Problem Statement and How Might We

The brief arrives already shaped as a solution. Add a loyalty tab. Nobody in the room can say whose problem that solves, and the work starts anyway.

What is on the Problem Statement and How Might We board?

The Problem Statement and How Might We board is one Figma canvas with four parts, built in 2026 with auto layout so every cell grows as you type:

• 01 Problem statement. Five blanks in a row: USER, NEEDS TO, BECAUSE, BUT, WHICH MAKES HER FEEL. Under them a resolved sentence cell that reads the five back as one sentence you can say out loud. If it still sounds like a feature request, the because is missing.
• 02 Jobs to be done. Three rows: When I, I want to, So I can. One job, three lines, written in her words rather than the product’s.
• 03 How might we. Six cards, numbered. Each holds a question that opens a direction without naming a solution, and one line underneath on what that direction actually opens up.
• The header. Project name and the persona line, so the statement is never read detached from the person it belongs to.

What changes when you use the Problem Statement and How Might We?

The Problem Statement and How Might We template is a fix for six common habits in how teams run this step. Each of the 6 pairs below shows the habit first, then what the template puts in its place. For example, the template turns a brief that names a feature into a sentence that names a user and a blocker.

• Before: A brief that names a feature.
  After: A sentence that names a user and a blocker.
• Before: “Users want loyalty.”
  After: Five blanks that force a because.
• Before: The job written in the product’s words.
  After: When I, I want to, So I can, in hers.
• Before: One idea everybody defends.
  After: Six How might we questions, none naming a solution.
• Before: A document that ends the conversation.
  After: A board the room can argue with.
• Before: An Arabic version translated after the fact.
  After: Levantine blanks, built right to left.

What is in the Problem Statement and How Might We download?

The free Problem Statement and How Might We download is one Figma file with four pages, English light, English dark, Arabic light and Arabic dark, on one variable collection, plus a 8 page PDF guide, made in 2026 with Figma variables. The Pro edition costs $10 and adds five Claude prompts, a facilitation guide, a second worked example and a Claude Code skill.

• FIG The template. One Figma file, four pages: English light, English dark, Arabic light, Arabic dark, all on one variable collection. Auto layout throughout, so every cell grows as you type.
• PDF The guide. 8 pages: the four boards, a five step how to use, and a glossary of every field with its Arabic label beside it.
• PDF, MD Pro. Five Claude prompts: fill it from my notes, critique it, Arabic edition, turn it into insights, push it to Figma.
• PDF Pro. The facilitation guide. A thirty minute session: what to ask, in what order, and how to close it.
• FIG Pro. A second worked example in a second market, as its own Figma file, so you can read the method instead of guessing at it.
• FOLDER Pro. The Claude Code skill. Point it at your notes folder and it fills the board, then writes it into your own Figma file by layer name.

Who is the Problem Statement and How Might We for, and when should you run it?

The Problem Statement and How Might We is for the moment between research and design, when the team has findings and no agreed problem. Run it in one session with everyone who will build the thing, and do not leave until the resolved sentence survives being read aloud.

In practice, keep the Problem Statement and How Might We beside the design file, where the team can reread it before each decision. Two editions. Free: the Figma file and the 8 page PDF guide. Pro, $10: adds the five Claude prompts, the facilitation guide, the second worked example and the Claude Code skill.