Great product design stems from clearly framed problems and opportunities

The clearest source of guidance for product designers to produce work which has impact

7 min readJan 3, 2022

Framed problems and opportunities are the clearest source of guidance for product designers to produce work which has impact.

Unfortunately, the simple questions which bring most clarity around what’s being done and why, are often times missing in project briefs. Instead, briefs typically revolve around deliverables which distract and pull designers away from understanding the context, as all of the focus is heavily placed on a premature idea.

There are a number of reasons leadership may have a proclivity towards prescribing ideas over framing problems and opportunities. Perhaps matters may have been discussed within a closed circle. Afterwards, the solution that was agreed upon within the circle makes its way into the requirements with the assumption that the initial conversations are irrelevant for designers.

Sometimes early ideas are knee jerk reactions resulting from pressure to ship — which in many cases may be linked to a lack of thoughtful prioritisation. Early ideas may be prescribed in good faith to be fair — sometimes the thinking is that defined ideas will help designers understand what’s needed and therefore facilitate the delivery.

Early ideas do have value; they may help kickstart the ideation process and may also be valid options to choose from further down the line. However, it’s smart to assume that the first idea may not be the most suitable one and therefore documenting it as a potential option is more appropriate than prescribing it as the solution.

The issue with early, prescriptive ideas

Often times the obstacles that will manifest throughout a projects lifecycle are unknown during the initial stages. With so many unknowns ahead, how can anyone have unquestioned faith in an idea from the very beginning?

Designers are no better at suggesting definitive solutions before getting knees deep into the work. The reason for this is simply that as the design process flows, additional clarity is gained which changes the relevant pathways from which to choose from.

Early ideas may lose relevance quickly — the problem to be solved however remains fixed in place, waiting to be addressed only when it’s clearly understood.

“What problem are we trying to solve?” or “What opportunity are we trying to exploit?”, are such crucial questions to ask at the beginning because they bring about clarity from the start but also make poor solutions self evident. Such simple questions, but they can shorten project lifecycles and increase the chances of reaching the intended outcome.

Larger projects are more vulnerable to wasted time and budget when problems and opportunities are not framed early on. Teams may spend weeks even months executing, only to get tangled in moments of confusion and return to the simple question “What problem are we really trying to solve?”. When this question is not asked and teams run with unquestioned, early ideas, business and customers stand to lose all the same as poor solutions may be shipped which might bring about changes but not objective improvements.

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Before moving any further I’d like to clarify my definitions for the words ‘problem’ and ‘opportunity’ respectively. Moreover, I’d also like to clarify that I’m not suggesting projects should consist of both problems and opportunities, but rather that these are the two distinct starting points that great product design stems from.

What qualifies as a problem?

A problem isn’t really a problem if there are no undesirable outcomes connected to it — after all, who could such a problem be problematic for?

You’ll know you have a real problem when an unwanted situation which brings negative impact occurs.

As self evident as this might be, often times project requirements are based on ideas which when reframed, don’t appear to be problems or opportunities for that matter. There is little or perhaps no value in ideas which do not bring objective improvements.

What qualifies as an opportunity?

Even though a product may be performing well against its KPIs (key performance indicators), companies must still continue to innovate in order to better serve their customers, remain relevant and grow business.

You’ll know you have an opportunity when you’ve identified new ways to increase customer and business value.

Framing problems

Framing problems may be achieved by answering three questions and structuring all answers in a summary or bullet points. The questions to answer are:

What problem are we trying to solve?
What negative impact is the problem creating?
Who is the problem impacting?

What problem are we trying to solve?

Answering this question helps tell a story about a situation which is considered problematic. The answer should frame a real problem effecting customers or the business and shouldn’t be worded to state a solution that is missing.

Example
✅ 10% of our customers aren’t completing checkout.
❌ We don’t have a big yellow button on our checkout page.

What negative impact is the problem creating?

This question aims to uncover why the problem is in fact a problem by highlighting the negative impact it’s having — moreover it corners people into ensuring that there is indeed a problem rather than an idea.

Example
✅ Our customers aren’t buying the items they shopped for — the business is losing 4% in gross revenue per month as a result.
❌ With the current design, customers don’t know where to click.

Who is the problem impacting?

This question brings users into the equation to add further context, it’s about the who, how, where and when of the problem. Problems may impact customers, the business, product teams, and more.

Example
✅ Customer who add items to their cart and initiate checkout within the same shopping session.
❌ People who should be clicking the buttons we want them to click.

Framing opportunities

Framing opportunities is similar to framing problems. In fact, the same three questions apply with slight alterations. The questions to answer are:

What opportunity are we trying to exploit?
What positive impact will the opportunity create?
Who will the opportunity benefit?

What opportunity are we trying to exploit?

Answering this question should tell a story about a new, desirable outcome that will have a positive impact on users and the business primarily. It’s important to articulate the positive impact and to understand that without this, there might be an idea but not an opportunity.

Example
✅ Customers who buy laptops from us are buying related accessories elsewhere. We see an opportunity to increase convenience for our customers and increase revenue by selling laptop accessories.
❌ We could add more products to our site and sell more stuff.

What positive impact will the opportunity create?

This question aims to uncover why the opportunity is in fact an opportunity by highlighting the specifics. The detail makes all the difference; leaving specifics out can be misleading to designers and prevent them from making the right decisions throughout the design process.

Example
✅ We’ll increase convenience for our customers by becoming a one-stop-shop for laptop related purchases. Our research suggests laptop owners spend $200 on related accessories on average; multiplying that with our 5,000 average monthly laptop sales could render $1,000,000 per month.
❌ People will buy more items which will drive revenues.

Who will the opportunity benefit?

This question brings all stakeholders into the equation to add further context, it’s about the who, how, where and when of the opportunity. Like problems, opportunities may also impact customers, the business, product teams, and more.

Example
✅ All customers wanting to buy accessories for laptops we sell and also don’t sell.
❌ All laptop purchasers.

It’s not infrequent that designers get roped into projects which ‘need to be done’, even though they don’t appear to address problems or opportunities for that matter. When no sensible problem or opportunity statement may be produced from a task at hand, it’s likely that what’s being looked at is merely ‘nice to have’ but doesn’t bring the most value to the table compared to other projects that may be pursued instead.

With time and resources being limited, and a product’s faith linked to what teams did or didn’t do, it’s sensible to prioritise items according to their value. Framing problems and opportunities helps in this regard as it makes value self evident from the start and helps designers think about the outcome rather than the files.

In summary, here are just a few benefits for those willing to frame problems and opportunities and let go of early solutions:

A shared understanding around the undesired outcome that’s occurring.
A shared understanding around the desired outcome to aim towards.
Leaves room for valid, creative exploration with reduced likelihood of going off-track.
Helps teams assess ideas against desired outcomes.
Ensures that objective improvements are made rather than changes which bring no value.

Begin practicing framing today by taking a closer look at what you’re working on and asking some basic, quality questions. It may be that there are better things to attend to, or better solutions to the problems and opportunities you’re addressing.