00;00;00;00 - 00;00;23;12 Unknown Ever felt like you're pouring loads of energy into solving something, but then later you realize you were tackling the wrong thing entirely. It happens. Absolutely. It's a really now antler just a really practical the seven getting the problem clear first is problem. Let's waterfall the third. This whole idea of a guide crafting help you and comes in and well, that's what we're diving deep into today. 00;00;23;12 - 00;00;49;13 Unknown Exactly. And to really get into it, we've looked at quite a few, really useful sources we're pulling from Antler Academies how to craft a compelling problem statement. Okay. There's a great case study Accelerating Project Alignment with storyboards and clear problem statements. Yeah, also crafting effective problem statements and some really good UX thinking from the Nielsen Norman Groups problem statements in UX discovery. 00;00;49;16 - 00;01;10;25 Unknown Right. So a good mix. Our goal today is pretty straightforward but honestly super important just to give you a really solid handle on how to spot and then, you know, articulate problems effectively. Yeah. Whether it's a business thing, a new project or really any situation needing a fix, mastering this problem statement thing can be a, well, a genuine game changer. 00;01;10;27 - 00;01;33;00 Unknown Okay. So to kick things off, yeah. What is a problem statement like fundamentally. Basically it's just a short, clear description of the issue you need to solve. Nielsen Norman Group calls it a brief articulation of the problem. Brief. Yeah. Antler suggest aiming for like one or maybe two sentences, but don't let that brevity fool you. It's main job isn't to spell out the answer right. 00;01;33;01 - 00;01;54;24 Unknown It's more about sparking creative thinking around the challenge itself. You know, framing the right questions before you jump to answers. I see. So setting the stage for innovation, but without sketching the solution inside those lines too early. And why is nailing this initial definition just so critical? What makes a strong point a business basically exists to solve a problem. 00;01;54;29 - 00;02;20;09 Unknown So the problem statement, that's its core reason for being in a way, the core. Beyond that, crafting effective problem statements points out a bunch of benefits. It gets team stakeholders. Everyone aligned. Yeah, on the same page. Exactly. It guides your product strategy, your innovation efforts, and crucially, it helps you avoid that super costly mistake of, you know, building stuff for problems that aren't really there or not the right problem. 00;02;20;09 - 00;02;44;01 Unknown Precisely. And by focusing on user pain points, it builds empathy. And it also adds that it sets clear goals for discovery work, and that helps get stakeholders bought in. It really sounds like the foundation, doesn't it? If that's wobbly, whatever you build on top is well at risk. Totally. Antler I also mentioned a difference between problem statements and say mission or vision statements. 00;02;44;03 - 00;03;07;07 Unknown How do those differ? Yeah, that's a good distinction. Mission and vision are like the big picture for the whole organization. A problem statement is much more focused. Antler notes. A single company might tackle several different problems, each needing its own problem statement, maybe leading to different products or services. Okay, the key thing is that problem statement becomes the yardstick you measure any potential solution against it. 00;03;07;09 - 00;03;29;12 Unknown Does this actually solve the problem we defined? Which brings us to, well, a really key point. Why define the problem before you even think about solutions? Seems obvious. Maybe, but it gets skipped a lot in the rush. Oh, absolutely. Alan puts it brilliantly. The biggest risk is ending up with a product. Looking for a problem, Yeah. Seen that happen? 00;03;29;14 - 00;03;50;10 Unknown You might have this cool idea, but if there's no new ideas, it's also you're just kind of hoping it sticks somewhere. Fingers crossed. A good problem statement. Make sure all that creative juice flows towards a specific meaningful goal. Not just, you know, making something new for the sake of it. It focuses your innovation and the payoff isn't just at the start. 00;03;50;10 - 00;04;15;06 Unknown Right. That case study we looked at really showed how these statements keep delivering value throughout a project. Exactly right. The case study really hammered home how clear problem statements act as these essential guardrails, both for the initial brainstorming and then later for testing guardrails. I like that, yeah. By always going back to the problem statement, teams can check really rigorously check if their ideas truly hit the core need. 00;04;15;08 - 00;04;36;15 Unknown It's a constant benchmark for progress and importantly, it stops that scope creep. Oh yeah, scope creep. The killer by keeping everyone laser focused on the user's actual issue. Now, antler gave us a really practical framework, didn't they? Seven keep up a problem statement. I got a problem. Let's walk through those. They seem to make it helpful. Yeah, they're great for senior thinking. 00;04;36;22 - 00;05;01;28 Unknown Help you really consolidate your understanding from different angles. First one what is the problem that needs to be solved? Simple but crucial. Like people can't get to their usual workplace anymore. Okay, second, why is that a problem? So the consequence this disruption messes up business operations. Continuity makes sense. Third, where's the problem observed? Not just at work, maybe more like the usual physical office is now off limits to employees getting specific. 00;05;02;01 - 00;05;22;07 Unknown Fourth who is impacted. Yeah. Goes beyond just the staff right. It could be clients. Customers who rely on face to face stuff. Right. The ripple effect and those first few really start to build the picture. What about the last three? Yeah, the final three add more context. Fifth, when was the problem first observed. Gives you a time frame like right after the stay at home orders hit. 00;05;22;09 - 00;05;50;13 Unknown Okay. Sixth. How is the problem? Observed the tangible stuff? Hardly anyone in the office, way less face to face collaboration. You can see it in seventh. How often is the problem observed? This gets at the scale. Is it occasional or like in that example, continuously, daily for however long the restrictions last? Wow. Yeah. Antlers point is, working through these systematically helps you boil it all down to the essence of the problem. 00;05;50;14 - 00;06;11;17 Unknown Okay, so you've shoot on the seven questions answer also mention some key things a good problem statement should actually contain for those ingredients. A strong one should first off clearly identify a gap or a pain point that exists. Okay, the hurt. Second, it needs to explain the context the when where what of that gap. Ideally. Third, it will try to quantify it if possible. 00;06;11;19 - 00;06;30;24 Unknown You know, cost, size, quality, impact. Put some numbers on it if you can. Yeah. And finally it has to spell out why it's important to fix this gap. What happens if you don't if your statement hits those points you're probably in pretty good shape. Okay so brainstormed, answered the questions, got the ingredients. Now how do you actually write the thing? 00;06;30;27 - 00;06;53;09 Unknown Make it clear, effective antler had some tips here too. They did. First tip identify the single biggest problem from your brainstorming. There might be lots of related issues, but focusing on the main one that usually leads to the best solution. Okay, second, be really explicit about where the pain is coming from. Instead of just remote work as hard, be specific. 00;06;53;11 - 00;07;21;10 Unknown The sudden switch to remote work left product looking collaboration while you're that avoids fuzziness. Yeah precision matters. What else for the writing part? Third, make it human loving something superficial instead of the real deal employee. Yeah, but collaboration challenging lands better than just talking about communication system failure. Heal the pain. Exactly. Fourth, while you're flagged for common should also sort of imply a solution is possible without actually describing it. 00;07;21;12 - 00;07;44;04 Unknown Strong statement maybe I make a really important claim right dressed Hanley keep it brief. Really brief. 1 or 2 sentences tops. Makes it easy to grab and remember. Concise is key. Now just as vital is what goes in is knowing what to leave out. Antler flag for common distract staring at the problem. Mess up a problem statement, lets possible trap slide describing it. 00;07;44;05 - 00;08;05;02 Unknown These can really send you off course. Solving something superficial instead of the real deal. First one is focusing on symptoms, not the root cause. The symptom trout antler. Use that example of remote work comms issues where someone jumps to better webcams as the fix, right? But maybe the real problem is like unclear processes or the wrong collaboration tools entirely. 00;08;05;05 - 00;08;25;07 Unknown This is where that first principles thinking comes in. Really breaking it down. So patching the symptom might feel good short term but doesn't solve the underlying thing. What's distraction number two. Number two is jamming solutions into early. The statement defines the challenge right. Not your untested guess at how to fix it. Keep solutions out for now. Got it? 00;08;25;14 - 00;08;48;16 Unknown Third, be careful not to focus just on causes. Understanding the cause helps find solutions later, sure, but the problem statement itself needs to describe the current bad situation. Subtle difference. Yeah, like Covid might have caused the remote shift, but the problem statement should focus on the resulting collaboration challenges, not just the pandemic itself. Okay, that makes sense. 00;08;48;16 - 00;09;11;09 Unknown What's the last distraction antler warned about? The last one is blame. A problem statement needs to be neutral. Objective. Pointing fingers about why the problem exists doesn't help define it or find good solutions. Focus on the issue, not whose fault it might be. Keep it blame free. Good advice. Okay, shifting gears slightly, crafting effective problem statements offered some core traits of strong statements. 00;09;11;09 - 00;09;39;05 Unknown Another good lens to look through. Absolutely. They really emphasize that good ones are human centered. They focus on people's experiences, their emotions. Right. The human side, they're also contextually rich. Give you enough background to actually understand the situation. They're rooted in research based on real insights, not just guesses. Evidence, not assumptions. Exactly. They should be open ended, meaning they encourage lots of different creative solutions, not just one narrow path. 00;09;39;07 - 00;10;03;12 Unknown They need to be clear and precise. Easy for anyone to understand. And finally, strategically aligned, linked to the bigger business goals. That's a really solid checklist of qualities and that same source crafting effective problem statements also gave several detailed structures or templates. Those seem like really handy starting points. Yeah, they can be super helpful. One good one is the human centered design HCD template. 00;10;03;12 - 00;10;26;14 Unknown It goes user or persona needs a way to do something specific because of this reason or pain point. Simple structure. Yeah, the example was a real nurse needs a quick way to check patient histories remotely because current record systems aren't accessible outside hospital walls. See clearly defines the user their need and why really focuses on empathy. I like that puts the person right at the center. 00;10;26;14 - 00;10;52;02 Unknown What's another structure they suggested? Another useful one is the jobs to be done GTD approach that one structured like when I'm in this situation, I want to achieve this motivation so that I get this desired outcome, okay, situation, motivation outcome. Right. The example was when I'm managing patient appointments, I want an easy method to notify families of schedule changes so that I reduce confusion and missed visits. 00;10;52;05 - 00;11;10;07 Unknown This framework is great for digging into the user's underlying job and what success looks like for them. Different angle. Also very useful. And there are a couple of other formats too, right? Yeah, they mentioned the expanded five WS plus how format basically encourages you to explicitly spell out the Who, what, where, when, why, and how of the problem. 00;11;10;09 - 00;11;28;18 Unknown Good for complex stuff. Make sure you cover all the bases like a structured brainstorm. Kind of the example there was about care coordinators struggling to get patient info during emergencies at clinics far from the hospital causing delays and anxiety, which then naturally leads to the next technique, which is framing problems as how might we get him w questions? 00;11;28;20 - 00;11;58;05 Unknown Yes, HMO is very popular, super useful. You take the problem insights and rephrase them as open questions, starting with how might we? So for that community health worker example about tracking visits, the HMO becomes how might we give a simple digital way to track, visit notes, and share key findings opens things up exactly. It's deliberately broad. It shifts the focus from just staring at the problem to space and and then also brought back for kicking off brainstorming. 00;11;58;05 - 00;12;19;27 Unknown Okay, now let's pivot to that idea. But if there's from Nielsen Norman Group, they really stressed how vital problem statements are in the discovery phase of UX work. Yeah, anyone really hammers this home. A good problem statement during discovery is your main tool for framing the specific problem you're trying to understand and eventually solve. With. Design sets the scope precisely. 00;12;20;00 - 00;12;44;11 Unknown It tells the whole team, stakeholders included, exactly what you're focusing on. They warned that discovery without a clear problem statement can just wander aimlessly in there. Or worse, teams start exploring solutions before they even understand the real issue. The problem statement is like your compass keeping everyone pointed at what needs investigation and just as importantly, what's out of scope for now. 00;12;44;13 - 00;13;06;07 Unknown And it's not just for the internal team's benefit, is it? Not at all. And ng points out, the well-written problem statements are fantastic communication tools for getting stakeholder buy in. The buy in crucial totally. By clearly laying out the problem and why it matters, you build a strong case for actually investing the time and resource as needed for proper discovery. 00;13;06;09 - 00;13;29;17 Unknown It helps everyone get the why behind the research effort. They had some good examples in a UX context too. Can we look at one of those, see how it plays out? Sure. One was about a newspaper app. It went something like users of our newspaper app often export content instead of using the built in sharing features. This is a problem because exported content is less likely to be attributed back to us hurting brand visibility and maybe user growth. 00;13;29;19 - 00;13;56;25 Unknown Plus, for users, exporting can be clunky and might make them use the app less over time. Okay, that's pretty detailed. Yeah, notice how it includes the background behavior, who is affected users and the newspaper and spills out the negative impacts, lower visibility, potential churn. Very clear. It covers the issue and the consequences, but still feels concise. And then also brought back the Fire King off brainstorming where, when, why the law has a pad for structuring needed for a strong statement. 00;13;56;26 - 00;14;16;07 Unknown Yep. And they make a really important point. Yeah, it's okay if you don't have all the answers to those right at the start. Oh that's reassuring. Definitely. The whole point of discovery is often to find those details and root causes. So as you learn more from research, you absolutely should go back and tweak refine your problem statement, make it a living document. 00;14;16;08 - 00;14;44;11 Unknown Exactly. And importantly, and echoes antler, a problem statement should not be just a laundry list of gripes, and it definitely shouldn't sneak in. Solutions. Brevity, clarity. Still key. Now this was a really interesting twist from known problem. Statements don't always have to be negative. They can be framed as opportunities. How does that work, right? Opportunity statements. Instead of focusing on what's wrong now, they highlight the gap between now and a better future state. 00;14;44;12 - 00;15;11;07 Unknown Okay, focus on the potential upside. Exactly. Their example was the traditional home buying process, often long, mostly offline, that presents an opportunity to streamline it, digitize parts, make customers happier, maybe boost sales. The guiding question shifts from what's broken to what could we achieve? So aiming for positive change, not just fixing a negative? That's a nice framing. Antler also gave us those punchy real world examples from big companies. 00;15;11;07 - 00;15;33;24 Unknown Can you remind us of 1 or 2? Yeah, those really show how a clear problem focus can lead to massive things. Think about early Facebook finding music news info online is easy, but connecting with family and friends? Inefficient. Cumbersome. Yeah. Clear problem or stripe. E-commerce is booming, but actually taking payments online still a big headache, especially for small businesses in both cases. 00;15;33;24 - 00;15;57;08 Unknown Super clear problem definition zero hint of the specific solution they eventually built. It's amazing to see how those fundamental statements set the stage for such huge innovations. Okay, so you've got your solid problem statement, how to problem statement day to day by using one of those templates on this scene that happen. They really see it as have this crunch pad for structuring all your discussion, norming, group and setting clear research goals. 00;15;57;09 - 00;16;19;19 Unknown Vital problem stay home buying example. Again, the opportunity statement leads to the discovery. Cool. Understand how to make the process faster and more user friendly. Okay, so it guides the research questions directly. It tells you what unknowns you need to investigate, like what parts of buying a house are hardest now? Where are the biggest delays or frustrations? What does the whole journey actually look like for a buyer today? 00;16;19;23 - 00;16;44;26 Unknown And you mentioned it's not set in stone, right? Absolutely not. And and stresses revisiting and refining it as you learn more during discovery. Or maybe if the project direction shifts slightly, you update the statement, it keeps it relevant a dynamic tool. Right. And then at the end of discovery, when you're presenting findings and recommendations, the problem statement circles back to provide that crucial context, reminding everyone what challenge you were tackling in the first place. 00;16;44;28 - 00;17;12;13 Unknown Crafting effective problem statements also touched on digging deeper, really understanding the problem with different research methods. What were some they mentioned? Yeah, they listed quite a few valuable ones. Things like actually talking to users, user interviews, contextual inquiry to get their firsthand perspective, get out of the building totally. Then there's observing behavior through diary studies or usability testing, plus using surveys and analytics for broader quantitative data. 00;17;12;16 - 00;17;34;17 Unknown So a mix of qualitative and quantitative ideally, yes. And they also mentioned more advanced techniques for framing the problem. Once you have data like the five why's to find root causes, affinity diagrams to cluster insights, journey maps and empathy maps to really visualize the user's world. Lots of tools in the toolbox, and even service blueprints to map out the underlying systems involved. 00;17;34;19 - 00;17;56;10 Unknown It's all about getting past surface level stuff to a really deep understanding, really emphasizes that thoroughness. And finally, that same source offered a helpful quality checklist for your problem statement. What are some key things to check for? Yeah, a quick sanity check. Does it clearly name the user or context? Is it based on actual evidence, not just your gut feeling? 00;17;56;17 - 00;18;19;10 Unknown Is it specific enough to guide you, but still broad enough for creative solutions? The sweet spot? Does it avoid sneaking in solutions? Does it genuinely encourage brainstorming? And, crucially, does it show the business value or how solving it connects to strategy? A good final check. So wrapping this up, it feels really clear that spending the time to get problem statements right isn't just, you know, busy work. 00;18;19;16 - 00;18;41;11 Unknown It pays off big time. Oh, absolutely. A sharp problem statement gives you focus, leads to better solutions, gets your team aligned, stops you wasting time on the wrong things, and ultimately just seriously ups your chances of success. So here's a final thought for you, the listener, to take away. Think about a challenge that keeps nagging you. Maybe at work, maybe personally, what would happen if you tried to reframe it? 00;18;41;14 - 00;18;53;22 Unknown Write it down as a concise, human centered problem at thought. Try using one of those templates we talked about there first. Just yeah, precision math. Honestly be surprised. That's where clarity in of a well the new ideas it sparks.