Writing a problem statement
A problem statement is a short and pithy summary of the core problem you are trying to solve on a project. Crucially, it doesn’t say anything about possible solutions.
Writing a problem statement at the start of a project:
- makes sure everyone on the project is focussed on solving the same problem
- stops you wandering off in a different direction – throughout the project you should keep coming back to your problem statement to check you are still solving it and not some other problem instead
You can use your problem statement to help you decide what to do about the problem by using the ‘How might we…?’ technique.
A problem statement for this guide
Connected Places Catapult hired a design agency to carry out user research and create this guide. Here is the problem statement the agency wrote for the project:
There are not enough people who:
- have the right skills
- want to join the industry
to satisfy the aviation industry’s demands over the next 5 years.
Just like all good problem statements should, it completely ignores any possible solutions. A problem statement is just that – a statement about the problem you are trying to solve.