Table of Contents for
UX Fundamentals for Non-UX Professionals: User Experience Principles for Managers, Writers, Designers, and Developers

© Edward Stull 2018
Edward StullUX Fundamentals for Non-UX Professionalshttps://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4842-3811-0_31

31. Problem Statements

Edward Stull1 
(1)
Upper Arlington, Ohio, USA
 

The Hutzler 571 slices bananas. Shaped like a banana, the multi-blade tool has garnered over 5,000 Amazon reviews.1 Most are satirical. One reviewer writes, “It saved my marriage,” another, “It works better than a hammer.” However, like many products, the problem it solves is not always immediately apparent.

You may wonder what problem a banana slicer attempts to solve. After all, you can easily slice a banana with a knife, a fork, or a spoon.

Surprisingly, several of its 5,659 reviews appear to be serious . The Hutzler 571 (Figure 31-1) supposedly works wonders when preparing bananas for food dehydrators. It creates uniform slices, which means uniform drying times. Dehydrators may take hours, undercooking thick pieces and overcooking thin ones. The Hutzler 571 solves that problem. Kids enjoy using the tool, too. So, if you have children, frequently dehydrate bananas, and have a whole bunch of time to waste, you might be thrilled by the Hutzler 571.
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Figure 31-1.

Amazon’s product page of the surprisingly useful Hutzler 571 Banana Slicer2

If Hutzler had described the problem, the company might have written:

  • The Hutzler 571 is a kitchen tool. Our growing market of banana-slicing enthusiasts demand a better way to prepare bananas for dehydration. The tool helps customers cut bananas into uniform slices.

Yes, the example is silly, but it represents how stating a problem can illuminate its strengths and weaknesses. Stating the problem helps us design everything from five-dollar kitchen tools to million-dollar digital products.

Before a user clicks, before a website launches, before a proposal is written, we talk about a project. Such discussions affect user experience, because design starts when debate begins.

We debate broad categories of understanding: what will we create, why should we attempt it, how can we achieve it? A problem statement frames the answers, reducing all possibilities to a select few: what, why, and how.

Defining What

The philosopher Bertrand Russell said, “The greatest challenge to any thinker is stating the problem in a way that will allow a solution .”

How do we state a problem for a digital project? It may originate from a Waterfall, Lean, Agile, or Design Thinking process. It could describe almost anything, covering a wide range of apps, websites, and kiosks. Moreover, a digital project is more than its form; for example, a website could be anything from a personal blog to Amazon.​com. We must give it a specific frame.

Imagine you work with Acme Fruit Company. You could describe a project for the company with the following statement:

  • Acme Fruit Company will create an e-commerce website to sell fruit baskets .

Though this description is limited, it gives us a specific frame through which to view the project. It tells us something about what we intend to create—and what we do not. The project will be an e-commerce website. We might expect such a website to include a catalog of products, a shopping cart, and so on. It likely does not manage your email, maintain your photo albums, or offer you a publishing platform.

We further frame our project by describing its purpose.

Defining Why

Although a project may exist for several reasons , we want to highlight its primary objective. Doing so focuses our efforts, ensuring our team understands the reasoning behind our problem statement.

  • Our website must differentiate Acme Fruit Company within a crowded marketplace.

This statement indicates our primary objective is to differentiate the company.

Defining How

Accompanying our what and why, we describe how. The “how” addresses our primary objective.

  • By providing an optimum user experience, we will surpass our competitors’ similar offerings.

Putting It All Together

Our problem statement describes what, why, and how we intend to solve a problem.

  • Acme Fruit Company will create an e-commerce website to sell fruit baskets. Our website must differentiate Acme Fruit Company within a crowded marketplace. By providing an optimum user experience, we will surpass our competitors’ similar offerings.

Now a team can debate and discuss the merits and pitfalls of such an argument:

  • Is this a problem worth solving?

  • What is the best medium (e.g. website, app, kiosk) to achieve our goals?

  • Is the primary purpose to sell products or differentiate?

  • Is price the determining factor in a user’s purchase decision?

  • What do users dislike about buying fruit online?

  • Are there untapped markets the competition does not serve?

  • How do we define an optimum user experience?

  • …And countless others

Each answer reshapes a project, pushing and pulling the boundaries of our understanding. The problem statement may be made irrelevant by a project’s end. Yet, it serves to elicit debate, uncovering gaps in our knowledge. Are there fundamental misunderstandings about the project? Do business objectives conflict? What research might be needed? If we catch our assumptions early, we avoid costly stumbles and last-minute slip-ups.

Key Takeaways

  • A problem statement serves to elicit debate by defining the what, why, and how about a project .

  • Problem statements catch assumptions, misunderstandings, and gaps in knowledge.

  • A problem statement may be made irrelevant by a project’s end.

Questions to Ask Yourself

  • What is the problem I wish to solve?

  • Have I stated the problem clearly enough for another person to debate its assumptions and conclusions?

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