Case of Study: A Good Problem Statement

4 min readApr 18, 2022

Well, we already know that identifying and solving a problem is intrinsic to the UX process, but you have to keep in mind this problem is not just any problem, but the main one — the user’s problem.

Good problem statements are:

➱ Centered on the user;
➱ Broad enough not to point to a specific solution just yet;
➱ Specific enough to be manageable.

The 4 “W”

A good heuristic to help you formulate your problem statement is The 4 “W”, yet identifying the actual problem is not as easy as it seems.

Let’s go over the 4 “W” briefly…

Who is experiencing the problem? In UX, we focus on the problem experienced by the user, not strictly as seen from the organization’s point of view. For instance “customers are dropping out of the purchase channel” is a business issue; “customers cannot find the information they are seeking” is a customer issue. Customers do not care about leaving the purchase channel, but they get frustrated about not finding what they are looking for. Time to practice your empathy here.
What is the problem? Once you have differentiated the organization from the user’s point of view, their respective problems are becoming clearer.
Where does the problem present itself? In what circumstances, what section of the process or site? Give this “W” question a flexible interpretation according to the situation you are focusing on.
Why does it matter? What impact does it have on the user’s experience, and in turn on the organization?

The example

Now, let`s take some time to analyze this short example ahead, and then we can think about some questions.

We all know that filing taxes is not enjoyable or easy, and taxpayers usually take care of their business with the IRS/Treasury digitally.
However, there's always an option for those citizens who have difficulties with the digital world and because of that still contact the authorities by phone or by visiting the local tax offices, therefore this option caused some serious time consuming for those employees.
And not only those but, surprisingly, the new generation had some issues using the system as well, they expected that the system would handle everything for them, as they had little or no experience with doing taxes.
Furthermore, a research study showed that the employees of taxes offices had really taken it for granted that the users would understand or figure out their language.
So, they came up with the idea of creating some sort of educational material to work with young people both to help them understand what support they could get and make it easier to do things themselves.

Identifying a good problem statement might seem like a “no-brainer” but in UX practice, more often than not, we are presented with situations very similar to that of the tax system example above: an initial problem is flagged, and in the process of getting all the information around the issue (by using the four ‘W’, for instance), we get to the real problem for this situation.
Filing taxes is never easy, so how do you make it as effortless as placing an Amazon order?

➥ What was the initial problem?

Many people could not figure out how to file their taxes digitally.

➥ What was the real problem?

Many young people did not understand tax authority phrases.

➥ Who was experiencing the initial problem?

The Tax and Customs Administration

➥ Who experienced the real problem?

Many young people

Let’s reflect on this process

Do you see the difference between the initial and the real problem? To use an analogy, they are two sides of the same coin. We can so easily mistake one for the other…

If your definition of the problem does not include the user’s point of view, you are not tackling the problem from a UX angle!

In the light of this example, do you see how it’s important and not that obvious to identify a good problem statement? You can probably appreciate the fact that UX research impacts even the problem statement. And this is just the beginning of the research efforts.

In UX design and evaluation projects, we do not take for granted initial statements (or problems!), we know these may change once we have appropriately collected enough information to answer the 4 “W” (Who, What, Why, Where).