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Discussion on: Can you describe how you visualize or form mental models around your work?

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Nested Software • Edited

One thing that took me a long time to figure out is that I am a very visual thinker.

For example, in math, an equation doesn't mean anything to me until I can represent it graphically in a way that gives me the essence of what the equation means in the particular context that I care about. After that I can learn some rules for manipulating stuff algebraically, but for me the visual intuition always has to come first.

I tend to apply this even for things where maybe there isn't an obvious connection. For example, when it comes to business rules, I tend to think in terms of hierarchical structures like trees, or in terms of graphs - little boxes with arrows between them... Sometimes I also think about connecting things, or rotating them into place, or moving them around in a list...

I've also learned that for me, it's important to always start with a simple scenario and then to gradually extend it bit by bit.