Define
Ready-made templates for the Define stage, online or to print.
Templates for the Define stage
The Define stage organises and synthesises what the team has discovered, and ends with a How Might We question. The templates are waiting in Canva. You can work on them online or download and print them.
- 1Synthesise the informationArrange your research findings on the value proposition canvas, on separate sticky notes.
- 2Set prioritiesTeams create three rankings: jobs, pains and gains, from the most to the least important.
- 3Frame the How Might We questionFill in the template: how might we help (whom?) to (do what?), so that (which benefit?). This question steers the Ideate stage.
Templates and methods of the Define stage
A circle with three parts: pains (difficulties and frustrations), jobs (what users are trying to get done) and gains (the results they are looking for). A tool by Osterwalder, Pigneur, Bernarda and Smith.
It names the user, the problem and the benefit precisely. “Students” is too broad a group, while “students writing their dissertations” is specific.
Teams read short texts about the problem and choose five words that best describe its causes.
You can ask one question of a superintelligence that will answer with complete truth. Which question do you choose?
What to be ready for
Teams readily describe the problem from their own perspective. Keep returning to the jobs, pains and gains of the person they are designing for.
This stage calls for convergent thinking. Note solution ideas down for later and sharpen the problem first.
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