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Please provide answers to the questions below. Be sure to get input from your team and the public. Remember: a well-formulated challenge is already half solved. Thus, taking time to explicitly address problem definition may begin to yield creative answers.
- Take care that the problem is not a solution in disguise. For example, “we lack a good website” is not a problem.
- Avoid vague generalities as responses. The answer to who is affected should not be “the public.”
- Avoid complex jargon and technical terms.
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What is the problem?
When and where does it occur?
Who is impacted?
Formulate the problem definition as an “if . . . then” statement. The common format is: “If [cause]____________________________________________, then [effect]____________________________________________, because [rationale]____________________________________________.”
At Stanford’s d.school, students are taught to change the frame of reference by shifting the perspective to that of another person. Instead of looking at a problem from your own point of view, can you look at it from the point of view of the person experiencing the problem?
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Having trouble with this exercise? Get in touch with us: hello@solvingpublicproblems.org