Problem framing deck example.

What is a problem framing deck?

A problem framing deck presents a problem as slides: what goes wrong and for whom, the evidence, why now, what solved would look like and how it grades, so a team agrees on the problem before anyone pitches a solution.

Also called: Problem statement presentation.

Why it matters

The framing document is for reading; the deck is for the room. It turns the same four dimensions into a sequence a group can discuss and agree on, so the brainstorm starts from one problem rather than from everyone's own.

The four dimensions, as slides

The deck carries the same framing as the document, then adds how the problem grades, the questions it raises and the directions on the board.

1. The environment. The who and the where: the people affected, the stakeholders, and the setting the problem lives in. In Ainna's document: the people and the setting.
2. The dynamics. The when and the trend: how the problem emerged, how it is changing, and what has been tried. In Ainna's document: why now, and how people cope today.
3. The current state. The what and the why: symptoms, impacts and root causes, with cause kept apart from effect. In Ainna's document: the current state.
4. The ideal state. The vision: what solved looks like, measurably, without prescribing the solution. In Ainna's document: the ideal state, and how we would know it is solved.

The method as a template: Problem Statement Template, on theinnovationmode.com.

What's inside

• Taken apart
• The evidence, in figures
• Where things stand
• Why now
• Who it touches
• What solved looks like
• How it grades
• The questions it raises
• Directions on the board

Where it fits

It is distilled from the framing, its evidence and grade, and the ideas on the board.

It comes after Problem Framing Document, and leads to Brainstorm Outcomes Deck.

Questions

Document or deck: which do I need?

Both carry the same framing. The document is for reading and reference, with the evidence in full; the deck is for presenting and agreeing, a slide per idea.

What belongs on a problem slide?

One claim, the evidence for it, and its source. Never a solution.

Why show how people cope today?

A problem people already work around tells you what any idea will compete with, and what the workaround costs them. The room should know it before the brainstorm starts.

Read next

• Where VentureForce began: number 0032 on Problem Radar
• All twelve: the document examples, together