Problem Statement and How Might We

The brief arrives already shaped as a solution. Add a loyalty tab. Nobody in the room can say whose problem that solves, and the work starts anyway.

What is on the board

• 01 Problem statement. Five blanks in a row: USER, NEEDS TO, BECAUSE, BUT, WHICH MAKES HER FEEL. Under them a resolved sentence cell that reads the five back as one sentence you can say out loud. If it still sounds like a feature request, the because is missing.
• 02 Jobs to be done. Three rows: When I, I want to, So I can. One job, three lines, written in her words rather than the product’s.
• 03 How might we. Six cards, numbered. Each holds a question that opens a direction without naming a solution, and one line underneath on what that direction actually opens up.
• The header. Project name and the persona line, so the statement is never read detached from the person it belongs to.

Before and after

• Before: A brief that names a feature.
  After: A sentence that names a user and a blocker.
• Before: “Users want loyalty.”
  After: Five blanks that force a because.
• Before: The job written in the product’s words.
  After: When I, I want to, So I can, in hers.
• Before: One idea everybody defends.
  After: Six How might we questions, none naming a solution.
• Before: A document that ends the conversation.
  After: A board the room can argue with.
• Before: An Arabic version translated after the fact.
  After: Levantine blanks, built right to left.

What lands in the download

• FIG The template. One Figma file, four pages: English light, English dark, Arabic light, Arabic dark, all on one variable collection. Auto layout throughout, so every cell grows as you type.
• PDF The guide. 8 pages: the four boards, a five step how to use, and a glossary of every field with its Arabic label beside it.
• PDF, MD Pro. Five Claude prompts: fill it from my notes, critique it, Arabic edition, turn it into insights, push it to Figma.
• PDF Pro. The facilitation guide. A thirty minute session: what to ask, in what order, and how to close it.
• FIG Pro. A second worked example in a second market, as its own Figma file, so you can read the method instead of guessing at it.
• FOLDER Pro. The Claude Code skill. Point it at your notes folder and it fills the board, then writes it into your own Figma file by layer name.

Who it is for, and when to run it

For the moment between research and design, when the team has findings and no agreed problem. Run it in one session with everyone who will build the thing, and do not leave until the resolved sentence survives being read aloud.

Two editions. Free: the Figma file and the PDF. Pro, 10 dollars: adds the five prompts, the facilitation guide, the second worked example and the Claude Code skill.