Define

Defining Your Focus

Before you engage in this method, review what Defining is in the Design Thinking process.

Ask yourself:

• Who is your primary audience?
• What is the most important or impactful challenge you are trying to solve?
• What is the outcome you want for your users?

Defining Methods

• IDEO's Frame Your Design Challenge worksheet that includes examples of design challenge questions that are too broad, too narrow, and in the middle by IDEO. Use this with the blank worksheet to consider your challenge question.
• "How Might We" Questions by the Stanford D. School. Download and use this list of different ways of thinking about HMW questions.
• The Five Whys - by Design Kit (IDEO) A quick outline of how to use the 5 Whys to understand the root of the challenge.
• Problem Definition by DIY Toolkit for understanding the root causes of a problem and reframing it.
• Personas - A Simple Introduction by Rikke Dam and Teo Siang (article). How to create simple personas that can help you understand your target users and their challenges.
• Causes Diagram by DIY Toolkit for breaking down a complex issue into the core problem(s).
• Personas by DIY Toolkit for understanding the audiences you are designing for.

Sticking Points

Here are some common challenges and tips for defining a problem.

• Q: How do I know whether my ‘How might we…’ question is strong? What if it's too broad or narrow? How do I know whether my question is worthwhile to work on?
  • A: Try IDEO's Frame Your Design Challenge resource.
  • A: Try the Problem Definition tool by DIY Toolkit.
  • A: Try Define and Frame Your Design Challenge by Creating Your Point of View and Ask "How Might We" by Rikke Dam and Teo Siang, especially starting at the "How Might We" section of the article (about 1/3 of the way down the page)
• Q: What are the characteristics and some examples of great challenge questions?
  • A: Try IDEO's Frame Your Design Challenge resource. This time, try to frame the question in terms of impact you would like to have (instead of simply solving the immediate problem).

References

Dam, Rikke, and Teo Siang. “Personas – A Simple Introduction.” The Interaction Design Foundation, 2018, https://www.interaction-design.org/literature/article/personas-why-and-how-you-should-use-them.

Dam, Rikke, and Teo Siang. “Define and Frame Your Design Challenge by Creating Your Point Of View and Ask “How Might We”.” The Interaction Design Foundation, 2017, https://www.interaction-design.org/literature/article/define-and-frame-your-design-challenge-by-creating-your-point-of-view-and-ask-how-might-we.

Design Kit. “How to Frame Your Own Design Challenge.” Design Kit, ideo.org, http://cemusstudent.se/wp-content/uploads/2012/12/IDEO-Frame-Your-Own-Design-Challenge.pdf.

DIY Toolkit. “Causes Diagram.” DYI Development, Impact & You, http://diytoolkit.org/tools/causes-diagram/.

DIY Toolkit. “Personas.” DYI Development, Impact & You, http://diytoolkit.org/tools/personas/.

DIY Toolkit. “Problem Definition.” DYI Development, Impact & You, http://diytoolkit.org/tools/problem-definition-2/.

“‘How Might We’ Questions.” Stanford D.school, Hasso Plattner Institute of Design at Stanford University, https://dschool.stanford.edu/resources/how-might-we-questions.