R&D Toolkit
  1. Overview
      2. Overview
    1. Introduction
      2.
      1. Recent Updates
        2.
    2. Tools
      3.
      1. Research
        2.
      2. Delivery
        3.
    3. Resources
      4.
      1. R&D
        2.
      2. Websites
        3.
      3. Project Tracking
        4.
      4. Further Resources
        5.
  2. Research
      3. Research Tools
    1. Problem
      2.
      1. Discovery
        2.
      2. Prioritisation
        3.
      3. Project Scoping
        4.
      4. Framing
        5.
    2. Empathise
      3.
      1. Investigate
        2.
      2. User Interview
        3.
      3. User Insights
        4.
      4. Data
        5.
    3. Mapping
      4.
      1. Research Mapping
        2.
      2. User Mapping
        3.
      3. Organisation Mapping
        4.
    4. Synthesis
      5.
      1. Problem Reframing
        2.
      2. Define
        3.
      3. Feature Prioritisation
        4.
  3. Design
      4. Design Tools
    1. Ideation
      2.
      1. Warm Up
        2.
      2. Sketching
        3.
      3. Storyboarding
        4.
      4. Design Studio
        5.
  4. Delivery
      5. Delivery Tools
    1. Agile
      2.
    2. Scrum
      3.
      1. Overview
        2.
      2. Team
        3.
      3. Events
        4.
      4. Artifacts
        5.
      5. Glossary
        6.

marc.tools

A Product R&D Toolkit

Welcome. I'm Marc and this is a Toolkit to create things.
Research Tools    Problem
Framing

A large part of design thinking revolves around defining and establishing the problem at hand, with focus on empathising with the user.

So after discovering and prioritising the problem, it is important to then clearly frame it before moving forwards. There are a number of tools that can help with this.

Section Tools
Problem Statement
Hypothesis
Problem Framing Worksheet
Problem Framing Sketch
Proto-Persona
  
Problem    Framing
Tool Info
Category Framing
Updated 10/08/20
Templates   PDF     Miro
Creator N/A

What is the key problem that is trying to be solved? Empathy with the prospective user, and understanding what the problem might be is extremely important, and a problem statement helps accomplish this.

A problem statement further helps avoid coming up with solutions too early on by focusing on the 'why' part of the problem. It is also an excellent way of communicating the problem to stakeholders.

There are a number of different ways of creating a Problem Statement but the examples below are the more common approach.

Further Resources
  How to write a real customer problem statement
  Design Problem Statements – What They Are and How to Frame Them
  Stage 2 in the Design Thinking Process: Define the Problem and Interpret the Results
  
Problem    Framing
Tool Info
Category Framing
Updated 10/08/20
Templates   PDF     Miro
Creator N/A

Along with a Problem Statement, we can use an Hypothesis as an initial starting point to further investigate.

This Hypothesis will help us to frame the problem in a way that aligns the product goal with the user goal without proposing exact solutions and testing our assumptions.

The Hypothesis acts as a starting point for future experimentation, and through out the research phase should be revisited and adjusted accordingly to ensure any proposed experience continues to align with the user goal.

Further Resources
  User Research – The Importance of Hypotheses
  
Problem    Framing
Tool Info
Category Framing
Updated 10/08/20
Templates   PDF     Miro
Creator Mitre.org

With a Problem Framing Worksheet we can begin to gain consensus and clarify the problem the team want to solve. This includes having a sense of what "done" would look like, scoping out the activities and goals and reducing cross-over.

Further Resources
  Problem Framing
  
Problem    Framing
Tool Info
Category Framing
Updated 10/08/20
Templates   PDF     Miro
Creator Ben Crothers

A Problem Framing Sketch is an excellent way of visualising a problem. It is also particularly useful as a way to shed assumptions and other perspectives that might overly influence a problem and eventually the solution.

Ben Crothers sums this up as 3 distinct mindsets;

  • The Journalist - Asking the right questions to understand the problem.
  • The Cook - taking the ingredients and cooking up a Problem Statement.
  • The Visitor - a 'fresh eyed' approached that can ask the 'dumb' questions and bringing a new perspective.

The first 2 mindsets are normal, but can still result in a poorly framed problem, but introducing the Visitor Mindset can help cover all aspects of understanding the problem, and using Ben's 'Problem Framing Sketch' will satisfy all of the mindsets.

Include the Problem Statement in the middle (where the ! is) and then include a '5 Whos' (perspective analysis), '5 Whys' (root cause analysis) and '5 So whats' (impact analysis).

Further Resources
  The problem with problems, and a better way to frame them visually
  
Problem    Framing
Tool Info
Category Framing
Updated 10/08/20
Templates   PDF     Miro
Creator Alan Cooper

A Proto-Persona is a pre-research assumption of a specific fictional user that is experiencing the problem.

By creating an initial vision of the user we can begin to build empathy, understanding and can begin to anchor the problem to real world scenarios.

A proto-persona contains four main parts;

  • Biography & Picture
  • Demographics
  • Needs & Goals
  • Behaviours

It is also worth creating multiple Proto-Personas at the same time and deciding which one aligns best with the problem.

Further Resources
  How to Make Proto-Personas and Get Everyone on the Same Page