← Intersection'15 Conference Berlin, April 28-30, 2015

Rupert Platz

Conference Session

"The problem is we don't understand the problem": Problem Framing as a tool to align stakeholders and develop accurate design solutions

Thursday, April 30
13:15 – 14:00
Room 4

Rupert Platz
User Experience Designer / Information Architect, Freelance


The purpose of design is to solve problems. Its added value is not only derived from shaping good solutions: it is equally about getting the problem right in the first place.

Often enough in practice though, gaining an accurate, shared understanding of a design problem is neglected in favour of intense involvement with potential solutions. Which can lead to situations later in the process where it turns out everyone involved has a completely different set of unspoken assumptions on the underlying issue, or you may even discover you've developing the perfect response to the wrong question.

In his talk, Rupert will outline the benefits of (re-) framing problems as a universal design technique and share practical tips for shaping precise and actionable problem statements.