Dan Roam's innovational book, 'The Back of the Napkin: Solving Problems and Selling Ideas with Pictures,' demonstrates the use of simple visuals to tackle any challenge. This innovative technique, centered around visual thinking, brainstorming, and handmade drawings, isn't reserved for artists—it's an easily acquired skill open to everyone. Just imagine the possibilities it holds—time saved, thoughts conveyed with clarity, and solutions delivered with precision.

Unveiling Dan's Ideas: A Visual Thinking Revolution

In this article, I delve into the core tenets of Roam's methodology. Visual thinking becomes an anchor for distilling complex business concepts into 'simple' dispositions. In this method, where text-heavy content is transformed into visually captivating representations. Let's see how we can maneuver through the overwhelming information and embark on a journey toward impactful visual communication.

Decoding Visual Thinking: Your Gateway to Imagination and Clarity

Visual thinking is the art of conveying ideas through sequential visual elements by organising thoughts and converting them into sequential visual elements. Visual thinking taps into the fusion of literal vision and the mind's eye (things we perceive in mind). It's a channel for imagination and creativity, simplifying ideas into easily comprehensible visual formats.

Power of Pictures: A Visual Feast for Clarity and Engagement

Simple drawings are more powerful over text-heavy content in several ways:

  • Gentle on the eyes, quick, and easy to understand.
  • Quick alignment between presenter and viewer, increasing interaction quality.
  • Enhanced engagement in ideation/brainstorming sessions, breaking the ice for wider participation.
  • Drawing Simplified: Everyone can be Creative

I am not a Creative Person for Drawings

Dispelling the myth that creativity is exclusive to artists. Let us follow basic steps for effective drawing. Lines, arrows, shapes, and emojis serve as the building blocks which can be drawn by everyone, demystifying the creative process. 

We by merely combining simple shapes to craft a meaningful representation start this process, like drawing a 'virus' picture in our upcoming case study.

Let us try to recreate a popular ‘virus drawing’ using shapes and lines, which will be useful in our case study later in this article.


Now that we are confident of our drawing ability, let us learn a technique that can help us simplify our problem statement.

Empowering Problem-Solving: Enter the Universal Problem Solving Tool Kit

Just like a Swiss Army Knife, the Universal Problem Solving Tool Kit comprises built-in tools meant to solve different problems. Let us understand what these methods and tools are.

Our problem-solving toolkit consists of four major elements, which collectively break the problem into simpler bits:

I. The built-in tools: Vision, Minds Eyes, and Hands + Eyes

  1. Vision: Our eyes help us look at the situation as it sees
  2. Minds Eyes: Minds Eyes, i.e. the brain, will use imagination to observe the problem situation closely
  3. Hands and Eyes: Hands and eyes together help us to draw the picture in a presentable format

II. Steps to Visual Thinking: Look, See, Imagine, and Show

  1. Look: In this technique, Looking refers using our own eyes to look at the problem/ problem-situation wholesomely – just as we peer both ways before crossing the road.  
  2. See: Seeing deals with observing (Minds eyes). When we observe something, we choose a course/path – for instance, if we see a car coming towards us, we might choose to stop.
  3. Imagine: Imagination will let you affirm the course/path – for instance, if you see car at a distance, should you cross the road, or wait for it to pass.
  4. Show: Showing refers to applying the decision we have made (Hands + Eyes) – Like if we see a car at a distance, cross the road ‘confidently’ and with a ‘raised hand’ in the direction of the car.

III. Ways of Seeing and Sharing by Asking 6 Questions

We can find solution to our problem by asking these six questions: Who/What, How many, Where, When, How, and Why.

The first four help in describing the problem

1. Who/What

What / who is creating the problem? Identify the element, which could be a person or a thing. To depict this try and draw a picture / representation of the person or thing

2. How Many

This question helps us analyse the problem quantitatively, by understanding the numbers involved. Chart drawings could be used to depict these..

3. Where

Where points towards a place / location. We may use maps to represent this information

4. When

Relates to a timeline. A timeline, calendar or clock can help present this effectively. 

The last two ‘How’ and ‘Why’ help us define the solution to the problem.

5. How 

Symbolises the steps/approach for solving the problem. You may use flowchart or process flow diagrams to depict this.

6. Why

Answers why are we doing this. You may draw picture defining all the factors responsible for the problem situation. Multiple variable plot diagram best suits to answer this question.

IV SQVID Technique: Elevating Visual Clarity

The SQVID technique, encompassing Simple, Qualitative, Vision, Individual, and Delta, is applied to the six questions in a 6x6 matrix. This technique not only enhances visual clarity but also identifies client preferences and considers opposing parameters.


1. Simple X Elaborate

Depending on the audience’s understanding of the problem, opt either for simple images which are easy to understand, or adopt elaborative images which go in-depth 

2. Qualitative X Quantitative

You may concentrate depicting quality of the product, or use a quantitative approach and talk about numbers or on both the parameters

3. Vision X Execution

Sometimes the audience is more interested on knowing either where we are going (vision) or how we will get there (execution). Choose one.

4. Individual X Comparison

Choose to stay focused on a single idea or have a comparison based designs to present your idea

5. Delta X Status Quo

Choose to describe things, as they are now (Status Quo) or the changes that have occurred in the problem situation (Delta).

Problem-Solving in Action: Designing COVID-19 Precautionary Measures

Applying the toolkit to a real-world scenario—designing Community Precautionary Measures for COVID-19—I illustrate how visual elements and strategic thinking simplify complex problems.

Identify the problem – Designing Community Precautionary Measures to deal with COVID-19 

Having identified the problem scenario, let us dig further and define our problem situation, the process of ‘looking’ and ‘sharing’.


Ways to see and share the solution

1. What/Who?

What/Who helps to identify key elements from the defined problem situation? The Who =People. The What = SARS-CoV-2 (the virus that causes covid-19).

2. How many or how much?

This question deals with the quantifying data concerning the problem situation. In our problem situation, it deals the entire country, 1.3 Bn as a close approximation. One can also use charts/drawings this – for instance, dividing the data into region, demography, etc.

3 Where

People from every house in India need to be protected. A countrywide map could be used, or if contemplating locally, building blue prints, community plans etc., could also be used to answer this question.

4 When

A timeline, calendar or clock help us to answer this question. Important deadlines, dates, durations even, can be highlighted

5 How 

What needs to be done, how it will be accomplished in a simple, universal way.

6 Why


Why are we doing this, multiple factors responsible for the problem situation can be discussed here.

The six ways of seeing and sharing, and SQVID technique together can be projected as below:


This article showcases the transformative potential of visual thinking and Roam's toolkit. For an in-depth exploration, refer to the Dan Roam's ‘The Back of the Napkin: Solving Problems and Selling Ideas with Pictures’. Your feedback is invaluable—let's embark on problem-solving together! ☺️