想/要/打算
xiǎng / yào / dǎsuàn
Want to, going to, planning to — how far your feet have moved
The picture Measure the distance from your head to your feet. 想 never leaves your head, 要 has your hand already out, 打算 has the route drawn on paper. 我要 asks flat out — I'll have one; 我想要 takes a step back — I'd like one, if that's all right. Over a counter 我要 is natural; when you are asking a favour, 我想要 sits better.
Where the picture shows up in 想/要/打算
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a wish that stays in the head
我想去日本，可是没时间。
wǒ xiǎng qù Rìběn, kěshì méi shíjiān
I'd love to go to Japan, but I've no time.
Looking up at the photo of Japan pinned above the desk, then over at the blank squares on the calendar
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something your head keeps holding
在国外待久了，特别想我妈做的菜。
zài guówài dāi jiǔ le, tèbié xiǎng wǒ mā zuò de cài
After this long abroad I really miss my mum's cooking.
Spoon halfway up in a restaurant in a foreign city, your mother's table appearing in your head
When a person or a food follows 想 directly, it means missing or craving them.
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the hand already out
老板，我要一杯热美式。
lǎobǎn, wǒ yào yì bēi rè měishì
Could I get a hot americano, please.
Reaching across the counter to put a finger on one line of the menu
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feet about to land
时间不早了，我要走了。
shíjiān bù zǎo le, wǒ yào zǒu le
It's getting late — I'm going to head off.
Getting up, pushing the chair back in, and taking the first step toward the door
要…了 means it is about to happen, not that you want it.
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the route drawn on paper
我打算明年换个工作。
wǒ dǎsuàn míngnián huàn ge gōngzuò
I'm planning to change jobs next year.
A notebook open at next year's calendar with new job written into it
All of it in one picture
Wanting to go to Japan never leaves your head — that is 想 — and missing your mother's cooking is the same head still holding on. One hot americano is 要, the hand already across the counter, and saying you'll head off now is 要 as well, the foot about to reach the door. Changing jobs next year is 打算, the route already drawn on paper. What separates the three is not how badly you want it, but how far the wish has travelled from head to feet.