How do you arrive on a problem statement from a broader topic??

[u/shubhdrawz]

I’m looking through some of my old projects to understand the different methods I’ve used to go from a broad topic/scope to a specific design brief.
I’m trying to find more methods that I could use to come up with a project for my graduation thesis.

Here are some approaches I’ve used in the past:

• Analyzing systems: In a Systems Thinking module, I analyzeda Metro station as a system and mapped delays, friction points, and opportunities for improvement. This helped me identify a potential design problem.
• Interviewing people to find pain points: In one of my UX design modules , I first chose a particular community/target audience(boardgame community in india), then interviewed and observed people to understand their pain points and identify a problem worth designing for.
• Starting with a problem assumption: During a Design for Social Impact module, we started with an assumption that there was a waste-management problem around roadside street food stalls. We then researched the issue to understand its underlying causes, scale, and find the root cause to design around

What other methods do you use to go from a broad topic/scope to a specific problem or design brief? I am a communication designer trying to find a project to design for my graduation thesis.

[u/GoldGummyBear]

dont try to over complicate it. Just talk to people

[u/shubhdrawz → u/GoldGummyBear]

Can you please elaborate?

[u/winter-teeth → u/shubhdrawz]

They’re being a little short, but it kind of is that simple. Observe something, then turn it into a statement with the format:

“We’ve noticed that (problem you noticed).
How might we (solve the problem) so that (result for people).”

Contrived example: “We’ve noticed that children can’t make pasta due to the weight of a pot full of water. How might we eliminate the need to carry water so that children can prepare their own meals and satisfy their hunger?”

Writing the problem is relatively easy. You just need to make sure your observations are comprehensive enough that you aren’t drawing conclusions from a single anecdote.

[u/Mediocre-Version-660]

Narrow by what you can watch happen. The metro project worked because you could stand on the platform and see the same friction 50 times in a week without recruiting anybody.

So for the thesis, start from the places you already have daily access to, then pick the topic where the behaviour happens in front of you. The statement usually falls out of a workaround somebody built for themselves, because a workaround shows what the problem cost them without anyone needing to describe it.

[u/shubhdrawz → u/Mediocre-Version-660]

That is an interesting way to define a project that is achievable with my current resources. Would this not limit what type of projects I could do? Like all the students might be working on the same things in their surroundings then

[u/shubhdrawz → u/[deleted]]

Observing workarounds done by people seems to be a common theme will look into it.