Template: Scenario-Based Problem Statements

Here's a template for people to build scenario-based problem statements.

What is This?

Teams are making a lot of assumptions. In fact, every decision a team makes is an assumption. They assume they're making the right decision for the business or for the users. The assumptions could be justified with a lot of research, or backed by estimated guesses, but they are assumptions nonetheless. Nothing will ever be verified to be true or false until your entire audience uses something and you get enough data that's representative of the population and statistically significant. Teams should perform continuous problem-solving to release early and often, and continuously improve by testing their assumptions and refining their vision. Over time, they deliver more value to users and validate more assumptions. This is cyclical in nature; every time something gets delivered, new assumptions form, and the team should keep validating every new assumption being made.

The problem statements they generate are the essence of all of the communications that get built when making change. Each audience could experience hundreds of different situational problems that each require their own solutions. This template helps teams break down their assumptions about the current state to land on the right problems and situations that matter the most to users.

Why is it Valuable?

This is valuable because:

1. Teams can focus their solutions on the situations that matter to users.
2. Teams can communicate the reasons that problems exist for users.
3. Teams can generate buy-in and empathy with other stakeholders about why the problems they're prioritizing are bring business value.

When Should it Happen?

This work is done when teams are going through the Discovery, Vision, and Requirements milestones in continuous problem-solving operations. Read more about that here.

Goals of the Workshop

1. Communicate the most important scenarios that are challenging for audiences in the current state of the experiences you're changing.
2. Communicate the situational goals for each scenario.
3. Communicate what audiences expect from each scenario in order to make a change successful.

Components of the Workshop

Scenario-based problem statements can be formatted in paragraphs.

1. "Aspect" - AKA "Use Case". What's the scenario happening in the world right now that humans face that should change?
2. "Root of the Problem" - Why is this a problem for the audience?
3. "When and Where" - When in the customer experience does the audience face this problem today?
4. "Storytelling Component" - Why, in the audience's words, do they think that this is a meaningful problem to solve?

Problem Checklists are made of other components that relate to the problem statements:

1. "Situational Goal" - What outcome is the audience trying to achieve in this challenging situation that they cannot achieve?
2. "User Need" - What does the audience expect to be in place that's not in place today?
3. "Consequences They Want to Avoid" - What are the bad things that the audience is trying to avoid happening when they experience this scenario today?
4. "User Story" - A one sentence communication tool that depicts the audience, the situational goal, and the value that the change will bring. "As a [persona], when [situation], I want to [situational goal] so that [value add, or consequence to avoid]".

How to Do It

1. Break down scenarios that you and your team assume are happening right now that need to change
2. For each scenario, create:
   1. Aspects
3. For each aspect, create:
   1. Root problem of the aspect
   2. Who experiences the problem
   3. When it's a problem
   4. Why it's a meaningful problem for the audience
   5. Situational goal
   6. User need
   7. Consequences to avoid
   8. User stories

Expected Deliverables of the Workshop

1. Problem statements
2. Use cases that you want to change
3. User story statements
4. User goals
5. User needs

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