What do you do if your product engineering team is struggling with problem-solving?

1 Identify the root cause

The first step to solving any problem is to understand what is causing it and why it matters. A common mistake is to jump to solutions without defining the problem clearly and accurately. To avoid this, you can use tools such as the 5 Whys, the Fishbone Diagram, or the Problem Statement to dig deeper into the problem and its context. These tools help you to ask the right questions, identify the underlying factors, and frame the problem in a way that guides your solution.

2 Generate multiple ideas

Once you have a clear problem statement, you can start generating ideas for possible solutions. The key here is to avoid settling for the first or most obvious idea, and instead explore a wide range of options. You can use techniques such as brainstorming, mind mapping, or SCAMPER to stimulate your creativity and divergent thinking. These techniques help you to break free from assumptions, combine different perspectives, and modify or improve existing solutions.

3 Evaluate and prioritize ideas

After generating a lot of ideas, you need to filter and prioritize them based on their feasibility, desirability, and viability. You can use tools such as the Impact-Effort Matrix, the Kano Model, or the MoSCoW Method to rank your ideas according to their expected value, effort, and customer satisfaction. These tools help you to focus on the most promising ideas, eliminate the low-impact or high-cost ones, and align your solutions with your project goals and constraints.

4 Test and validate ideas

Before implementing your chosen solution, you need to test and validate it with real users and data. You can use methods such as prototypes, experiments, or user testing to gather feedback and evidence on how your solution works and how it meets the user needs and expectations. These methods help you to reduce uncertainty, risk, and waste, and to learn from your failures and successes. They also help you to iterate and improve your solution based on the feedback and data.

7 Here’s what else to consider

This is a space to share examples, stories, or insights that don’t fit into any of the previous sections. What else would you like to add?