Empathise and Define: How Might We
Estimated Time: 1 hour
Throughout the rest of this course, we'll apply the principles of design thinking to develop a software product. We'll engage in an iterative process of developing empathy, defining problems, ideating, then prototyping and testing numerous solutions. The first two steps of design thinking - empathize and define - focus on understanding the user's problem and defining a clear problem statement. In this lesson, we explore a framework for articulating clearly defined problems: How Might We. This method takes insights from users and frames a question to answer a problem.
Empathise: talking to and understanding users
Define: creating problem statements
Problem statement are one of the outputs of the "Define" stage of design thinking. Once you begin talking to users and building empathy, you may see many potential problems to address. A well-constructed problem statement is vital for staying focused in the design process. To navigate the often ambigious design process, design teams must constantly come back to the problem they are trying to solve. Without a well-constructed problem statement, it's easy to start building solutions that try to solve too many problems.
A good problem statement is:
Centered on the user
Problem statements are generated from research insight about users and their needs
Assumption free
Problem statements should not make assumptions about the users nor the optimal solutions
Well-scoped
Problem statements should be broad enough to provide creative freedom, but narrow enough that they are practical
In the next section, we'll learn about "How Might We," a framework for drafting good problem statements for design.
How Might We: turning problems into opportunities for design
From the video and reading, we learn:
Why create HMWs?
To help launch impactful brainstorms by creating a seed that is broad enough to enable a wide range of solutions
How to generate HMWs?
Start with user research. Conduct or review user research then look for aspects of it that can help complete the sentence, "How might we..."
What's the right level of scope?
A successful HMW statement is neither too narrow to hinder braninstorming nor too broad to foster actionable ideas.