A simplified approach to Design Sprint problem framing.

You’d have to be psycho to not know what problem you’re solving for in a design sprint.

The concept of problem framing has been around for a while.

For the uninitiated, problem framing is the process of describing and interpreting a problem to arrive at a problem statement. It’s considered an important step in problem solving, as slight changes in framing usually lead to different considerations towards a potential solution.

Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi and Jacob Getzels empirically demonstrated the central role of problem framing in creativity and art over 40 years ago. Since then, it’s been written about extensively in publications like Harvard Business Review and Forbes.

Recently, John Vetan wrote about a new training program offering from Design Sprint Academy, using problem framing as a way of targeting the right issues or challenges for a design sprint. Aimed at enterprise clients and larger organizations, this 1–2 day pre-work phase included the following activities:

1. Defining the Right Challenge
2. Get stakeholder buy-in
3. Pick the right team
4. Understand your users

This process aligns with Jay Melone’s article on problem framing written late last year, showcasing similar steps that are taken within a single day of discovery. Both approaches offered a way of targeting the right opportunity through problem framing, with Jay’s articles detailing out New Haircut’s particular process approach.

In short, you have a number of options available to you as a design sprint facilitator to problem frame your way to a particular challenge.

But what if you only have a couple of hours to target that ‘right problem’ with a small group of influential people that are funding your efforts? Or, maybe your time is limited to 60 minutes with the only person that can give proper direction and approval of your design sprint. What are your options then for problem framing?

Here are a few suggestions I have for those that are pressed for time and need clarity on that problem or challenge. Please note that these suggestions assume the “right” people are involved.

1. The W4 Method (30 minutes)

Find yourself a whiteboard (online or physical), a diverse crowd and a large enough room to prevent interruptions. Cell phones are off for those that want to attend.

Divide the whiteboard into four equal spaces, and label them Who, What, Why, and Where. For groups of four or more people, divide into sub-groups and assign each a quadrant.

In 5 minutes, each person uses individual sticky notes to write down answers for the following:

• Who — Who has this problem?
• What — What is the nature of the problem?
• Why — Why is the problem worth solving?
• Where — Where does this problem happen?

Come back and put the post-its on the whiteboard in their appropriate quadrants. Do an affinity diagramming exercise and dot vote the most important ones.

Finally, each participant attempts to construct a problem statement, using the top voted ‘who, what, why and where’ from the previous exercise. Voting is optional here, as the discussion between everyone is more important to gain proper perspective for moving forward.

2. Constraintstorming + Effort/Impact (60 minutes)

Brainstorming is a technique that’s promoted as a no-judgement, eccentrically positive approach to generating ideas. However, recent research has shown that individuals are better at divergent thinking (thinking broadly to generate a diverse set of ideas) and groups are better at convergent thinking (selecting which ideas are worth pursuing).

I’ve found that the approach of “constraintstorming” is far more effective at discovering different problems to be solved at the group level, rather than thinking of potential solutions first. Here’s how it’s done:

1. On sticky notes, have everyone use 5 minutes to specify the main problem you and/or your team are addressing.
2. Put these problems up on a whiteboard. Eliminate any duplicates or confusing statements.
3. Look over the stated problems, and start writing known constraints (both internal and external) for each one on sticky notes. Things like time, budget and feasibility are easy answers. Encourage everyone to go deeper and get specific.
4. Have everyone put up their stickies next to the problems the align with, affinity diagram everything, and dot/marker vote the ones that the group feels are the most important constraints for each problem.
5. Hold a short discussion on which of the top voted constraints are flexible vs. inflexible, and which ones align best with the “problem” they’re assigned to.
6. Finally, place each problem on a 2x2 Effort/Impact grid to assess its importance to the group… using the previous constrainstorming exercise as an assessor of solution difficulty.

3. Pain Point Mapping. (45 minutes)

Bullseye diagramming helps prioritize problems within a round target area, with the most important ones at the center. Given the center has limited space, this method helps teams visualize what problems matter most to the company. Here’s how.

1. On sticky notes, take 5 minutes to document problems that are ‘expensive’, ‘time consuming’ or ‘unnecessary/redundant’.
2. Once completed, everyone puts their stickies up on a wall and affinity diagrams them by category and type.
3. Do a round of dot voting to determine which problems seen them most expensive, time consuming, or unnecessary.
4. Ask the most important people/person in the room to put a price on the highest voted item(s). If they were to fund a solution for a particular problem, which one would it be, and how much would they pay?
5. Based on the specified amount for a solution, have the most important people/person start placing those stickies that have a price tag onto a shooting target diagram.
6. The sticky closest to the bullseye (center of the shooting diagram) is likely the target you should be going after.

It’s worth noting that many of the Monday activities with a normal design sprint process can act as a catalyst for finding the right problem to solve for. Starting at the end to project future success, or making a map of the problem in advance, can introduce clients and companies to the concepts and activities of a design sprint before the official week even starts.

Whatever route you decide to take, be sure to have several meaningful conversations with your clients and stakeholders before doing any sort of problem framing. Having the right kind of respectful, professional relationship to build on is vital for any group activity to have any real shot of working.

What about your problem framing endeavors? Have any to share?

Let me know what you do to prepare for a design sprint by leaving your comments below.