What problem are we solving?
Before building any functionality, a product team should first start by fully understanding the problem they are being asked to solve. This may sound obvious but I can’t tell you how many times I see one-liner Jira tickets that ask for something without explaining why. But the “why” is the most important part for a number of reasons.
- The team has to agree that the problem exists and is worth solving. The impact and urgency is a primary factor in prioritization.
- Being grounded in the “why” informs creativity to answer the “what” and the “how.” Design begins with empathy and you can’t have empathy if you don’t know what your users are struggling with.
- Solutions should be evaluated on how well they address the problem. This evaluation should drive design, QA, and post-release review.
To help people focus on the problem, I use a simple tool that I call a “problem definition.” This is a document (preferably a wiki page) that describes the problem and why it is important: inefficiency, risk, etc. There is also a section for proposed solutions where the author can suggest their ideas. The problem definition then becomes a focal point for clarification and learning. Stakeholders can ask questions to explore the use case.
I think this type of document was the original intent behind the “User Story” used in various agile methodologies. But over time, the User Story has been corrupted into a formulaic and useless “As a _____, I want to ________ so I can ________”; I have yet to read a User Story that really got to the heart of the problem and why it was worth solving.
Problem definitions are precursors to project artifacts like specifications and work items. They should be easy for anyone to write in their own language. No commitment is made to implement a solution. Sometimes problems can be solved with training or better documentation. Even if no action is taken, expressing and hearing these issues is important in bridging the gap between the product team and its users.
Everyone on the team should be able to answer the question “why are we doing this?” If they can’t, they can’t be expected to be contribute to an effective solution.