Problem statement facts for kids

A problem statement is like a clear description of a challenge or something that needs to be made better. It helps you see the difference between how things are now (the problem) and how you want them to be (your goal). To solve a problem, you first need to really understand it, and a problem statement helps you do that. Businesses and groups often use problem statements to make things work better and to improve their processes.

Why We Need a Problem Statement

The main reason for a problem statement is to clearly show what the problem is. This means explaining where the problem happens and what bad effects it has. It also describes how things should look once the problem is solved.

A problem statement is also a great way to talk about the project with everyone involved. Before a project starts, people who care about it (called stakeholders) check if the problem and goals are described correctly. Once they agree, the project team reads it to make sure everyone understands the issue and what they are trying to do. This also helps define the project scope, which keeps the project focused on the main goal.

The problem statement is used throughout the project to keep the team focused and on track. At the end of the project, it's checked again to make sure the solution really fixed the problem. A good problem statement can also help you figure out why the problem happened (this is called root-cause analysis). This way, you can try to stop it from happening again.

It's important to remember that a problem statement does not say how to solve the problem. It just points out the difference between the problem and the goal.

Finding the Real Problem

Before you can write a problem statement, you need to clearly understand the problem. This often involves a group effort.

It usually starts by talking to the people affected by the issue, like customers or users. You try to understand what bothers them. Since people sometimes find it hard to explain their issues, especially to someone new, it helps to ask a series of "why" questions. This method is known as the five whys. It helps you dig deeper to find the real problem, because many frustrations might just be signs of a bigger issue. Asking these questions and repeating what they said shows you understand and care.

The information you get from these talks is just one part of understanding the problem. Often, the problem affects many different areas, and the people you talk to might not even know about all of them. They might know what's happening on the surface, but not the deeper cause. So, it's also important to get ideas and information from the project team and experts. You might also need to look at other materials like instructions, user manuals, or old project plans. Finding the problem is often a back-and-forth process, meaning you might need several rounds of discussions to get the full picture.

Once you understand the problem and why the project is starting, it's time to write the problem statement.

Writing a Clear Problem Statement

Your problem statement will be used to get support and approval for your project. So, it needs to be clear and accurate to get good results. A poorly written or wrong problem statement can lead to a bad solution and waste time, money, and effort.

Here are some key things to include in every problem statement to help prevent project failure:

• Focus on the user: The problem statement should be about the people who are affected by the problem. A common mistake is to focus on how to solve it, instead of the current issue.
• Not too broad: Using the "five whys" helps you get enough details to understand the problem well and find a good solution.
• Not too narrow: If the problem statement is too specific about a solution, it can stop new ideas from coming up. This might lead to a less-than-great experience for the user.

It's helpful to follow a specific plan when writing a problem statement. Here's a simple template often used in business analysis to help focus on defining the problem:

• Ideal: This part describes how things should be. It talks about what the users or customers want and helps define the project's boundaries. Basically, it shows what the perfect situation would look like once the problem is solved.
• Reality: This part describes how things are right now. It explains the difficulties or "pain points" that users and customers are experiencing. It should also include insights from the project team and experts.
• Consequences: This part explains what bad things will happen if the problem isn't fixed. This can include losing money, time, or productivity. How big these effects are can also help decide how important the project is.
• Proposal: This part suggests possible ways to solve the problem. Once the "Ideal," "Reality," and "Consequences" sections are clear and approved, the project team can start thinking of solutions. It can also include ideas from users and customers, though more discussion and research will be needed before choosing a specific plan.

Example Problem Statement

Problem statements can be different lengths, depending on how complicated the problem is. Here is a simple example of a problem statement for creating a single sign-on system (where you log in once and get access to many things):

Ideal:

• Ideally, users would sign into their laptops once and then automatically get access to all the applications they need to use.

Reality:

• In reality, users use at least three different applications every day for their work. Each application needs a separate password, and they all have different rules for usernames and password length. Passwords also expire at different times.

Consequences:

• Users waste about two minutes each day logging into multiple applications. (If there are 500 users, that's 1000 minutes, or 16.67 hours of lost work time per day.)
• The help desk gets about 6,000 calls per year just to reset forgotten passwords and unlock accounts.
• There's a security risk because users often write down their usernames and passwords on sticky notes on their desks.

Proposal:

• Have a software developer, network administrator, and business leaders work together to find possible solutions for a single sign-on system.

See also

In Spanish: Planteamiento del problema para niños