Writing an Effective Problem Statement

Concept Overview

• Transition to Action
  • The team has completed earlier research/synthesis stages and is now "ready to write a problem statement."
  • Emphasis on the importance of this moment: “It’s the moment we’ve been waiting for. Drumroll, please.”
• Core Definition
  • A problem statement is a clear description of a specific user’s needs that the design team will address.
  • It aligns the entire team on which user problem to focus on, ensuring everyone pursues a common goal.

Desired Qualities of a Strong Problem Statement

• Human-Centered
  • Focused on a real user and their lived experience.
• Balanced Scope
  • Broad enough to leave room for creative solution space.
  • Narrow enough that it can realistically be solved by a design intervention.

Simple Four-Part Formula

1. User’s Name
2. Short Description of the User’s Characteristics
3. Clearly Stated User Need
4. Insight (Why the User Has That Need)

Using the Formula (Walk-through Example)

• Name: Amal
• Characteristic: He’s an athlete.
• Need: He wants to sign up for a workout class.
• Insight / Why: The workout classes are filling up quickly.
• Constructed Statement (implied): “Amal, an athlete, needs a way to sign up for a workout class because classes are filling up quickly.”

What We Learn / Why It Matters

1. Establishing Goals

• The statement tells us what the user truly needs.
• A clear, concise goal unifies the design team’s attention and energy.

2. Revealing Constraints

• Highlights what is preventing the user from meeting the need (e.g., fully booked classes).
• These constraints inform design boundaries and priorities.

3. Defining Deliverables

• Helps anticipate what tangible or digital artifacts will be produced (e.g., a sign-up flow, calendar integration, wait-list system).

4. Creating Benchmarks for Success

• Sets measurable criteria for knowing when the problem is solved.
• Analogy: Opening a door—success is obvious when you can see what’s behind it.
• Even complex projects should aim for equally straightforward success metrics.

Practical / Real-World Relevance

• Teams that skip or mishandle problem statements risk scope creep, ambiguous responsibilities, and misaligned solutions.
• A well-crafted statement accelerates decision-making in ideation, prototyping, and testing because everyone references the same guiding text.

Ethical & Philosophical Considerations

• Human-centered framing prevents solution-first bias (building something flashy that no one needs).
• Honors the principle of empathy in design thinking—start with the user’s reality, not our assumptions.

Connections to Earlier / Foundational Content

• Builds directly on prior user research (interviews, observations, empathy maps).
• Serves as the necessary bridge to subsequent phases: ideation → prototyping → testing.

Recap / Cheat-Sheet

• Problem Statement = Name + Characteristic + Need + Insight.
• Must be human-centered, broad-yet-solvable, and a single source of truth for the team.
• Enables clear goals, constraints, deliverables, success metrics.
• Example shorthand: “Amal, an athlete, needs to sign up for a workout class because spots fill up fast.”

Memorize that formula and keep it visible during ideation. If your brainstormed solutions don’t map back to the statement, refine either the solution or the problem statement.