What is a problem definition statement? - Design-Led Strategy: Design thinking for business

Summary

This script delves into crafting a robust problem definition statement for businesses. It emphasizes the importance of empathy mapping to understand customer needs, developing point of view statements to focus on specific customer insights, and utilizing brainstorming to generate solutions. The process concludes with formulating a concise, human-centered problem statement that guides product development, ensuring it addresses real customer issues while inspiring creativity and remaining realistic.

Takeaways

• 🔍 Conduct primary market research to inform about the problem you're trying to solve.
• 📝 Define a problem statement to set the roadmap for your company's product or service development.
• 🧐 Use empathy mapping to understand customer needs and reactions, divided into four quadrants: thinks, feels, says, and does.
• 👥 Develop empathy maps in a team setting to minimize individual bias and gain diverse insights.
• 🤔 Generate assumptions about customer needs from empathy mapping to identify and define problems.
• 👁️ Create a point of view statement that focuses on specific customers, integrating insights from empathy mapping.
• 📈 Choose a customer persona to focus on when developing a point of view statement, considering their most pressing needs.
• 💡 Use brainstorming sessions with a facilitator to generate ideas for solving the problem, encouraging all ideas without criticism.
• ⏱ Set a strict time limit for brainstorming to maintain focus and productivity.
• 🎨 Be visual during brainstorming, using different colored pens or sticky notes to connect and bring ideas to life.
• 📜 Craft a problem definition statement that is concise, human-centered, and realistic to guide and inspire your team.

Q & A

What is the primary purpose of conducting primary market research?

The primary purpose of conducting primary market research is to inform about the problem you're trying to solve, ensuring that your product or service addresses an actual problem for your customers, either internally or externally.

What is a problem definition statement and why is it important?

A problem definition statement is a concise description of the issue or problem that needs to be addressed. It is important because it sets the roadmap for the company, ensuring that the product or service is developed to solve a real problem and sparks interest, generating ideas and excitement.

How does empathy mapping help in the problem definition process?

Empathy mapping helps by enabling a deeper understanding of customers' needs. It is divided into four quadrants: thinks, feels, says, and does, allowing you to identify and define problems from the customer's perspective.

What is the relationship between empathy maps and customer personas?

Empathy maps are related to customer personas as they provide a way to determine how these personas will react to different situations, helping to identify their most obvious, relevant, and demanding needs.

How should an empathy map be developed for optimal results?

An empathy map should be developed in a team setting with colleagues working on the project to ensure that individual psychological biases do not influence the observations and to foster a comprehensive understanding of the customer or persona.

What is a point of view statement and how does it guide problem-solving?

A point of view statement is a guiding statement that focuses on specific customers or consumers, bringing together the insights and needs uncovered during the empathy mapping process. It helps to ideate and solve the problem in a goal-oriented manner, keeping the focus on the customer's needs and insights.

Can you provide an example of a point of view statement based on the script?

An example of a point of view statement from the script is: 'Rachel needs access to a reasonably priced, flexible home delivery grocery service because fresh produce is important to her, and she doesn't want to carry home heavy shopping bags.'

What role does brainstorming play in the problem definition process?

Brainstorming plays a crucial role in generating ideas to solve a problem. It is usually done with a group of people, including colleagues, stakeholders, customers, or consumers, and facilitated by an experienced person to make associations and connections between ideas.

What are some key aspects to consider for a successful brainstorming session?

Key aspects for a successful brainstorming session include having a well-defined problem statement, setting a strict time limit, being open-minded and allowing all ideas to be presented without criticism, fostering an environment where all ideas are encouraged, and being visual to bring ideas to life and connect them in different ways.

What are the characteristics of a good problem definition statement?

A good problem definition statement is human-centered, focusing on users and the people the problem is intended to solve for. It should be broad enough to inspire creativity but narrow enough to be realistic and achievable, avoiding being overly technical or operational.

How does the problem definition statement guide the development of a product or service?

The problem definition statement guides the development by aligning with the insights gathered through customer personas and primary market research. It ensures that the focus remains on the user's needs and helps in crafting a solution that is both innovative and feasible.

Outlines

00:00

🔍 Problem Definition and Tools for Market Research

This paragraph discusses the importance of problem definition in guiding a company's roadmap. It emphasizes the role of a well-researched problem statement in ensuring that a product or service addresses real issues faced by customers. The paragraph introduces various tools such as empathy mapping, point of view statements, and brainstorming to develop a robust problem statement. Empathy mapping is highlighted as a tool to understand customer needs by breaking it into four quadrants: thinks, feels, says, and does. The paragraph also explains how to create a point of view statement by focusing on specific customer personas and their needs, and how brainstorming can be utilized to generate ideas for problem-solving in a group setting.

05:00

📝 Crafting a Human-Centered Problem Definition Statement

The second paragraph focuses on the process of creating a problem definition statement, which is a concise description of the issue that needs to be resolved. It underlines the importance of keeping the statement short, human-centered, and aligned with customer insights and primary market research. The paragraph advises on making the statement broad enough to inspire creativity while being realistic and achievable. It also discusses the need for a problem definition statement to spark interest and excitement, and how it should be focused on the users rather than the venture or the product itself. The paragraph concludes by summarizing the entire module, which covers primary market research, customer persona development, and crafting a problem definition statement, using a corporate case study for practical application.

Keywords

💡Primary Market Research

Primary market research refers to the process of collecting data directly from sources such as surveys, interviews, and observations to understand consumers' needs and preferences. In the video, it is highlighted as a foundational step in identifying the problem you're trying to solve, ensuring that the product or service addresses real-world issues.

💡Problem Definition Statement

A problem definition statement is a concise and clear description of the issue that needs to be addressed. It sets the roadmap for a company by focusing on specific needs discovered through research. The script emphasizes the importance of a robust problem definition statement in guiding product development to ensure it meets an actual problem.

💡Empathy Mapping

Empathy mapping is a tool used to understand and share the experiences and perspectives of customers. It involves identifying what customers think, feel, say, and do. In the video, empathy mapping is discussed as a method to develop a deeper understanding of customer needs, which is crucial for defining problems accurately.

💡Customer Personas

Customer personas are fictional characters created to represent the ideal customers of a product or service. They help in understanding customer behavior and needs. The script mentions that empathy maps are related to customer personas, providing insights into how these personas might react in different situations.

💡Point of View Statement

A point of view statement is a guiding statement that focuses on specific customers and integrates the insights and needs uncovered during the empathy mapping process. The video describes how a well-crafted point of view statement helps in ideating and solving problems in a goal-oriented manner, keeping the focus on the customer's needs.

💡Brainstorming

Brainstorming is a creative technique used to generate ideas by encouraging free thinking and open discussion. The video script discusses the role of brainstorming in problem definition, emphasizing the importance of having an experienced facilitator and maintaining an open-minded approach to foster a wide range of ideas.

💡Human-Centered

A human-centered approach focuses on the needs, experiences, and preferences of users. The script highlights that a problem definition statement must be human-centered, aligning with the insights gathered from customer personas and market research to ensure the problem being addressed is relevant to the end-users.

💡Insight

Insight refers to a deep understanding or the discovery of a pattern or trend that is not immediately obvious. In the context of the video, insights are derived from empathy mapping and are used to inform the point of view statement, helping to identify the specific needs of a customer persona.

💡Idea Generation

Idea generation is the process of creating, developing, and expressing ideas, often in a group setting. The script describes brainstorming as a form of idea generation, where a group of people come together to produce a multitude of ideas to solve a problem.

💡Facilitator

A facilitator is a person who helps a group work together effectively by guiding discussions and ensuring that all ideas are considered. The video script stresses the importance of having a facilitator in a brainstorming session to connect ideas and maintain focus.

💡Narrative Insight Statement

A narrative insight statement is a detailed explanation that draws together the rationale for why a persona has a specific need. The video uses the example of Rachel, a persona, to illustrate how a narrative insight statement is created, linking her needs and behaviors to form a comprehensive understanding.

Highlights

Primary market research is essential for understanding the problem you are trying to solve.

A problem definition statement sets the roadmap for a company's product or service development.

A robust problem definition ensures alignment with actual customer problems, both internal and external.

The problem definition process includes empathy mapping, point of view statements, and brainstorming.

Empathy mapping helps to understand customers' needs by identifying their thoughts, feelings, and actions.

Empathy maps are divided into four quadrants: thinks, feels, says, and does.

Developing an empathy map as a team can reduce individual psychological biases.

Point of view statements focus on specific customers and consolidate insights from empathy mapping.

A narrative insight statement rationalizes a persona's specific needs based on empathy mapping.

Brainstorming sessions should be facilitated by an experienced person to connect ideas effectively.

A well-defined problem statement is crucial for a successful brainstorming session.

Open-mindedness and idea acceptance without criticism are key to effective brainstorming.

Visual representation of ideas during brainstorming can enhance creativity and connection of thoughts.

A problem definition statement should be concise, human-centered, and inspire creative thinking.

The problem definition statement must be realistic and achievable without being overly technical.

The module teaches how to apply empathy mapping, point of view statements, and brainstorming in developing a problem statement.

The case study demonstrates the practical application of these methods in a business setting.

Transcripts

we've seen that your primary market

research helps to inform you about the

problem you're trying to solve

we're now going to look at a problem

definition a problem definition

statement

help set the roadmap for your company a

robust and well researched problem

definition statement ensures that your

product or service is delivering against

an actual problem

whether that problem be internally or

externally for your customers for

instance

we'll look at the problem definition

process

and the tools you can use to support the

problem definition process

including empathy mapping point of view

statements

and brainstorming our aim is to use each

of these tools in order to develop

a robust problem statement that clearly

and succinctly

addresses the problem at hand so let's

take a deeper look into each of these

steps in turn

starting with empathy mapping empathy is

usually defined as

standing in someone else's shoes or

seeing through someone else's eyes

it's the ability to identify and

understand another situation

feelings or motives an

empathy map will help you better

understand your customers needs

and it enables you to develop a deeper

understanding of the people

you are providing a product or service

to

empathy maps are related to your

customer personas

they provide an easy way of rapidly

determining how your personas will react

to different situations

generally the empathy map is broken into

four quadrants

thinks feels says and does

an empathy map can either be developed

as an abstract tool

linked to a specific customer persona

that you have developed

or you can use an empathy map to record

the reactions of

actual or potential customers you've

engaged through interviews

or focus groups you'll get a better

outcome if you populate an empathy map

in a team setting so with the colleagues

that are working on this project with

you perhaps

this helps ensure that your own

psychological biases are not influencing

the observations of the individual or

persona

from the mapping you can now make

assumptions on the persona's most

obvious

relevant and demanding needs and this

will be a big help

in identifying and defining the problems

now you can go on with the next tool in

your problem definition toolbox which is

generating

a point of view statement your point of

view statement is a guiding statement

that focuses on specific customers or

consumers

it brings together the insights and

needs that we were uncovering

during the empathy mapping process

a well thought out point of view

statement will allow you to ideate and

solve your problem in a goal-oriented

manner

it will keep you focused on your

customer or consumer their needs

and your insights about them so how do

we arrive at a point of view statement

the first step is to choose which

customer persona you are going to work

through

is the problem more relevant for one

customer persona than another

if so focus on that one make sure you

refresh yourself on their most pressing

needs

as raised during the empathy mapping

exercise next

extrapolate a narrative insight

statement that draws together a

rationale

for why this persona has a specific need

here's an example persona rachel

a 32 year old who lives alone in the cbd

need needs to eat three meals a day

insight as a single person living in the

cbd

rachel needs to do her grocery shopping

but doesn't want to carry home heavy

shopping bags

she also doesn't always eat at home it's

important to rachel that she has fresh

produce

at a reasonable price lastly we turn

this into a single sentence

the point of view statement for example

rachel needs access to a reasonable

priced

flexible home delivery grocery service

because fresh produce is important to

her

and she doesn't want to carry home heavy

shopping bags finally we do some

brainstorming

brainstorming is generating ideas to

solve a problem

it's usually done with a group of people

rather than by yourself

so these may be a group of colleagues at

work external stakeholders

customers or consumers to get the most

out of a brainstorming session make sure

you have an experienced facilitator to

connect or make associations out of all

of the incredible

yet seemingly disconnected ideas that

will come out of the session

facilitators also play an important role

in setting the tone for the session and

keeping it focused

some other important aspects to consider

to set your brainstorming session up for

success

include start with a well-defined

problem statement so that you're crystal

clear about what it is you're trying to

achieve

what is this brainstorming session

really about

set a strict time limit this will make

you focused

and churn out as many ideas as possible

without getting too off track

be really open-minded make sure you

allow

all ideas to be presented without

criticism either from yourself

or your colleagues sometimes it's the

most out there idea that ultimately

becomes the best solution so don't shut

it down before it stands a chance

this can be easier said than done but

it's incredibly important

the more ideas the better give yourself

as many options from which to generate a

winning

solution as possible taking a more is

more approach will also help foster an

environment where

all ideas are encouraged no matter what

be visual

you don't just need to make a dot list

on a whiteboard draw

scribble connect ideas with different

colored pens or sticky notes

do whatever you can think of to really

bring your ideas to life and to view and

connect the ideas in different ways

finally we can bring all this together

in a problem definition statement

a problem definition statement is a

short description of the issues or

problem

that needs to be addressed and short is

the operative word here just a sentence

or two

a problem definition statement is

important because it will guide and

focus you on specific needs that you

have uncovered

a problem statement also sparks interest

generates ideas

and excitement a problem definition

statement must be human-centered

that is it needs to be focused on your

users

and the people you're trying to solve a

problem for it also needs to be broad

enough to inspire creative thinking

but narrow enough to be realistic let's

explore each of these a little more

a human-centered problem definition

statement should align with the insights

you have gathered

through developing customer personas and

conducting primary market research

and your empathy mapping the statement

is also about the persona

not your venture and not the product or

service you are developing

the problem definition statement should

be broad enough to inspire creativity

but

narrow enough so that the problem

definition statement is grounded

realistic and achievable don't restrict

your thinking to technical or

operational requirements

but at the same time don't create

something that's overly daunting for

your team

so now we've looked at the problem

definition process you should have a

good understanding of how to apply

empathy mapping

point of view statements and

brainstorming in the development of a

robust

problem statement and that brings us to

the end of the module

where we've learned how to conduct

primary market research analyze its

results

identify and develop customer personas

and craft a problem definition statement

so we've gone through quite a lot

but best of all we've learned all about

it from the lived experience of a large

and successful corporate case study to

see how it directly applies in a

business setting

i really hope you got a lot out of this

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module

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