The next step in the design thinking process is for a designer to define. Using all of the previously gathered information and their own experiences from empathy, it is important for the designer to clearly define the problem they are trying to solve. Some important keys to keep in mind for problem definition are to being able to embrace ambiguity and to find expand/limit parameters. Just like the scientific method, the define stage recommends creating a hypothesis for people’s needs and motivations. Frog Design recommends creating a chart that categorizes people’s unmet needs, reasons why, and key questions that will help test the hypothesis. In person research and extracting data can help to refine and revise a hypothesis because chances are the first one may not always be the correct one.
Physically being able to watch people in their environments to gather insight is the most qualitative way to gather data. Lynda.com talks about how watching people perform tasks that need problem solving can bring in more than having people write about their experiences because people tend to only give their solutions to the problem and not experiences. As they did in their project, members of the team each observed on their own and then came together to create an experience map of the customer’s journey. They labeled points were problems came up the most and worked toward the goal of improving efficiency, effectiveness, and satisfaction. In some cases, people can also be interviewed about their experiences and this allows designers to pick up on patterns and themes from everyone’s experience by hearing from them directly and what they felt and were thinking, not just what they gathered from observing.
Problem statements help to take all the data and give a specific focus on what the problem is at hand. It can change from initial stages because designers will realize that what they initially thought was the problem turned out to be something else all along. Creating the statement helps to give clarity and focus for where the road is headed and makes the designers consider the questions of what are they building and why? The steps for creating a good problem statement are to phrase it as a question, have no limitations, be actionable, specific, succinct, human focused, not organization focused, and visible.
People who follow instructions step by step usually infer that when they reach the last step then they have accomplished their goal. That is not the case for designers in this define process however because when they finally have their problem statement they must consider reframing it. The more times a designer uses this method the more it becomes natural for them with knowing how to use it and find more solutions. The Institute of Design brings up a major point when talking about problem framing. People will come with specific solutions to help broad user groups but the methods that designers use are limited by this outlook. They instead focus on helping to expand on those ideas to create instead an open-ended solution space for a specific user group. If all of these keys are followed then a designer should have a clear road ahead of them and know that the destination they are heading for is the correct one to help people the most with their product.
