You’ve assembled the team, everyone’s ready to solve the problem, but halfway through you realize you’ve been solving the wrong thing. Sound familiar?
A problem statement is a clear, concise description of an issue that needs solving. It identifies who’s affected, what’s wrong, and why it matters, without jumping to solutions. When done right, problem statements align teams, focus efforts, and prevent wasted resources on the wrong priorities.
Whether you’re a UX designer defining user pain points, a project manager scoping initiatives, or a researcher framing your study, writing effective problem statements is a skill that determines project success. Let’s break down everything you need to know about creating problem statements that actually work.
What Is A Problem Statement And Why It Matters For Your Project
A problem statement is a brief explanation of an issue or challenge that requires attention and resolution. It describes the gap between the current situation and the desired outcome, establishing exactly what needs fixing before anyone starts proposing solutions.
Problem statements serve as scoping devices that focus teams on the specific issue they need to explore and solve, ensuring everyone works toward the same goal rather than pursuing different interpretations of the challenge.
Core Components Of An Effective Problem Statement
Every strong problem statement includes three essential elements. First, it defines the current state with specific details about what’s happening now. Second, it describes the desired state or ideal outcome. Third, it articulates the gap between these two states and why closing that gap matters.
The key distinction is what problem statements are NOT. They don’t prescribe solutions, suggest specific features, or jump to implementation details. They focus exclusively on understanding and articulating the problem itself.
Consider these examples:
Weak: “We need a better website.” Strong: “Users are abandoning the checkout process because it’s too complex, resulting in lost sales.”
The weak example offers no specifics and implies a solution. The strong example identifies who’s affected (users), what’s happening (abandoning checkout), why it’s happening (complexity), and the impact (lost sales).
Three Essential Components
(What’s happening now)
(Ideal outcome)
(Why it matters)
When Problem Statements Are Created In Project Lifecycles
Problem statements should be written as early as possible in the discovery phase, as they help set goals and objectives for the entire initiative. Many teams compose their problem statement during kickoff workshops, before conducting detailed research or ideating solutions.
The timing is critical. Create your problem statement after initial observations but before solution ideation. This ensures you’re defining the right problem while avoiding the trap of confirmation bias where you mold the problem to fit your preferred solution.
Now that you understand what problem statements are, let’s explore who benefits from using them.
Who Uses Problem Statements And Where They Make The Biggest Impact
Problem statements aren’t limited to one industry or discipline. They’re fundamental tools across diverse fields, each adapting the core principles to their specific context.
Problem Statements In UX And Product Design
UX designers use problem statements to capture what they want to achieve with their design, focusing on user needs as verbs rather than nouns. Rather than saying users need a dropdown menu, designers identify that users need to see available choices and select one option.
During the discovery phase, problem statements help UX teams identify and frame issues to explore and solve, while communicating the discovery’s scope and focus. This prevents teams from investigating solutions before fully understanding user pain points.
Problem Statements In Business And Project Management
Business leaders use problem statements to justify process improvement initiatives and secure resources. By clearly articulating current problems, their impact on operations, and potential benefits of solving them, managers gain stakeholder buy-in for change initiatives.
Problem statements help businesses identify goals, outline project scope, and guide activities and decisions of project team members. They transform vague concerns into actionable projects with defined boundaries and success criteria. In methodologies like Six Sigma DMAIC, the problem statement forms a crucial element of the Define phase, setting direction for the entire improvement process.
Problem Statements In Academic Research
Researchers craft problem statements to establish the significance of their studies. A research problem statement contextualizes the issue, describes the exact problem to address, shows its relevance, and sets research objectives.
These statements help researchers demonstrate the academic vacuum their work fills, justify the need for investigation, and frame their research questions within existing knowledge gaps.
Problem Statements For Web Development Projects
Web developers and agencies use problem statements to align with clients on project goals. A clear problem statement prevents scope creep by documenting what the website or application needs to accomplish and why, ensuring technical solutions address actual user and business needs rather than assumed requirements.
For teams offering web design and web development services, problem statements create shared understanding between clients and developers about the core issue the project aims to solve.
Regardless of your industry, following a structured approach ensures your problem statement hits the mark.
5 Critical Elements Every Problem Statement Must Include
5 Critical Elements Every Problem Statement Must Include
The Problem Itself
Define exactly what’s wrong with specific, observable details. Avoid vague descriptions.
Who Is Affected
Identify the specific stakeholders experiencing the problem and how it impacts each group.
Where & When It Occurs
Provide context about location, timing, and circumstances. Scope helps focus investigation.
Why It Matters
Articulate the impact on the organization—reputational damage, costs, or lost market share.
Desired Outcome
Describe what success looks like without prescribing how to achieve it.
Every strong problem statement addresses five critical questions that provide complete context for the issue at hand.
Element 1: The Problem Itself Define exactly what’s wrong with specific, observable details. Avoid vague descriptions like “customer satisfaction is low.” Instead, specify measurable issues: “Customer support response times exceed 48 hours, causing a 25% increase in complaint escalations.”
Element 2: Who Is Affected Identify the specific stakeholders experiencing the problem. This might include end users, customers, employees, or business units. There could be multiple user groups affected by a problem in different ways, and the problem statement should call out how it affects each group.
Element 3: Where And When It Occurs Provide context about the problem’s location, timing, and circumstances. Does it happen during specific processes, at certain times, or in particular environments? This scope helps teams focus their investigation and solution efforts.
Element 4: Why It Matters Articulate the impact on the organization, whether that’s reputational damage, unavoidable costs, or lost market share. Quantifying the impact convinces stakeholders that solving this problem deserves time and resources.
Element 5: Desired Outcome Describe what success looks like without prescribing how to achieve it. This sets a clear goal for measuring whether proposed solutions actually address the problem.
The 5W2H methodology (Who, What, When, Where, Why, How, How Much) provides a framework for answering these essential questions when defining problems systematically.
With these elements in mind, let’s walk through the actual writing process.
How To Write A Problem Statement That Drives Real Solutions
How To Write A Problem Statement: 5-Step Process
Gather Data & Observations
Collect factual information through multiple sources. Talk directly with stakeholders, observe work environments, and review research data.
Identify The Core Problem (Not Symptoms)
Distinguish between surface symptoms and underlying root causes. Ask “why” repeatedly until you uncover the root cause.
Define Stakeholders & Impact
Document exactly who experiences the problem and how it affects them. Quantify impact using metrics like revenue lost or time wasted.
Frame Current vs Desired State
Use the Ideal-Reality-Consequences framework. Be specific about both states—avoid vague descriptions.
Write & Refine Your Statement
Draft in 50-100 words combining insights from previous steps. Share with stakeholders and refine based on feedback.
Creating an effective problem statement requires a methodical approach that balances thorough investigation with concise communication.
Step 1 Gather Data And Observations
Start by collecting factual information about the problem through multiple sources. Get out in the field and talk directly with stakeholders impacted by the problem, observe the work environment, and review data from research and reports.
Avoid relying on assumptions or secondhand accounts. Direct observation and stakeholder interviews provide the most accurate understanding of what’s actually happening versus what people think is happening.
Step 2 Identify The Core Problem Not Symptoms
Distinguish between surface symptoms and underlying root causes. Ask “why” repeatedly until you’re satisfied you’ve uncovered the root cause, which helps you avoid ineffective band-aid solutions.
For example, “Sales are declining” is a symptom. The root problem might be “Our product pricing has become uncompetitive due to new market entrants offering similar features at 30% lower cost.”
Step 3 Define Stakeholders And Impact
Document exactly who experiences the problem and how it affects them. Interview different stakeholder groups to understand varying perspectives on the same issue.
Excluding key stakeholders from problem statement development introduces inaccuracies and oversights, as stakeholders directly impacted offer valuable insights that enhance accuracy.
Quantify the impact wherever possible using metrics like time wasted, revenue lost, customer churn rates, or support ticket volume.
Step 4 Frame The Current vs Desired State
Use the Ideal-Reality-Consequences framework: describe the desired state of the process or product (Ideal), the current state (Reality), and impacts on the business if not fixed (Consequences).
Be specific about both states. Vague descriptions like “improve customer experience” don’t provide direction. Instead, specify “reduce customer support response times from 48 hours to 4 hours.”
Step 5 Write And Refine Your Statement
Draft your problem statement in 50-100 words, combining insights from previous steps. Share your draft with team members and stakeholders to ensure accuracy and completeness, then refine based on feedback.
A well-written statement is concise, specific, and focuses on the problem rather than solutions. Test your draft by asking: “Does this clearly communicate what’s wrong, who’s affected, and why it matters?”
Following this process helps, but having a proven template makes it even easier.
3 Problem Statement Templates You Can Use Right Now
Templates provide consistent structure while allowing customization for your specific context. Here are three proven formats for different situations.
Template 1 User Centered For UX Design
The Nielsen Norman Group provides a simple structure: a user, a need, and a goal, following the pattern “[A user] needs [need] in order to accomplish [goal]”.
When to use: UX research, product design, any user-facing solution development.
Example: “Sarah, a busy marketing manager, needs to quickly find and compare analytics data from multiple sources in order to create weekly reports without switching between five different tools.”
This template keeps focus on user needs as verbs (actions and outcomes) rather than jumping to feature requests.
Template 2 Business Process Improvement
Structure: [Problem] occurs in [location/context], affecting [stakeholders], resulting in [quantified impact]. Success means [desired outcome].
When to use: Operational improvements, efficiency initiatives, cost reduction projects.
Example: “Invoice processing errors occur in our accounts payable department during month-end close, affecting vendor relationships and internal finance teams, resulting in 15% of payments being delayed and $50,000 in late fees annually. Success means reducing processing errors to under 2% and eliminating late payment penalties.”
This format emphasizes business impact and measurable goals, which helps secure executive support.
Template 3 Research Problem Statement
Structure: [Context of existing knowledge]. However, [gap or contradiction]. This study addresses [specific question] by [research approach]. Understanding this matters because [significance].
When to use: Academic research, market research, exploratory studies.
Example: “Previous research shows that remote work increases productivity for knowledge workers. However, studies have focused primarily on individual contributors, leaving management effectiveness understudied. This research examines how middle managers adapted their leadership approaches during remote transitions by analyzing communication patterns across 200 teams. Understanding this matters because organizations need evidence-based strategies for hybrid leadership.”
Research statements emphasize the knowledge gap and study significance within the broader academic context.
Templates provide structure, but seeing complete examples brings them to life.
5 Problem Statement Examples From Different Industries
Concrete examples demonstrate how problem statements adapt across contexts while maintaining core principles.
Example 1 UX Design Problem Statement
“Users of our newspaper app often export content from our app, rather than sharing content through our app. This is a problem because target audiences are less likely to know that the content came from our app, leading to lower conversion rates. This is also a problem for app users, as exporting content is time-consuming and could lead to a decrease in app usage.”
What makes it effective: This statement identifies specific user behavior, explains why it’s problematic for both business and users, and quantifies the impact on conversion rates. It avoids suggesting solutions while clearly framing what needs investigation. For teams working on similar challenges, understanding the complete UX design process helps contextualize where problem statements fit in discovery.
Example 2 Web Development Project
“Small business owners struggle to update their website content because the current content management system requires technical knowledge, forcing them to pay developers $500-1000 monthly for minor text changes. This results in outdated information, missed sales opportunities, and frustration among business owners who want autonomy over their web presence.”
What makes it effective: The statement specifies the affected user group, identifies the obstacle (technical complexity), quantifies the financial impact, and explains multiple consequences without prescribing a specific solution. This type of problem often requires theme customization or platform migration to address.
Example 3 Business Process Problem
“Because planning is done manually using Excel spreadsheets and printed paper lists, sales reps find it difficult to meet their targets. Many have complained that keeping track of which leads to visit takes away from the time they can spend with them. This is a problem because, when targets are not met, the business risks losing revenue.”
What makes it effective: This example clearly connects the current inefficient process to its impact on employee performance and business outcomes, while avoiding suggesting specific technological solutions. Organizations facing similar challenges might benefit from process optimization services to identify systematic improvements.
Example 4 Research Academic Context
“While numerous studies examine smartphone addiction among teenagers, the role of parental mediation strategies remains understudied. Existing research focuses on usage time rather than quality of engagement or family dynamics. This study investigates how different parental approaches influence teenage smartphone behaviors and family relationships through longitudinal observation of 150 families.”
What makes it effective: The statement establishes what’s already known, identifies the specific knowledge gap, and explains the research approach without predetermined conclusions about what will be discovered.
Example 5 Product Management
“First-time users abandon our mobile app within three days at a 60% rate, despite high initial download numbers. User interviews reveal confusion about core features and unclear value proposition during onboarding. This prevents user retention and wastes marketing spend acquiring users who never convert to active subscribers.”
What makes it effective: This statement combines quantitative data (60% abandonment, three-day window) with qualitative insights (user confusion) and connects to business metrics (retention, marketing efficiency). Teams developing digital products can explore more about product design approaches that address these onboarding challenges.
Even with great examples, certain mistakes can undermine your problem statement.
7 Critical Mistakes That Weaken Your Problem Statement
Understanding common pitfalls helps you avoid them when crafting your own statements.
Mistake 1 Being Too Vague Or Broad
Problem statements lacking specificity make it difficult to identify the issue or work toward a solution, and overly broad statements confuse stakeholders and dilute focus.
Bad: “Sales are down.” Better: “Enterprise sales decreased 22% quarter-over-quarter, with sales cycle length increasing from 45 to 73 days due to new competitor offerings.”
Mistake 2 Including Solutions In The Problem Statement
Problem statements should leave solutions out because at the beginning of discovery, there are too many unknowns and the best solution is not obvious.
Bad: “We need to implement a chatbot to improve customer service.” Better: “Customer support inquiries take 24-48 hours to receive initial responses, causing 30% of customers to submit duplicate tickets or call, increasing support costs.”
Mistake 3 Focusing On Symptoms Instead Of Root Causes
Addressing only surface-level symptoms leads to incomplete solutions, making it essential to dig deeper and identify the underlying cause.
Bad: “Website traffic is declining.” Better: “Organic search traffic declined 35% following Google’s algorithm update because 60% of our content lacks proper schema markup and loads slowly on mobile devices.”
Mistake 4 Using Jargon Or Complex Language
Effective problem statements use clear, accessible language that can be understood by all stakeholders, not just technical experts or industry insiders.
Bad: “Suboptimal CRM utilization impedes sales velocity optimization.” Better: “Sales teams aren’t using our customer database consistently, making it difficult to track which prospects have been contacted and when.”
Mistake 5 Making Unsupported Assumptions
Problem statements should not presume solutions or causes without evidence. Every claim should be based on observable data, research, or stakeholder feedback.
Bad: “Customers don’t use our app because they prefer our competitors.” Better: “App usage dropped 40% after the last update, with user reviews specifically mentioning that the new navigation is confusing and key features are harder to access.”
Mistake 6 Defining Multiple Problems At Once
A discovery effort should have one problem statement focused on one problem, as listing many unrelated problems signals you’re tackling too much.
Break complex situations into separate, focused problem statements rather than combining unrelated issues into an unwieldy document.
Mistake 7 Forgetting To Quantify Impact
Numbers make problems concrete and compelling. Without quantification, stakeholders can’t assess priority or measure success.
Bad: “The checkout process takes too long.” Better: “Checkout completion takes an average of 8 minutes, causing 45% of users to abandon their carts before purchase, representing $2.3M in lost annual revenue.”
Beyond avoiding mistakes, understanding how problem statements differ from related concepts prevents confusion.
Problem Statement vs Hypothesis vs Design Brief How They Differ
These three concepts often appear in the same projects but serve distinct purposes in the problem-solving process.
Problem Statement vs Hypothesis
Problem statements identify the problem you hope to solve, while hypotheses help you decide how you will try to solve it. The problem statement comes first and defines what needs fixing.
A hypothesis is a prediction about what will happen if you take a specific action to resolve the problem. Hypothesis statements usually identify what will be changed, the potential outcome, and why you think the change will have that particular result. Teams then test these hypotheses through prototyping and experimentation.
Problem Statement: “Users abandon checkout because the process requires creating an account, causing 40% cart abandonment.”
Hypothesis: “By allowing guest checkout, we believe more users will complete purchases, solving the account creation barrier. We expect to see cart abandonment decrease by 15%.”
The problem statement focuses entirely on understanding the issue, while the hypothesis proposes a testable solution.
Problem Statement vs Design Brief
A design brief is a comprehensive document that includes the problem statement as one component among many others. Design briefs include client information, end user details, problem statement, design criteria, constraints, and deliverables.
The problem statement is typically one section within the design brief, providing the foundation for understanding why the project exists. The brief then expands to cover scope, timeline, budget, and success criteria.
Think of the problem statement as the “why” embedded within the larger “what, how, when, and who” of the design brief.
Problem Statement vs Hypothesis vs Design Brief
Problem Statement vs Project Scope
Project scope defines the boundaries of what will and won’t be done during a project. The problem statement explains why the project is necessary.
These documents work together: the problem statement establishes the need for action, while the scope document determines which aspects of the problem the current project will address and what falls outside its boundaries.
A project might address only part of a larger problem, with the scope document making those boundaries explicit.
Understanding these distinctions helps you use the right tool at the right time in your project.
Helpful Frameworks For Crafting Better Problem Statements
Several proven methodologies strengthen problem statement development by ensuring thorough investigation.
The 5W2H Method
The 5W2H method stands for What, Who, Where, When, Why, How, and How Much, providing a systematic approach to problem solving and decision making. This framework ensures you gather complete information before writing your statement.
By answering each question systematically, you avoid overlooking critical details. The 5W1H approach helps obtain fundamental information about a problem, qualifying it by looking at every angle.
Apply this during your initial problem investigation to ensure your statement addresses all essential elements. Document answers to each question, then synthesize them into a coherent problem statement. In Six Sigma projects, this methodology forms the foundation of the Define phase.
The 5 Whys Technique
Asking “why” repeatedly until you’re satisfied you’ve uncovered the root cause helps avoid ineffective band-aid solutions. This systematic questioning approach prevents problem statements from focusing on symptoms rather than underlying issues.
Start with the observable problem and ask why it occurs. Take that answer and ask why again. Continue for typically five iterations (though sometimes more or fewer) until you reach the fundamental cause.
Example progression: Problem: Website loading is slow. Why? Image files are too large. Why? Images aren’t compressed before upload. Why? The content management system doesn’t have automatic compression. Why? The system was built before modern image optimization was standard. Why? Technical infrastructure hasn’t been updated in five years.
Root cause: Outdated technical infrastructure lacks modern optimization capabilities.
Empathy Mapping For UX Contexts
Empathy maps help UX designers understand users deeply before writing problem statements. These maps examine what users hear, see, say and do, and think and feel, connecting the team to the user immediately.
By documenting user observations, feelings, and pain points in this structured format, designers identify problems from the user’s perspective rather than making assumptions about what users need.
Use empathy mapping during user research to gather insights that inform your problem statement, ensuring it reflects actual user experiences rather than internal assumptions about problems.
Armed with these frameworks and templates, you’re ready to write problem statements that drive meaningful change.
Moving From Problem Definition To Solution With Confidence
Problem statements are the foundation of successful projects across every industry and discipline. As Einstein supposedly said, given an hour to solve a problem, he’d spend 55 minutes thinking about the problem and five minutes finding solutions.
That wisdom holds true today. Time invested in properly defining problems saves exponentially more time by preventing teams from solving the wrong issues or implementing solutions that miss the mark.
Remember three critical principles: be specific with observable details and quantified impact, focus exclusively on the problem without suggesting solutions, and validate your statement with stakeholders who experience the issue firsthand.
With the frameworks, templates, and examples in this guide, you now have practical tools for writing problem statements that align teams and drive results. Whether you’re working on web design projects, UX research, or business improvements, strong problem statements transform vague concerns into clear action, setting the stage for creative solutions that actually solve the right problems.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is a problem statement in simple terms?
A problem statement is a clear description of an issue that needs solving. It explains what’s wrong, who’s affected, and why fixing it matters, all without jumping to solutions. Think of it as defining the gap between where things are now and where they should be.
How long should a problem statement be?
Most effective problem statements are 50-100 words or 2-4 sentences long. This length provides enough detail to be specific and useful without becoming unwieldy. The key is being concise while including all essential elements: the problem, stakeholders, context, and impact.
What is the difference between a problem statement and a purpose statement?
A problem statement defines the issue and its impact, while a purpose statement explains the goal and approach for addressing it. The problem statement answers “What’s wrong?” and the purpose statement answers “What are we going to do about it?” They work together but serve different functions in project planning.
Can a problem statement include solutions?
No, problem statements should focus only on defining the problem, who it affects, and why it matters. Including solutions prematurely limits creative problem solving because at the beginning of discovery, there are too many unknowns. Keep solutions for the separate ideation and hypothesis phases that come after problem definition.
When should you write a problem statement?
Write your problem statement as early as possible during the discovery or planning phase, as it helps set goals and objectives for the entire initiative. Create it after initial observations and research but before jumping into solution ideation. This timing ensures you’re solving the right problem rather than molding problems to fit preferred solutions.
