A structured template that forces teams to articulate a problem clearly before solution work begins. It captures who has the problem, what it is, when and where it occurs, why it matters, how people cope today, and what success looks like.
At the kickoff of any new initiative. Prevents solution-first thinking and creates alignment before resources are committed.
- WHO: Who specifically experiences this problem? Name the user segment.
- WHAT: Describe the problem in user terms, not system terms.
- WHEN / WHERE: In what context does the problem occur?
- WHY IT MATTERS: What is the impact to the user and to the business?
- CURRENT WORKAROUND: How are people solving this today?
- SUCCESS: How will you know the problem is solved?
WHO: Podcast listeners who follow multiple shows. WHAT: Cannot keep track of where they left off across different series. WHEN: When commuting and wanting to resume a show started days ago. WHY: Results in drop-off after episode 1-2. WORKAROUND: Users manually bookmark episodes in notes apps. SUCCESS: Episode completion rate above 60%, series follow-through beyond episode 3.
WHO: Compliance analysts at regulated trading firms. WHAT: Cannot distinguish genuine market abuse signals from false positives quickly. WHEN: Every morning reviewing overnight alert queues. WHY: Risk of missing genuine abuse vs. wasting hours on noise. WORKAROUND: Manual spot-checks based on intuition. SUCCESS: Investigation time down 40%, documented decision rate 100%.
- Describing the solution in the problem statement — 'users need a better filter' is a solution
- Being vague about who — 'all users' prevents meaningful design decisions
- Skipping current workarounds — these reveal the benchmark you're competing against
- Inspired — Marty Cagan
- The Lean Startup — Eric Ries