How to run a mini Problem Framing Workshop
A simple 2-hour workshop designed to help key-stakeholders discover business opportunities and make rapid decisions.
Read moreProblem Framing Training
A 1-day hands-on course that teaches your team how to define the problems that matter, discover opportunities for innovation, and safeguard sprint success.
Loved by the world's top companies including Google, SAP, Nike, Roche, RGA
Why Problem Framing?
Don’t jump before you know where you want to land.
Knowing where your biggest business opportunity is, and where to focus your innovation efforts is key to bringing possible futures to life.
We'll help your team understand and visualize their entire ecosystem to spot the areas of opportunity.
Stop endless debates, biased opinions and clash of egos.
To make better decisions you must first acknowledge and assess both your innovation capabilities and liabilities by seeking different perspectives.
We'll set the stage for your team to define a common ground by sharing different points of view, listening to the customer and looking at research data and facts.
Expected Training Results
- How to identify and capture stakeholders perspectives
- How to make sense of customers needs, perceptions and expectations
- How to frame business problems into actionable design challenges
- How to gain the confidence of tackling a problem worth solving
Training Program Overview
Critical thinking, decision making, and stakeholder alignment are the key ingredients of this Problem Framing course.
Regardless of your context, our Problem Framing process will help your teams make better decisions faster and define the best playground for innovation, as they learn to:
→ Contextualize the problem
→ Justify the business need
→ Understand the customer
→ Find the right opportunity
During the problem framing course, your teams will experience hands-on all phases of the process, and see how this framework works in practice through real-world case studies.
Live Online Module
Live Online (Mural or Miro)
Up to 12 participants
1-hour onboarding session 6-hour training session
In-person Module
In-person (your office)
Up to 24 participants - Two trainers
1-day training session
Problem Statement Module
Live Online (Mural or Miro)
Up to 12 participants
4-hour training session
Who is Problem Framing for?
UX Designers and Product Managers
who need to prioritise problems and get their teams unstuck
Agile Coaches & Innovation Managers
who want to introduce new ways of working and nurture critical thinking
Business Strategists and Consultants
who want to make the right decisions and align stakeholders
Awesome time attending the Problem Framing Workshop at Google today. Great insight into how to increase stakeholder visibility into the biases that draw focus onto solutions instead of true problems. Shared understanding of the issue(s) at hand really enable teams to focus where it is most needed. Thank you!
The Problem Framing course was fun and most importantly packed with great content and a well-planned delivery style. Our team not just learned but also applied the methodology through an interactive Mural facilitated workshop. Thanks, John and Team.
The Problem Framing Training by DSA provided a very valuable new framework alongside a lot of helpful techniques and resources that I could take away and use for my next workshop. The communication and facilitation were flawless. The best thing, however, was that John, who facilitated the training, could really speak from years of experience and answer any question I or fellow students had. Would definitely recommend it!
I attended the Design Sprint and Problem Framing training virtually. The training course content and delivery were superb. It is beneficial to understand the problem first (embracing and loving the problem) before loving the solution -- that is one big thing I took away from the course, and there are a lot more that I will surely apply! Thank you DSA for delivering it smoothly.
Design Sprint Academy is the top-tier quality when it comes to training. Looking forward to implementing the knowledge I gained from the Problem Framing training.
Want to know more?Request a Training Brochure
Enter your information below to learn more about our corporate offering. By consenting to receive communications, you agree to the use of your data as described in our privacy policy. You may opt-out of receiving communications at any time.
Problem Framing FAQs
What is Problem Framing?
Problem Framing is a design thinking method used to understand, define and prioritize complex business problems.
We have developed this framework as a preliminary step in the process of running a Design Sprints to ensure effective outcomes and make the investment in a Design Sprint worthwhile.
What happens in a Problem Framing workshop?
At its core, Problem Framing is a strategy workshop that involves a team of decision-makers, typically executive level with a direct interest in the project.
By using different frames, key decision-makers share their understanding of the problem and the business context, state their assumptions. decide on success metrics, and align around a common point of view.
Through a sequence of interactive activities, the decision-making team:
✓ Contextualizes the business problem
✓ Understands the customer perspective
✓ Identifies different business opportunities
✓ Decides and prioritizes the business question worth answering
In a nutshell, we are looking at every opportunity from two perspectives, business and customer: value to the business while making sure it maps to real customer needs.
When do I need Problem Framing?
We usually preface Design Sprints with Problem Framing.
Design Sprints are an amazing problem-solving framework, but they will not tell you if you are tackling the right problem in the first place. To ensure you're solving a problem worth the investment and de-risk your sprints or projects, Problem Framing is the best approach.
Do I need Problem Framing before each sprint?
Problem Framing is about problem definition while Design Sprints are about problem-solving.
If you already have a clearly defined Problem Statement and buy-in from your decision-makers, then a Problem Framing might not be needed.
But it is also important to know that within one Problem Framing workshop, your key-stakeholders can generate multiple Problem Statements thus multiple Design Sprints. Your team might end up with a backlog of Design Sprints.
What results should I expect to see at the end of a Problem Framing workshop?
✓ Decision-makers alignment on the problem definition
✓ Identified gaps in their knowledge (assumptions vs facts)
✓ A backlog of Design Sprints
✓ Decision-makers support and commitment
✓ A well defined Design Sprint challenge
Is Problem Framing used just in the context of Design Sprints?
No, Problem Framing can be used in any instance when your stakeholders need to make decisions, need to align with each other or there is no clarity around which problems or initiatives to pursue or prioritize.
Read more about Problem Framing on our blog
Why Problem Framing before a Design Sprint?
Problem definition and problem-solving as two very distinct and equally necessary activities. The Design Sprint is an excellent tool for problem-solving, but it is not effective if you are not solving the right problem.
Read more
What is Problem Framing?
Everything you need to know about Problem Framing and when to run (or not) a Problem Framing workshop with key decision-makers.
Read more
Let’s talk!
You want to learn more about this training or request a DEMO presentation with your key-stakeholders? Fill in the form and get in touch with one of our experts.