Problem framing
Make the missing outcome visible before selecting the means.
Predict first
Before you read: predict
A catalog ticket asks, “Which search library should we install?” No user difficulty is described.
Which response first expands the request usefully?
The 30-second version
Before choosing a solution, describe the outcome someone needs, who is affected, when the difficulty appears, and the constraints around it. Agree an observable done-check. A request naming a tool may hide the actual problem. Ask for the broader goal while retaining the proposal as a candidate, not as the problem's definition. [S1–S4]
Make the missing outcome visible before selecting the means.
How it works
Step 1 of 6
Analogy: A public footbridge crossing
A town receives a request for a footbridge. Before selecting its form, it asks which travelers need the crossing, when access fails, what grade and flood conditions limit use, and what observation would show the crossing helps. A school route, a market route and a riverside walk may all request a crossing for different reasons.
The crossing brief records the people, occasion, access conditions and a visible completed-crossing check. A bridge type remains one possible means. This authored analogy concerns clarifying a civic-access plan, not civil-engineering advice.
| Crossing planning | Problem frame |
|---|---|
| Intended crossing use | Desired outcome |
| Travelers and visitors | Affected people |
| Flood, school or market occasion | Triggering context |
| Grade and mobility conditions | Constraints |
| Agreed completed-crossing observation | Done-check |
| Adjacent connections deferred | Non-goals |
The analogy stops at the planning boundary. It creates a question for later design and testing.
Try it
Answer first, then check. Nothing is saved.
Question 1 of 5
A note identifies stock editors and their need to correct unavailable products.
Which line belongs in its When field?
Question 2 of 5
A catalog team is writing a design document for an inventory change.
Which proposed line records an explicit boundary?
Question 3 of 5
Six review tasks each have an expected disposition and a proctor response: [allow, hold, allow, hold, allow, hold] versus [allow, allow, allow, hold, hold, hold].
Which completion record is computed from those two lists?
Question 4 of 5
A stock-check note needs one Because line.
Which draft belongs there?
Question 5 of 5
A request says, “Add Redis to the search page.” Asked why, the requester says shoppers wait on filtered searches; the query log shows the slow queries filter on an unindexed in_stock field.
Which line should the note record as its problem statement?
Go deeper
Pro tip
Authored writing aid: read the frame aloud without the product or library name. If it no longer describes any difficulty, the proposal may still be doing the work of the missing problem statement.
Related lessons
Checked against the tools and docs as of 2026-09-29.