Step 1 - Frame the Problem with Precision

In the previous segment, you got a brief overview of the five-step problem-solving approach that can help you arrive at solutions in a structured way. Let us now look at this approach in detail. 

The first and one of the most important steps of this approach is to frame the problem precisely. If you are looking to solve a problem but are unable to frame the problem statement precisely, there is a high probability that you will end up not getting the desired results. So, in this segment, our expert will help you understand how you can go about framing the problem statement. 

Let’s hear from our expert. 

In this video, you learnt about some of the key activities that you must carry out to frame the problem statement precisely. Some of these activities are listed below:   

• Establish the need for a solution 
• Justify the need for this solution
• Contextualise the problem to understand it fully before you start building the solution

After carrying out these activities and framing the problem statement, you can focus all your efforts on finding the most effective solution to this problem. Moreover, you also learnt about the different types of questions that you need to answer while carrying out the aforementioned activities. Some of these questions are listed in the table provided below. 

These are some of the important questions that you need to answer while framing the problem statement. However, as you gather context on the problem, it is also important for you to distinguish between the different facts and opinions related to the problem for a better analysis. Therefore, in the next segment, you will learn about the major differences between facts and opinions.