A problem space is all of the various components that go into creating a resolution for a problem. Think of it like a frame, which acts as something of a border to help define an area. A problem space helps you or, on a larger scale, a business, figure out what the problem is, work through ways to correct them, and then drives implementation of the appropriate solution. The ultimate purpose is to take corrective action for some identified problem.
If you want to properly build a product, startup or company, you should start with the problem space. The problem space, according to the book, is the space where you can find a particular problem.
The Solution Space
Let’s start with the solution space. According to the author Dan Olsen, this is the fictional space in which you, as an entrepreneur, product owner or creator, build a solution. Let’s take an example and say that you run a meetup for entrepreneurs .
In a way, this meetup is a product or solution. In this case, the solution has certain aspects: It is held every month, the focus is on learning and meeting others, and it is held somewhere in a city center.
If you would want, you could change the solution and what makes it unique. Perhaps you want to organize the meetup someplace else, outside of the city. Or you might invite other kinds of people. By changing the solution, you make sure that it takes up a different location in the solution space.
But regardless of what location (or space) it takes in the solution space, your product should ideally be a solution to a particular problem. And that’s where the problem space comes in.
A FRAMEWORK FOR UNDERSTANDING THE PROBLEM SPACE
- 1. Are there usability or user experience problems with an existing product or human experience?
- 2. What are they?
- 3. Why are there problems?
- 4. What is the context – social, technical, physical?
- 5. How will your design ideas overcome the problems?
- 6. What kind of concepts are involved in your design?
- 7. How will your design ideas support, change, or extend current ways of doing things?
WHAT ARE USABILITY OR USER EXPERIENCE PROBLEMS?
- What are the Usability goals?
- Does the solution do what it was intended to do?
- Is the solution effective, efficient, safe, easy to use, learn and remember?
- What are the User Experience goals?
- Satisfying, engaging, helpful, fulfilling, beautiful
The problem space consists of two states. We have the initial state, which is our state that we are currently in and the goal state which is where we are aiming to get to, or the solution. For example take the Tower of Hanoi Problem. The initial state would be where the rings are at the beginning and the goal state will be strategy used to get the rings to the end pole in size order only moving one at a time.
The problem space is the gap between these two states. Problem solving consists of the search for the path in this problem space that get us to the goal state. This all takes place in our working memory which has a limited capacity and requires help.