LukeW’s Process of Defining The Problem
UI11 Speaker, Luke Wroblewski, has written another excellent essay, this time on The Process of Defining the Problem:
Following the Defining the Problem series on Functioning Form, several designers asked how they should go about reframing problems with clients. How could they shift the conversation from an analysis of specific solutions to a broader discussion that better defined the problem they were trying to solve? Perhaps the best way to illustrate such a process is with an example.
Several years ago, I was called in to help redesign the registration process for a large European e-commerce site. The company had put together two options for a new registration flow. Both were compiled by engineering and product management teams and incorporated “best practices” from competing sites. I was tasked with determining which option would work best and to address any usability issues either of the options might have.