About

As you do research in the EMPATHISE stage, so you will learn about your design topic. It might be the first time that you have designed such a thing, or the first time that you have designed anything at all! Therefore, you should have learnt quite a lot and gathered a lot of information about the thing that you are designing. The Problem Statement in the DEFINE stage is where you clearly describe the problem that you are trying to solve in this design thinking project, and it is where you note down important information about the thing that you are designing.

 

​​​​​​​What you need

• A4 notepad and pen.
• Your Mind Map (IV) of the EMPATHISE stage.
• Your Research Questions (IV) notes.

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Method

Answers the following questions accurately and concisely. Note down your answers and then type and print out your Problem Statement and attach it to your notepad. The problem statement will guide you as you work on the design project.

• Describe the people you are designing for:
  • Who will benefit from the (design topic*) that you are designing?
  • Describe the general type of person who needs the thing that you are designing.
  • Name a person, if you can, who needs the thing that you are designing.
  • (Optional: You may mention people who won’t benefit from this thing, if it helps to clarify your aim.)
• Describe the thing that you are designing:
  • What will it ​​​​​​​do?
  • What needs will it fulfil?
  • What benefits ​​​​​​​will it bring? Or, what problems will it overcome?
  • What functions or features are essential, that the thing must definitely do or have?
  • What functions or features are optional, that would be nice to do or have?
  • What is undesirable, that the thing should not do or have?
• Describe the context for which you are designing:
  • What important things did you learn about the design topic in the EMPATHISE stage?
  • What interesting or surprising things did you learn?
  • What solutions already exist?
  • How will your solution be different or better than the existing ones?
  • How does this design project align with the guidelines in the Design Principles (IV) handout?
• Problem statement
  • Summarise everything that you have learnt about the design topic by writing a single paragraph describing the thing that you are going to design as completely as you can.
  • Begin with the words, “I am going to design...” or “We are going to design...”

(*The design topic is the thing that you are designing.)

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​​​​​​​Tip

• Keep your problem statement concise, between one and two A4 pages when printed out.