Elevate Your Product: Transforming Challenges into Opportunities through Problem Reframing, Part 1

Over the years as a UX designer, my most significant skill development has been in problem reframing.

Frequently, when an issue emerges, typically originating from user or customer feedback, it’s common for a team member – be they from sales, marketing, product, or design – to have already framed the problem for us.

However, we tend to accept these predefined problems without much scrutiny, rarely asking ourselves: ‘Are we addressing the correct issue?’

Consider the typical scenario of a problem “The Slow Elevator”:

As an owner of an office building, you’re facing a growing issue with many tenants complaining about the slow elevator service. This problem has escalated to the point where tenants are considering breaking their leases and vacating the premises.

Just like any problem out there, someone frame the problem for you: the elevator is too slow. This leads to various questions which point to potential solutions aimed at increasing the elevator’s speed, such as:

• Should I upgrade to a faster, more modern elevator model?
• Should I install an additional elevator?
• Should I adjust staff break schedules to reduce elevator congestion?
• Should I invest in sophisticated software algorithms for better efficiency?

While these solutions might seem effective, they demand substantial resources – a significant consideration for a startup, in terms of money, manpower, time, and lost opportunities.

Returning to the issue at hand, it’s crucial to reevaluate the problem from different perspectives. A deeper analysis reveals that the core issue is the frustration people feel due to long waits. This insight shifts the focus to a completely different solution: installing mirrors and digital advertising banners in the elevators.

The rationale is simple: people often become less aware of time when they have distractions, which in this case is: their reflections in mirrors or engaging advertisements.

Frequently, people express immediate feelings or thoughts without fully understanding their needs. Therefore, identifying the root cause of a complaint doesn’t always provide the most effective solution. The key lies in reframing the problem to uncover more innovative and resource-efficient solutions.

Part 2: How to reframe the problem?

Part 3: Case studies