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8. 'How might we...?' turning research data into ideas

Switch from thinking about a problem to thinking about ideas and solutions

What is it good for?

  • Helps switch from focussing on the problem to generating ideas
  • Starting to think about solutions to your users' needs
  • Involving your team

When to use it

At the end of the Discover phase: once you've written some solid user needs statements, based on user and desk research and you've chosen the main need or set of needs to focus on for the remainder of the project.

How to use it

Use the themes and insights you've identified to help you write questions. Write each one as a reframe of your user needs statements. Reframing a problem as a question will help your brain engage from a place of curiosity. How to create the questions

  1. Look at your insight statements and user needs statements and try rephrasing them as questions by adding 'How might we...' at the beginning of each one.
  1. You can write more than one question per insight. This will help you in the Definition Phase
  1. Once you’re done take a step back and assess them. Are they usable? Do they stimulate solution thinking or close it down? Broaden questions that seem too narrow. Make those that seem too general more specific.

‘How might we…?’ examples:

  • How might we help our users feel less isolated?
  • How might we enable our users to use tech to communicate with others?
  • How might we reach our users on the tools they're already using?

When you’re done update your Knowledge Board and review your user needs statements.