What's the
problem?
The one everybody is trying to solve? Or the real one?
Here are a few I've worked on — each one starting from the question, not from the logo.
Most companies don't have a solution problem. They have a problem problem. The brief describes a symptom, everyone agrees on it, and the work goes to the wrong place very efficiently.
Selected problems
We had more data than ever. We were still measuring the wrong things.
Clicks, page views, fans, dashboards, weekly reports. None of it answered why something happened, or what to do next.
Read the problemwhat changed in sales
Everyone wanted the next technology. That wasn't the problem.
The request usually arrived as a tool: a new platform, a new channel, a new capability. Rarely as a need.
Read the problem- Need
- Existing assets
- Audience / context
- Technology
chosen last — tested small
Most briefs arrive at 04 first.
We had a loyalty programme. Customers had no reason to be loyal.
Points, rewards, emails and a growing database were being treated as a relationship with the customer. They weren't one.
Read the problemwhat they own, what's next
The market was ready. The organisation wasn't.
A digital opportunity was being handled as a marketing question, while the real obstacles sat in priorities, systems, process and skills.
Read the problemBuyers weren't confused. They simply didn't care.
Office technology sold to business buyers, where every company said the same things. The product was visible; it just wasn't worth an opinion.
Read the problemNobody has an opinion
Say the thing nobody says
Conversation already started
Six things the work kept proving
- 01Platforms do not solve your problem.
- 02One size fits all does not work.
- 03Why did it happen? What should we do differently?
- 04Consumer needs first, not technology.
- 05It is not about having a digital presence. It is about whether that presence does anything useful.
- 06The invisible parts of a programme are often the parts that make it work.
Explaining change while it is happening
What does an Apple announcement actually change for ordinary people?
Asked to explain, live, what Apple was changing — to an audience with no particular interest in how the industry works.
If it can't be said simply, out loud, once, it isn't understood yet.
What should companies do about a change that isn't finished yet?
Live commentary on what Facebook's business model meant for companies, at a point when the honest answer was still partly open.
Telling the settled apart from the speculative is the actual work.
So, who
did all this?
Find outStart a conversation
Bring the situation, not the brief. The first useful thing we can do together is find out whether the problem is the one you've been given.
hello@problemslab.com