An Easy Way To Solve A Problem.
I sat in a great session at SXSW 2011 where Intuit talked about how they define the user experience in their software by starting broad and working narrow. They use a very simple question to define user experience decisions, it’s so simple I am ashamed that it took me this long to see it.
Ask yourself this:
I am trying to ___________________ but ___________________ .
The first blank represents your goal. The second represents the problem.
Sometimes finding a problem is harder than finding a solution. This makes it so simple its scary. How do you break down complex problems?
4 comments
Leave a Reply
Find Me. Follow Me.
I’m going to save this. Sometimes we tend to focus too much on the largeness of a problem and get overwhelmed. This is a great way to slow yourself down and pay attention to what you want first.
I agree with your reaction anyway.
We tackle complex problems by just listing what we know likely obsticles are and then just go out and “bump our heads;” regroup, rethink and hit it again.
It might waste time, but to me it deals with the biggest problem of all: GETTING STARTED.
- Joe
It sounds like the first step in solving a problem is identifying the problem. That makes sense! Putting a name on it helps, too.
Just calling it “A Problem” doesn’t offer any solution. Calling it “My room is too messy” provides an almost instant solution!
I’m going to pin this article to my mirror in my bathroom. A good way to start the day – every day!
What a great (and simple!!) way of looking at goal. This sentence is going directly on a post-it, or two
Thanks for the post!
Simplifying the whole process is the best way to solve your problems when it comes to buying a house. This method applies to anything and is a great way of laying it all out on a plate and solving it piece by piece.