Problem definition workshop for students of MediaLab Amsterdam

1. Problem
&
requirements
workshop
Charlie
Mulholland
13
February
2014

2. Goals
• Clearly
understand
the
“problem”
you
have
been
asked
to
solve
– IdenBfy
stakeholders
– IdenBfy
their
needs,
wants
&
problems
– IdenBfy
requirements,
restricBons
&
opportuniBes
• Get
ready
for
inspiraBon

3. Deliverables (13 March 2014)"
• Design brief"
• Research moodboard"
• User requirements list"

4. Agenda"
• Introduction"
– Who am I?"
– Some musings on creativity, the design process
and the importance of defining your problem"
• (Re)defining the problem & developing initial
requirements"
• Research & inspiration"

5. Who am I?"

6. Some musings on creativity, the design
process and the importance of defining
your problem"

7. CreaBvity:
the
starBng
point
for
innovaBon
• CreaBvity
is
a
process
that
involves
– Understanding
the
problem
-­‐
Problem
defini-on
– Genera-ng
possible
soluBons
-­‐
Divergent
thinking
– Selec-ng
the
best
soluBons
–
Convergent
thinking

8. Tassoul’s creative process (adapted)"
Problem
Analysis
Divergent
thinking
Problem
Statement
Idea
Generation
Convergent
thinking
Divergent
thinking
Idea
Selection
Concept
Development
Convergent
thinking
Clustering / categorizing
Briefing
Convergent
thinking
Clustering / categorizing
Divergent
thinking
Clustering / categorizing
Situation
Analysis
Convergent
thinking
Clustering / categorizing
Divergent
thinking
Concept
Selecttion
Adapted from: Tassoul, M. (2009). Creative Facilitation. VSSD.

9. However, creativity alone is not enough
you also have to implement"
This is where design comes in

10. Thinking (about) design!

11. Waterfall: One view of a design process"

12. But design is about solving wicked problems!"
Source:
hKp://farm3.staBc.flickr.com/2744/4524305428_5d6c103eca_o.jpg

13. An ill-defined problem"
And
where
you
need
to
be
is
perhaps
around
here
Or
even
here
Or
maybe
here
You
are
probably
somewhere
around
here
But
actually
you
might
well
be
here

14. No good or bad solutions: just better or worse ones"
Source:
hKp://farm3.staBc.flickr.com/2432/3648816968_aff7499167_b.jpg

15. Infinite definitions of the problem and the
solution"
Source:
hKp://farm5.staBc.flickr.com/4039/4545729148_a6ce9171d9_b.jpg

16. This makes it difficult to know when to stop"
Source:
hKp://farm5.staBc.flickr.com/4047/4697637143_1e401e154c_b.jpg

17. In reality the design process is more complex
than a waterfall"
Definition
Problem Space
Research
Requirements
Ideation
Concept
Time
Solution Space
Design
Development
Implementation
Follow-up

18. And so we need an investigative approach…"
Source: http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1037/577849928_b0cfb345ef_b.jpg

19. …and design research is really important"
Definition
Problem Space
Research
Requirements
Ideation
Concept
Time
Solution Space
Design
Development
Implementation
Follow-up

20. To understand why we need to enter the world
of reasoning"
cc licensed ( BY NC SA ) flickr photo by Olli Siebelt: http://flickr.com/photos/shinerclay/485427148/

21. Forms of reasoning"
Some forms of reasoning"
Deductive"
Truth preserving"
Inductive"
Highly probable"
Abductive"
Taking your best shot"

22. Deduction"
All persons
are mortal
Socrates
is a person
Therefore
Socrates is
mortal

23. Induction"
The sun has
risen everyday
of my life so far
Therefore
the sun will
rise tomorrow

24. Abduction"
My grass
is wet
this morning
It wasn’t
wet when
I went to
bed
Therefore it rained
last night

25. Wicked problems need abduction to narrow
down the solution (& the problem)"
I’ll check the weather forecast

26. (Design) research helps check the conclusions "
Definition
Problem Space
Analysis
Research
Ideation
Concept
Time
Solution Space
Design
Development
Implementation
Follow-up

27. So design is more complex than a waterfall
and research takes place all the time…"
Definition
Problem Space
Research
Requirements
Ideation
Concept
Time
Solution Space
Design
Development
Implementation
Follow-up

28. …but our planning is based on a waterfall!"
Briefing
Design brief
Concept
Detailed
design
Final product

29. #fail fast, #fail early, and don’t #fail to learn"
Source:
hKp://farm4.staBc.flickr.com/3272/2970063644_d70d643711_b.jpg

30. Dealing with “waterfall” planning"
Define
problem
Define
problem
Define
problem
Design
research
(inspiration)
Design
research
(inspiration)
Design
research
(inspiration)
Generate &
visualize
ideas
Generate &
visualize
concepts
Generate &
visualize
designs
Design
brief
Briefing
Milestone
Test
Milestone
Detailed
design
Concept
Test
Milestone
Test
Check
problem &
solutions
Check
problem &
solutions
Check
problem &
solutions
Redefine
problem
Redefine
problem
Redefine
problem
Iterative phase
Iterative phase
Iterative phase
Milestone

31. (Re)defining your problem"

32. What’s your problem? (10 min.)"
• As a team develop answers to the following
questions (from the briefing)"
– Who is your client?"
– Who is their customer?"
– Who is their user?"
– What have they asked you to do?"
• Now write an initial problem statement in one
sentence"

33. What’s
your
problem?:
5Ws
+
1H
(15
min.)
Who?
How?
How does the problem occur?
Who owns the problem?
Who is affected by the problem?
Who has an interest in the problem’s
solution?
Who is else involved?
Insights?
Why?
What?
What’s going on exactly?
Where?
Why is it a problem?
Why does it need to be solved?
Where does the problem occur?
When?
When does the problem occur?
Check your initial problem statement – does it need to change? "

34. Brainstorming:
why
it
works

35. Brainstorming “rules”"
• Define the problem"
• Set a time limit on the brainstorm session"
• Capture all the ideas"
– Use a white board, flip-over sheet or (better) Post-It Notes to do
this"
•
•
•
•
Focus on the problem"
Do not evaluate or criticize any ideas: write them down"
Encourage everyone to contribute"
Listen to other ideas and see if this gets you thinking"
– Look for associations"
• Have fun"
• Evaluate the ideas later NEVER during the brainstorming"
• Make sure you do a follow-up"

36. Brainstorm: Who are the stakeholders?"
• Spend 10 minutes brainstorming possible
stakeholders for your project and why they are
interested in it"
• On a Post-its write all of them down AND state
why your think they are stakeholders (what is
their interest in the project)"
– One Post-it per stakeholder !

37. Categorize (5 min.)"
• Look for similar types of stakeholder you
identified based on:"
– Their interests"
– The type of stakeholder"
• Group the Post-its together"

38. Selection (5 min.)"
• Decide on the 3 most important stakeholders
or groups of stakeholders other than your
client and user"
• Think about"
– How much impact your project might have on their
lives / interests"
– How much influence they can have on the success
of your project"
– How much influence they have on your client"
– How much influence they have on your user"

39. Redefining your problem (25 min.)"
How does your client
define the problem?"
How does stakeholder 1
see the problem?"
How do you think the
user might see the
problem?"
How does stakeholder 2
see the problem?"
How does stakeholder 3
see the problem?"

40. Developing initial requirements"

41. Stakeholder requirements reversal"
• Reversal: What features and benefits would
REALLY annoy your user? (5 min.)"
• What requirements must your product have to
ensure you do not do that? (5 min.)"
• (You can do this for each of your other 4
stakeholders later)"

42. Brainstorm: requirements inventory (10 min.)"
• Categorize and group the user requirements
(5 min.)"
• Select which user requirements you think are
essential (some of them may not be relevant)
(5 min.)"
• (Again you can do this for the other key
stakeholders later)"

43. Other requirements brainstorm"
• What are the requirements of those who
support your product? (5 min.)"
• What are the marketing, communications and
visual requirements of your product? (5 min.)"
• What are the societal, legal and moral
requirements of your product? (5 min.)"
• What are the security & privacy requirements
of your product? (5 min.)"
• What are the technical requirements of your
product? (5 min.)"

44. Other tactics for redefining the problem and
generating requirements"
• Keep asking questions "
– What is the real problem?"
– What problems are similar or analogous to this
one?"
– What solutions have there been to similar or
analogous problems?"
– Why doesn’t the current solution work?"
• Generate “quick” solutions "
– Categorize these solutions into effective / less
effective"
– Look at less effective solutions and ask what
makes them less effective?"

45. Remember these are initial problem
statements and requirements"
Things will change later (trust me I used to work in
marketing!)

46. Research & inspiration"
Getting ready to be inspired

47. The story of Leonardo da Quirm"

48. “Genius is 1% inspiration and 99%
perspiration.” (Thomas A. Edison - attributed)"

49. Watch the film & follow the instructions"
Source: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IGQmdoK_ZfY"

50. Welcome to the brain’s programmable “radar”"

51. The key to being inspired is to define the
problem & then research"
Define
problem
Define
problem
Define
problem
Design
research
(inspiration)
Design
research
(inspiration)
Design
research
(inspiration)
Generate &
visualize
ideas
Generate &
visualize
concepts
Generate &
visualize
designs
Design
brief
Briefing
Milestone
Test
Milestone
Detailed
design
Concept
Test
Milestone
Test
Check
problem &
solutions
Check
problem &
solutions
Check
problem &
solutions
Redefine
problem
Redefine
problem
Redefine
problem
Iterative phase
Iterative phase
Iterative phase
Milestone

52. Uses of (design) research"
Design research
Inspiration
Evidence / support
Experiment
Testing explanations

53. Sources of inspiration during research (or
any time actually)"

54. The client: briefing"

55. Desk research / Internet"

56. “Charlie, you’re a hunter and you won’t get good ideas
just sitting behind your computer.” (Theo Backx)"

57. Talking to the user"
Source:
hKp://farm2.staBc.flickr.com/1010/925252775_58e2691942_o.jpg

58. Observing the user"

59. Being the user"

60. Going outside and looking around"

61. The work of others"

62. Next steps"
• Next session – idea generation & selection"
• Between now and then"
– Do your design research"
• Don’t just sit here: Go out and look for inspiration!"
• Be the user, observe the user(s) & talk to the user(s)"
• Watch out for serendipity"
– Write a design brief"
– Categorize / combine / organize your findings into
a moodboard"
– Create a user requirements list (from your design
brief)"