Defining the problem

By now you have had a few conversations and a pile of notes. This lesson is about turning raw data into insight, and then boiling the insight down into one problem statement worth working on. This step is easy to skip, but it is where your direction is actually decided.

From raw data to insight

Start by getting everything out in the open. Write each interesting statement on a sticky note or a row in a spreadsheet — one quote per note. Then group the notes that resemble each other, without deciding the categories in advance. Let the themes grow from the bottom up.

After a while you see clusters: maybe several quotes gather around "trust," others around "price," others around "it takes too long." An insight is not just a theme, but a discovery about why: "People don't trust strangers with their dog, because they've heard horror stories from acquaintances." Insight explains behavior — it does not just repeat it.

Empathy map and customer journey

Two simple tools help you see the whole picture.

An empathy map splits a sheet into four: what the person says, thinks, does and feels. Often there is a gap between what people say and what they do — and that gap is gold. Some say price matters most, yet still use the most expensive service because it feels safe.

A customer journey maps the steps the person goes through, from first thought to after the job is done. For Maria: feeling the urge to travel, searching for a sitter, asking friends, giving up, cancelling the trip. For each step you note how the person feels and where it snags. The most painful steps are the best places to help.

Write a clear problem statement

Now you narrow down. A good problem statement is about the user and the need, not about the solution. A simple template is: [User] needs [need] because [insight].

"A dog owner about to travel needs a way to know the dog is in safe hands, because distrust of strangers stops her from booking at all."

Notice that it says nothing about an app, a platform or a website. From there you can phrase open opportunity questions, often called "How might we": "How might we make a stranger into someone a dog owner dares to trust?" Such questions are broad enough to invite many solutions, but narrow enough to give direction.

Choose which problem is worth solving

You will often find several problems. Choose the one that scores high on four things: it affects enough people, it is painful enough that people want to act on it, you can reach them, and you care enough to persevere. A minor annoyance few people mind rarely becomes a business. A real pain in a group you understand and can reach is a good start.

From several problems to one

Often you are left with three or four problems that all seem worth solving. Then it helps to score them against each other in a simple table. Rate each problem on four questions: How many are affected? How much does it hurt? How easily can I reach them? How much do I care myself?

Jonas had two candidates: "firms spend too long on reconciliation" and "firms lose track of deadlines." Both were real, but reconciliation hit every customer every month, while deadlines were only a problem a few times a year. He chose reconciliation — the highest and most frequent pain — and set the other aside. Choosing to leave something out is not losing; it is giving the most important thing enough attention.

Do this now

Take your interview notes and group them into themes. Then write one problem statement using the template [user] needs [need] because [insight], with three "How might we" questions underneath. Check that none of them mention a specific solution. If you have several candidates, rank them by how many people they affect and how much they hurt. Keep the winner — it follows you into the next module.