Did you know the number one problem designers have is framing a design problem correctly? There are several reasons for this- anything from not realizing they need to account for business drivers to not getting the right information in the creative brief. 

Today I wanted to go over a quick tip I use to help frame the design challenge by adding a dimension of human value to it (kind of like Maslow’s hierarchy). This helps frame the way you approach defining and talking about the design challenge.

To  illustrate this, I made quick video that covers a resource I use when framing design problems called the Elements of Value by Bain & Company. These cover B2C and B2B values that help frame the problem so that you can understand what kind of value you are trying to target with your design solution. 

For example…

If I was generating a creative direction for a banking app I was designing, I would need to understand the business objectives of the bank (KPIs, desired market position, etc.) and the needs of the end user (“let me use my camera to deposit checks”, “use NFC to pay”, etc.). 

Doing the homework to understand and synthesize those into a creative brief that frames the challenge might result in a problem definition that sounds something like this: “Create a banking app that helps end users easily manage their finances and helps reduce cost for the bank by using less bank tellers to manage transactions”.

This would be correct for intensive purposes, but it is narrow in how it frames a design problem because it is tied too closely to the nuts and bolts of the problem and doesn’t leave the door open for creative solutions. 

More creative options appear when we start thinking about what kind of value we want to create for the end user (B2C in this case) as part of the problem definition. If we look at the Bain chart and think about how the app experience might help people feel more empowered, for example, then we are starting to frame the problem in terms of value, and that is where these charts come in handy. 

Check out the video for a more in depth explanation of the charts!