you to figure out?" You can guide them in watching the animated informative feedback that shows why a solution didn't work. 

6. Discuss and analyze solutions

As students continue to solve the visual problem at their desks, walk around and ask students to share their strategies with you. Select two to three student-generated strategies that move from concrete (using a physical model) to abstract (solving the problem with equations and/or mental arithmetic). Have the students share their strategies and ask the class to compare them. This discussion should help all students advance their mathematical thinking and connect concrete models to abstract procedures and notations.

A Case Study with ST Math

I recently visited a class of fifth-graders and posed a multi-step, multiple operation problem from an ST Math game, which would eventually be represented symbolically as 2x + 6y = 26. The teacher had not introduced this topic yet and was nervous that his students would not be able to solve the problem. In the end, he was surprised at what we learned about his students by allowing them to make sense of the problem and apply their prior knowledge in solving it.

The task presented through the ST Math game, "Leg Drape Creatures," was to find all the ways you could put 26 shoes on 2-legged ostriches and 6-legged ants. Notice that any student at any level could engage with this problem.

Scene from ST Math game "Leg Drape Creatures"

First, I projected the puzzle for the whole class to see, and after making a couple of intentional mistakes, I knew students understood what the puzzle was asking them to figure out. Students quickly began solving this problem. Through their solutions, the teacher and I gained a deeper understanding of what students knew and were able to apply. 

Concrete Models

Some students drew out each boot and grouped them in 6s and 2s until no more boots were left. These students often used a concrete, direct modeling method of "guess and check," with little to no organization of the combinations.

Abstract Models

Other students applied mental arithmetic and worked systematically to find (and prove they had found) all possible combinations. For example, some students divided 26 by six to find the most ants that could be used and interpreted the remainder (two) as the boots for one ostrich. Then they saw that by taking one ant away, you could put shoes on three ostriches. The pattern eventually allowed these students to stop calculating the shoes for each animal and just continue replacing one ant with three ostriches. Here's the kind of chart they created to organize this pattern:

Using this chart, they then systematically found all the combinations that worked using an equation like this:

(Ants x 6 shoes) + (Ostriches x 2 shoes) = 26 shoes 

(4 x 6) + (1 x 2) = 26 (3 x 6) + (4 x 2) = 26 etc.

The most important point is that these students came up with the math procedures they needed on their own. Here's an example of one student's work and thought process. (Seems like it was easier for this student to call the ostriches "ducks.")

After seeing the wide range of students' solutions, the teacher and I were able to see how best to design the next instructional steps to help all students reach the goal of understanding how symbols can now be used to represent the problem they just solved. Here's one way: Two shoes for each ostrich plus six shoes for each ant equals 26. So 2x + 6y = 26.  Find all combinations of ostriches and ants that work in this equation. 

Try posing a visual math problem to your class and then come together to explore a new concept with your students, and let us know what you learn!

To find out more about visual problem-based instruction:

More examples of how ST Math paves the way for deeper understanding of math topics:

• Teaching PEMDAS painlessly using ST Math
• A Video Journey: Teaching Rigorous Problem Solving with ST Math

A version of this article originally posted on Nov. 19, 2014.

About the Author

Erich Zeller is the Instructional Designer for the Product Team at MIND Research Institute. Follow him on Twitter @ErichZeller1.

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The 10 Best Problem-Solving Software to Use in 2024

Engineering Team

May 13, 2024

Do you want a solution to help your teams work well together, reduce friction, and speed up productivity?

The best problem-solving software has all the answers for you. Problem-solving software helps find bottlenecks, simplify workflows, and automate tasks to improve efficiency. The result? Communication is easy, and your team enjoys a collaborative work environment.

Problem-solving software gives you the right visualization tools and techniques to better articulate your ideas and concepts.

That’s not all; it also automates repetitive tasks while your team focuses on brainstorming and ideating. 

In this article, we’ll cover the best problem-solving software and highlight its various features, limitations, customer ratings, and pricing details to help you make an informed decision. 

What Should You Look For In Problem-Solving Software? 

1. clickup , 2. omnex systems , 5. meistertask, 6. teamwork, 10. airtable .

Businesses encounter many challenges, from operational inefficiencies and customer complaints to financial discrepancies. 

As your team slowly navigates through these issues, having problem-solving software with the right features will reduce the hassle. Before investing in one, consider some of these following factors:

• User-friendly interface: The software should have an intuitive and easy-to-use interface to minimize the learning curve for users
• Versatility: Look for software that addresses various problem types and complexities. It should be adaptable to different industries and scenarios
• Mind maps and Visualization features: Get yourself problem-solving software solutions that offers mind maps and other visual tricks. It must be a digital canvas for your team to brainstorm ideas, connect the dots, and execute strategies
• AI assistant: If your team is stuck with repetitive mundane tasks, then it’s time you let AI take over. With the right problem-solving tool comes in-built AI that handles  everyday tasks, leaving your team to focus on the important stuff
• Automation capabilities:  Look for problem-solving process that’s all about automation. This way, you ensure efficiency and effectiveness without the grunt work
• Goal tracking: Your efforts improve when you optimize your tracking process. You need goal monitoring and tracking features to ensure you are on track 
• Cost-effectiveness: Look for the features that various plans offer and compare them to choose an option that provides maximum features while the benefits justify the cost 

The 10 Best Problem Solving Software In 2024

While you have many options, select the one with the right features that suit your needs . 

Check out our list of the ten best problem-solving tools to ensure you have the features to solve complex issues effectively: 

Henry Ford once said that success takes care of itself if everyone moves forward together. ClickUp problem-solving software helps you succeed by ensuring all your team members are always on the same page. 

With its live collaboration, you can see if your teammates are looking at or editing documents. Also, edit documents together in real-time. Moreover, any changes on any device are updated instantly, so nobody falls behind. 

The whiteboard feature is super helpful in getting your team together for brainstorming and ideating. As problem-solving involves generating and evaluating multiple ideas, the whiteboard helps write, modify, and build ideas together. 

Now that you have brainstormed on core problems, you must establish a clear visual reference point for ongoing analysis. That’s where the ClickUp mind maps feature stands out. Create a hierarchical structure, with the main problem at the center and subtopics branching out.

Since these maps have interconnections, it is easy to visualize connections between different elements. This feature effectively identifies possible cause-and-effect relationships in a problem.

ClickUp best features 

• Documentation: Address and solve problems by storing and accessing project-related documents in ClickUp Docs
• Mind maps : Identify critical connections, uncover insights, and implement creative approaches by visually mapping relationships between concepts and information with ClickUp Mind Maps
• Task prioritization: Make problem-solving easier for your software developers—sort tasks by urgency. This helps your team focus on the most crucial aspects, making problem resolution more efficient 
• Virtual whiteboards: Enhance collaborative problem-solving and critical thinking through ClickUp Whiteboards . Brainstorm, visualize ideas, and collectively work towards solutions in an interactive setting 
• Goal monitoring: Set and monitor business metrics to address challenges, track progress, and ensure the software development team remains aligned with objectives 
• Custom access rights: Customizing access rights ensures that the right individuals have the necessary permissions to contribute to problem resolution 
• ClickUp AI: Use ClickUp AI to automate repetitive tasks, analyze data for insights, and enhance productivity in tackling complex problems 

ClickUp limitations 

• Learning curve is involved in fully grasping all features and capabilities

ClickUp pricing

• Free Forever Plan 
• Unlimited Plan: $7 per month per user
• Business Plan : $12 per month per user
• Business Plus Plan : $19 per month per user
• Enterprise Plan : custom pricing 
• ClickUp AI: $5 per Workspace on all paid plans

ClickUp ratings and reviews

• G2: 4.7/5 (2,000+ reviews)
• Capterra: 4.7/5 (2,000+ reviews)

Omnex’s problem-solving software has many helpful features to track, manage, and solve problems quickly. It’s a one-stop shop for dealing with internal and external issues. 

The platform is also customer-centric, which responds to customers in their preferred formats. This ensures a tailored and user-friendly experience, further enhancing problem resolution through seamless interaction with stakeholders. 

Omnex best features 

• Define timelines and metrics for problem resolution 
• Leverage several problem-solving tools, such as 5Why, Is/Is Not, etc
• Respond to customers in various formats, including 8D, 7D, and PRR

Omnex limitations

• Initiating projects involves many steps
• Temporary delays may occur

Omnex pricing 

• Omnex has custom pricing plans 

Hive is another excellent platform to instruct your teams better while solving complex challenges and enhancing their problem-solving skills. It’s highly interactive and lets all your team members view what’s happening and express their opinions simultaneously. 

Collaborative work management helps you solve issues effectively. Hive is your virtual file cabinet where sharing documents with different teams and collaboratively working becomes more accessible. 

Hive best features

• User-friendly interface ensures seamless navigation
• Gantt view helps in mapping out project timelines
• Project hierarchies allow for easy task execution
• Kanban view allows you to understand progress better

Hive limitations 

• Being a relatively new tool, it needs frequent updates and additional features
• There are occasional bugs that slow down processes
• Locating notes from tasks and meetings is time-consuming
• Auto-generated reports are not always accurate
• Apart from ticketing, the platform needs some intuitive features

Hive pricing 

• Teams: $12 per month per user
• Enterprise: custom plans

Hive customer ratings

• G2: 4.6/5 (480+ reviews)
• Capterra: 4.5/5 (190+ reviews)

Asana is a popular problem-solving tool that speeds up decision-making . It improves project management , and its many integrations are useful. The well-organized project documents make it easy to find what you need quickly.

It’s excellent for managing many small projects and suitable for teams without complex workflows or collaboration features.

Asana best features 

• The rules and workflow feature helps automate repeating activities
• Customizable workflows help teams adapt the tool to their unique needs
• For easy understanding, organize tasks as a list, calendar, timeline, Gantt chart, or Kanban board
• Integrate with popular tools and apps such as Google Drive, Dropbox, Slack, Zoom, Microsoft, etc. 

Asana limitations

• Inefficient for handling larger projects with sub-projects and multiple workstreams
• Limited capability to measure project deviations from original plans
• Lack of comprehensive workflows and customizable animations, a feature some competitors offer
• Pricing is less favorable for smaller teams; advanced features like custom fields, portfolios, and timeline views are only available in premium plans

Asana pricing 

• Personal (free)
• Starter: $10.99 per month per user
• Advanced: $24.99 per month per user 

Asana customer ratings 

• G2: 4.3/5 (9,520+ reviews)
• Capterra: 4.5/5 (12,290+ reviews) 

Mesitertask is one of those problem-solving tools that offers strong kanban boards. These boards visualize the workflow and make it easier to identify bottlenecks and trace issues back to their source. Such visualizing features are similar to the ones found in the best root cause analysis tools . 

A customizable drag-and-drop feature further allows users to rearrange and prioritize tasks easily. Therefore, your team members will easily play around the field and segregate tasks effectively. 

Meistertask best features 

• Gain a visual representation of task timelines with a timeline view
• Streamline processes with automated workflows
• Easily categorize and prioritize tasks within sections 
• Monitor and analyze time spent on tasks for valuable insights

Meistertask limitations 

• Unnecessary negative space impacts task visibility
• Limited report and analytics features, not accessible offline
• Confusing registration process

Meistertask pricing

• Basic (free)
• Pro: $6.50 per month per user 
• Business: $12 per month per user 
• Enterprise: custom pricing 

Meister task ratings and reviews 

• G2: 4.6/5 (170+ reviews)
• Capterra: 4.7/5 (1130+ reviews) 

Teamwork is another viable problem-solving software dealing with operational challenges. It provides a clear overview of task assignments, project profitability, and other essential details. 

When combined with effective brainstorming techniques , such a clear division of work will help you solve complex issues faster. 

Teamwork features 

• Get four distinct project views, including List, Table, Boards, and Gantt
• Efficient task management simplifies the process of creating and assigning tasks to users, enhancing team collaboration  
• The time tracking feature helps determine billable hours, aiding in project budgeting and resource allocation
• Standard communication features, such as commenting and mentioning coworkers, are seamlessly integrated, promoting practical collaboration 

Teamwork limitations 

• You need to subscribe to premium plans to unlock advanced features
• The user interface is intricate and poses a challenge for some users
• Certain features, like the reminder function, do not operate on mobile apps
• Continuous email notifications have the potential to disrupt focus, as not all updates or status changes are crucial

Teamwork Pricing 

• Free Forever
• Starter: $5.99 per month per user 
• Deliver: $9.99 per month per user
• Grow: $19.99 per month per user 
• Scale: custom pricing 

Teamwork Customer Ratings 

• G2: 4.4/5 (1,070+ reviews)
• Capterra: 4.5/5 (830+ reviews)

Trello is another good option if you are searching for efficient problem-solving software. With powerful task management tools, it ensures you handle your issues efficiently. 

However, Trello’s communication and collaboration tools are not up to the mark compared to other problem-solving tools. Also, it relies heavily on integrations to do the heavy lifting.

Trello Features 

• Streamline your workflow effortlessly by arranging tasks with a simple drag-and-drop interface
• The project map feature gives a complete overview to help you visualize tasks, dependencies, and progress at a glance
• Focus on what matters the most and prioritize tasks effectively with its intuitive tools 
• Stay on top of your responsibilities with dynamic to-do lists

Trello Limitations 

• The free version imposes limitations on file attachments, a lack of advanced integrations, and automation
• Manually arranging Trello cards one by one is a time-consuming task
• There is a lack of functionality for creating a comprehensive dashboard or Gantt chart to provide a clear overview
• The absence of restrictions on card movement poses a security risk, with anyone accessing and potentially disrupting the board
• Trello becomes less practical when the board becomes densely populated with cards

Trello pricing 

• Standard: $5 per month per user 
• Premium: $10 per month per user 
• Enterprise: $17.50 per month per user 

Trello customer ratings 

• G2: 4.4/5 (13,000+ reviews)
• Capterra: 4.5/5 (23,000+ reviews)

Wrike is one of the preferred project management collaboration tools that help businesses of all sizes. With preconfigured templates for tasks, workflows, and communication, it takes the burden off your shoulders. 

It also has a user-friendly dashboard with enterprise-grade tools to manage recurring and one-time projects. 

Wrike best features 

• Planning tools to outline tasks, set deadlines, and allocate resources
• A clear visual overview helps in identifying potential challenges
• Detailed reports to analyze project performance
• Helps efficiently address issues by prioritizing tasks

Wrike limitations 

• There are no options to view projects on the Kanban board (only tasks)
• Basic project management features are missing, such as time breaks for a task
• Pricing remains on the higher end

Wrike pricing 

• Professional variant: $9.80 per month per user 
• Business variant: $24.80 per month per user 

Wrike customer ratings 

• G2: 4.2/5 (3500+ reviews) 
• Capterra: 4.3/5 (2540+ reviews) 

Monday is a cloud-based open platform, allowing businesses to collaborate better on projects. Explore many pre-built templates or create one from scratch depending on what you need. 

Monday best features

• Streamline workflows by making bulk changes efficiently
• Plan and organize tasks effectively with powerful scheduling tools
• Keep a detailed record of project activities, providing transparency and aiding in tracking progress, which is critical for troubleshooting and resolving issues
• Gain valuable insights through customizable views and comprehensive reporting, facilitating data-driven decision-making

Monday limitations 

• There is a minimum team size of three required for paid plans 
• The free trial lasts only for 14 days
• Advanced features like time tracking are only available in premium plans 

Monday pricing 

• Basic: $8 per month per user 
• Standard: $10 per month per user 
• Pro: $16 per month per user 
• Enterprise: custom pricing

Monday customer ratings

• G2: 4.7/5 (9,570+ reviews)
• Capterra: 4.6/5 (4,430+ reviews)

Airtable is a cloud-based collaboration platform that combines the simplicity of a spreadsheet with the complexity of a relational database.

It allows users to create and manage databases, spreadsheets, and other types of structured data in a flexible and user-friendly way. With its user-friendly interface,  you will quickly organize and track crucial information for problem-solving. 

Airtable best features

• Supports real-time collaboration 
• Attach files, images, and other multimedia directly to records
• Highlight and format cells based on specific conditions with conditional formatting
• Use pre-built templates for different use cases 

Airtable limitations

• While the interface is user-friendly, users unfamiliar with databases may find it initially complex
• For extremely large datasets or complex relationships, Airtable may face performance challenges
• As a cloud-based platform, it relies on an internet connection, and lack of connectivity may hinder problem-solving efforts

Airtable pricing 

• Team: $20 per month per user
• Business: $45 per month per user 

Airtable customer ratings

• G2: 4.6/5 (2,180+ reviews)
• Capterra: 4.7/5 (1920+ reviews)

Solve Problems to Drive Successful Business Outcomes

It is best to invest in problem-solving software to ensure that problems do not bog down your team and that you have the tools to solve and focus on strategic work. Our list of the ten best problem-solving software should help you find the right fit for your organization. 

Thousands of businesses of all sizes choose ClickUp. With ClickUp, you get different tools to map your project, divide tasks, view the interdependence of tasks, allocate resources, and resolve bugs on time. Whether improving team productivity or identifying and squashing bugs, ClickUp does it all!  

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Researchers from institutions including the University of Electronic Science and Technology of China, Singapore University of Technology and Design, Tongji University, and the National University of Singapore introduced Math-LLaVA, a model fine-tuned with a novel dataset called MathV360K. This dataset includes 40K high-quality images and 320K synthesized question-answer pairs designed to improve the breadth and depth of multimodal mathematical reasoning capabilities. Introducing Math-LLaVA represents a significant step forward in the field, addressing the gaps left by previous datasets and methods.

The MathV360K dataset was constructed by selecting 40K high-quality images from 24 pre-existing datasets, focusing on subjects like algebra, geometry, and visual question answering. Researchers synthesized 320K new question-answer pairs based on these images to enhance the diversity and complexity of the dataset. This comprehensive dataset was then used to fine-tune the LLaVA-1.5 model, resulting in the development of Math-LLaVA. The selection process for these images involved rigorous criteria to ensure clarity and complexity, aiming to cover a wide range of mathematical concepts and question types. The synthesis of additional question-answer pairs involved generating diverse questions that probe different aspects of the images and require multiple reasoning steps, further enhancing the dataset’s robustness.

Math-LLaVA demonstrated significant improvements, achieving a 19-point increase on the MathVista minutest split compared to the original LLaVA-1.5 model. Furthermore, it showed enhanced generalizability and performed well on the MMMU benchmark. Specifically, Math-LLaVA achieved a 57.7% accuracy on the GPS subset, outperforming G-LLaVA-13B, trained on 170K high-quality geometric image-caption and question-answer pairs. These results highlight the effectiveness of the diverse and comprehensive MathV360K dataset in enhancing the multimodal mathematical reasoning capabilities of MLLMs. The model’s performance on different benchmarks underscores its ability to generalize across various mathematical reasoning tasks, making it a valuable tool for a wide range of applications.

To conclude, the research underscores the critical need for high-quality, diverse multimodal datasets to improve mathematical reasoning in MLLMs. By developing and fine-tuning Math-LLaVA with MathV360K, researchers have significantly enhanced the model’s performance and generalizability, showcasing the importance of dataset diversity and synthesis in advancing AI capabilities. The MathV360K dataset and the Math-LLaVA model represent a substantial advancement in the field, providing a robust framework for future research and development. This work not only underscores the potential of MLLMs to transform various domains by integrating visual and textual data but also inspires hope for the future of AI, paving the way for more sophisticated and capable AI systems.

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Nikhil is an intern consultant at Marktechpost. He is pursuing an integrated dual degree in Materials at the Indian Institute of Technology, Kharagpur. Nikhil is an AI/ML enthusiast who is always researching applications in fields like biomaterials and biomedical science. With a strong background in Material Science, he is exploring new advancements and creating opportunities to contribute.

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Parameter number problem of Mamba2 #435

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Combinational sign language recognition

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Only small additional training is required, except for baseline detector.The method improves detection accuracy by novel co-occurrence re-scoring.The method can detect new objects which were not to be found by other methods. Contextual detection not ...

MHFP: Multi-view based hierarchical fusion pooling method for 3D shape recognition

• We propose a novel MHFP architecture, which can attain better multi-view features.
• We design a 3D attention module for multi-view to construct the graph in our MHFP.
• The results on ModelNet40 show the superiority of our multi-view ...

3D shape recognition has received widespread attention in the field of computer vision. Since the 3D model contains much geometric information, which is difficult to extract but important to feature learning, effective description of 3D shape is ...

The MSR-Video to Text dataset with clean annotations

Video captioning automatically generates short descriptions of the video content, usually in form of a single sentence. Many methods have been proposed for solving this task. A large dataset called MSR Video to Text (MSR-VTT) is often ...

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PISA data and methodology

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Pisa databases.

The PISA database contains the full set of responses from individual students, school principals and parents. These files will be of use to statisticians and professional researchers who would like to undertake their own analysis of the PISA data. The files available on this page include background questionnaires, data files in ASCII format (from 2000 to 2012), codebooks, compendia and SAS™ and SPSS™ data files in order to process the data.

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2012 Computer-Based Administration (CBA)     

2012 Financial Literacy

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PISA Data Analysis Manual: SPSS and SAS, Second Edition

These two publications are essential tools for researchers, as they provide all the information required to understand the PISA databases and perform analyses in accordance with the complex methodologies used to collect and process the data..

How to prepare and analyse the PISA database

This note summarises the main steps of using the PISA database. It describes the PISA data files and explains the specific features of the PISA survey together with its analytical implications. This document also offers links to existing documentations and resources (including software packages and pre-defined macros) for accurately using the PISA data files.

IDB analyzer (quick reproduction of the PISA results)

The  IEA International Database Analyzer (IDB Analyzer)  is an application developed by the IEA Data Processing and Research Center (IEA-DPC) that can be used to analyse PISA data among other international large-scale assessments. It will work on most computers using the most recent versions of the Microsoft Windows operating system. You will also need SPSS, SAS, or R (Version 4.2.0 or above) and Posit (formerly known as RStudio) installed on your machine to execute the code created by the IEA IDB Analyzer.

PISA Education GPS

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PISA Data Explorer

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Assessment and Analytical Frameworks

The theory underlying the PISA surveys – what they aim to achieve and how they are developed – including background questionnaires completed by students, school principals and parents.

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