Finding Question-Problem Fit

No matter your title, your job is to solve problems. Before you can solve, you must understand. Preliminary data will be limited, so it's up to you to ask questions. Putting together the pieces, building a foundation to act from.

Problems are often framed as either symptoms or requests. Symptoms are too broad.

"Customer wait times are too long."

You'll need to ask "what?" to uncover the underlying condition you're facing, before you can prescribe the appropriate treatment.

"What is the support process?"

"What evidence demonstrates this problem?"

"What is the current wait time and what is the target time"

Requests are the reverse. Too specific.

"We need you to build a new onboarding email with XYZ features."

To move forward with purpose (or to uncover if the action is even needed), focus on "why?".

"Why do we need a new experience?"

"Is it because of we're targeting a new customer base?"

"Is it because the current design is now outdated?"

Understand before solving. When problems are too broad, ask "what?", too narrow, ask "why?".

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Herman Ye

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