UX Problem Statement: What it is and how to write one

Imagine you’re starting a business or embarking on a new project as a UX Designer…

What’s the first step you’d take?

After working on some UX projects, I noticed a common challenge: uncertainty about how to approach a project. Most UX projects begin with a lead, an insight or an issue, but too often, people skip the process of defining a clear problem statement. This leads to uncertainty, a lack of a project scope and an unstructured approach that can feel overwhelming.

In this article I will talk about what a UX Problem Statement is and provide a practical, step-by-step method to write one. I will also share some examples and give you a free Figjam template so you can start writing your own problem statements!

First thing first…

What is a UX Problem Statement?

In the context of product discovery, the Nielsen Norman group defines a Problem Statement as:

"A concise description of the problem that needs to be solved."

‍NN Group

It defines the issue or pain point in a way that helps set the scope of the project. Its purpose is not to suggest solutions, but to provide a guideline for future work.

Some key characteristics of a problem statement are the following:

• User-focused: It should identify who the user is, their goals, and the obstacles preventing them from achieving those goals.
• Contextual: It should describe where and why the problem occurs.
• Solution-neutral: It should avoid proposing solutions, instead emphasizing the need to understand the problem fully before ideating.

Examples of UX Problem Statements

1. Online learning platform challenge:
   "Many students who use the online learning platform struggle with navigating through course modules. This problem is especially common among first-time users, due to the lack of a clear and intuitive structure. This affects students by decreasing engagement and also impacts the platform’s credibility with lower course completion rates. If not addressed, it could result in high dropout rates and diminished user retention."
2. ‍Retail Inventory Management Problem:
   "Store managers in a retail chain struggle with manually updating inventory records. This problem is especially common in busy stores, due to the absence of a centralized, automated system. This affects managers by increasing their workload and also impacts sales staff who encounter stock discrepancies. If not addressed, it could lead to lost sales opportunities, operational inefficiencies, and decreased customer satisfaction."
3. ‍Remote Work Collaboration Issue:
   "Remote teams who need to collaborate on projects struggle with finding the latest versions of shared documents. This problem is especially common in larger teams, due to the use of multiple, unintegrated platforms for file storage. This affects team productivity and also impacts new hires, who face delays in accessing necessary resources. If not addressed, it could lead to missed deadlines, lower team efficiency, and frustration among employees."

If you’ve noticed, all of these problem statements follow the same structure: they identify who is being affected, what the issue is, and when or where it occurs. Next, they talk about the root cause and conclude with why it’s important to address the problem. Let’s break this down in detail…

What are the components of a UX Problem Statement?

According to the NN Group, every problem statement consists of three key components. I like to follow this framework because it simplifies the process of defining and writing effective problem statements:

1. Background: This sets the stage by describing the current situation and the core issue at hand. It provides enough context to understand why the problem is significant.
2. People affected: This identifies who is directly impacted by the problem—specific groups, roles, or individuals.
3. Impact: This explains why it’s important to solve the problem. It highlights the potential negative outcomes or consequences if the issue is not addressed.

When should you write a UX Problem Statement?

UX Problem Statements are typically written during the product discovery phase—a stage dedicated to understanding the users we’re designing for, along with their challenges and motivations. The goal of this phase is to gather deep insights that can help us create meaningful solutions to address these needs.

There is not a specific moment to write a UX Problem Statement, but usually it will be in any of these two cases:

1. At the start of a project: When you identify an insight or specific issue worth addressing, you may kick off the project by crafting a problem statement.
2. After conducting UX research: Once you’ve talked with users and uncovered a problem that’s worth solving, a problem statement can help frame and guide the design process.

How to write a UX Problem Statement?

There are some popular techniques for writing a problem statement, like the 5Ws or the 5 Why's frameworks. However, I want to share my personal step-by-step process for crafting a concise and effective statement. It consists of three steps:

1. The 6Ws framework
2. Define the components
3. Write the UX Problem Statement

I will explain each step in detail…

Step 1: The 6Ws framework

This is a version of the 5Ws framework. The idea here is to answer the following questions in order to gain a deep understanding of the issue we want to address:

1. ‍Who?
   ‍Identify who is directly impacted by the problem. This can include primary users, stakeholders, or any specific group experiencing the issue.‍
2. What?
   ‍Describe the core issue or difficulty being faced. This should be a clear and specific description of the problem itself.‍
3. When?
   ‍Determine when the problem occurs.‍
4. Where?
   ‍Identify where the problem takes place.‍
5. Why does it matter?
   ‍Explain the importance of addressing the problem. What are the consequences if left unsolved?‍
6. Why does it happen?
   ‍Identify the root cause(s) of the problem. Understanding this helps direct focus toward effective solutions.

Step 2: Define the components

Remember the three components of the problem statement?

In this step, once we have a deep understanding of the issue, the context and its importance, we can easily define the components:

1. ‍ Define the background:
   ‍What is the current situation and the core issue at hand? Provide enough context to understand why the problem is significant. This ties back to the What?, Where?, When?, and Why does it happen?
2. Identify the people affected:
   ‍Who is directly impacted by the problem? This connects to the Who?
3. Identify the impact:
   ‍Why is it important to solve the problem? This relates to Why does it matter?

Step 3: Write the UX Problem Statement

Finally, once you have defined the three components, the last step is to combine them into a single, structured statement that captures the problem’s context, those affected, and potential consequences.

This is a template that could come in handy for doing this:

"Many [group affected] who [describe situation] struggle with [describe core issue]. This problem is especially common [when/where the problem occurs], due to [reason or contributing factor(s)]."

"This affects [primary group impacted] and also impacts [secondary groups, if relevant]."

"If not addressed, [describe potential negative outcomes or broader impact on the organization, community, or goals]."

Let's put everything together and write a problem statement following the process…

Example of writing a UX Problem Statement

Let’s say you’re working for a well-known retail store that has been experiencing low performance in their e-commerce department. After conducting research, you discover that the checkout process has significantly low conversion rates. This is an excellent opportunity to write a problem statement to guide the project and help ideate effective solutions.

Step 1: The 6Ws framework

1. Who?
   E-commerce customers, especially first-time or mobile users.
2. What?
   Struggle with completing their purchases due to overly complex checkout processes.
3. When?
   Primarily during the final steps of the purchasing journey.
4. Where?
   On the e-commerce platform, particularly mobile interfaces.
5. Why does it matter?
   Results in cart abandonment, lost sales, and customer dissatisfaction.
6. Why does it happen?
   Caused by unnecessary steps, excessive form fields, and lack of options like guest checkout.

Step 2: Define the Components

1. Background: E-commerce customers face difficulties completing their purchases due to overly complex checkout flows. This issue is especially common for first-time shoppers or those using mobile devices, as they often encounter unnecessary steps, excessive form fields, and limited payment options.

2. People Affected: Customers are directly impacted, particularly first-time users and mobile shoppers, who may abandon their carts. The Retail company is also affected by losing potential sales and repeat customers.

3. Impact: If unresolved, the issue could lead to lower conversion rates, increased cart abandonment, and diminished customer loyalty, ultimately affecting the retailer’s revenue and brand reputation.

Step 3: Write the UX Problem Statement

"Many e-commerce customers, especially first-time or mobile users, struggle with completing purchases due to overly complex checkout processes. Unnecessary steps and excessive form fields create frustration, leading to cart abandonment. This impacts retailers by reducing sales, customer loyalty, and overall revenue."

Notice how we crafted a concise problem statement by following the 3-step process? This serves as a strong starting point to define the project’s scope and develop solutions that effectively address the root cause.

What comes next?

Usually, after defining a clear problem statement, I like to dig deeper into understanding the users by creating detailed personas. Defining user personas, and if applicable, ideal customer profiles or buyer personas, is a powerful way to start thinking about the user's pain points, goals, and  intrinsic motivations and validate assumptions through further research.

With a well-defined problem statement, we can be very specific about our personas, which allows us to uncover more relevant insights. These insights can enhance the overall discovery process, leading to more user-centered solutions.

🎁  Free Figjam Template

The goal of this article is to help you write the perfect problem statement in the easiest way possible. That’s why I’ve created a Free FigJam Template for crafting UX Problem Statements. This template walks you through the process step by step, making it simple to transform insights into clear and actionable problem statements.

Open the Figjam template!

Summary

I asked ChatGPT to sum up the article in one paragraph, so if you don't have time to read, you can use this:

A UX Problem Statement is a concise, solution-neutral description of a user problem that helps define the scope of a project and guide the design process. This blog outlines a simple 3-step process for crafting effective problem statements: using the 6Ws framework to understand the issue, breaking it into components (background, people affected, and impact), and combining them into a clear, actionable statement. A well-defined problem statement sets the foundation for meaningful solutions and helps refine user personas for deeper insights. Don’t miss the Free FigJam Template included to simplify the process!

I hope you found this article helpful! Feel free to reach out if you have any questions or observations.