APS111H1 Chap.2 Problem Framing and Evidence
Problem Framing and Evidence
Problem Framing and Evidence in practice
Frame the problem by distinguishing present state, desired state, gap and need. Before any sentence from the client counts as evidence, read it for bias, hidden assumptions and wording that already names a solution. A credible frame also lists what is still unknown and explains how that missing information could be collected.
The finished frame should leave room for several engineering responses while staying specific enough to steer criteria and further investigation.
Decision focus: Gap
The chapter aims at a problem statement that survives scrutiny because it has not absorbed the client's bias, unstated assumptions or preferred solution.
In the chapter case, a client reports an undesirable present condition and proposes a product, while observations reveal several possible causes.
For gap, keep the supplied facts apart from the need interpretation and expose the decision before introducing a method.
Connect Need to the evidence
Define gap at the scale of the case, explain the analytical role of need and use problem statement to challenge the initial result.
Disconfirming evidence for problem statement must be named rather than treating the preferred gap conclusion as fixed.
Boundary for Problem statement
Evidence can support the existence and importance of a gap without proving that the client's first solution is the right response.
The narrower gap result should remain defensible when the problem statement boundary is reached, and the chapter must identify what would reopen that decision.
Revision task
Take three solution-led requests and rewrite each as a gap and need.
Highlight every claim that lacks direct evidence, then propose one realistic observation or question that could resolve it.
Failure pattern in Problem Framing and Evidence
The usual failure is to adopt the client's product as the answer before the gap has been established. A sounder response reads the reported condition as evidence of a gap and puts the proposed product to one side.
Next, the sounder response names the undesirable present state, the desired state and the engineering need linking the two. Alongside those, the response records one assumption about the users together with an observation that could test that assumption.
Its problem statement stays open to more than one solution and states the remaining uncertainty openly instead of hiding it.
Evidence-led closing move
Before the frame moves on, pair each unsupported claim with the observation or question most likely to settle it.
Reconcile the gap evidence with the problem statement claim before moving to another design stage.
Transfer beyond the first case
The same framing habit carries over when a different client arrives with a different product already in mind.
Hold the present state and the desired state apart, check the new request for solution wording before treating any of its claims as evidence, and list each unknown with a way to gather it. A frame built this way stays open to several responses yet remains sharp enough to guide criteria.
Chapter vocabulary in use
A gap is the defensible difference between an observed present state and a desired state.
Need names the outcome an engineering response ought to make possible, without tying the frame to any single solution. Problem statement means a short formulation of the design need, its context and its justified scope that stays aware of the evidence behind it.
What this chapter covers
- 01
Gap
- 02
Need
- 03
Problem statement
- 04
Translate a client statement into a defensible problem statement without inheriting bias, assumptions or an implied solution
- 05
Evidence can support the existence and importance of a gap without proving that the client's first solution is the right response
Worked example · free
When evidence changes the problem frame
- 2Locate the evidence for gap.
- 2Explain the role of need.
- 2Challenge the result through problem statement.
- 2Close inside the problem framing and evidence boundary.
Key terms
- Gap
- A gap is the defensible difference between an observed present state and a desired state.
- Need
- A need is the outcome that an engineering response should enable, stated without committing to one solution.
- Problem statement
- A problem statement is a concise, evidence-aware formulation of the design need, context and justified scope.
Problem Framing and Evidence FAQ
How does gap change the design decision?
The gap decides what the design work is for. Once the reported condition is read as evidence of a gap, the client's proposed product stops being the default answer and becomes one option among several. From there the decision turns on the need that would close the gap and on an observation able to test assumptions about the users.
A sound answer states any leftover uncertainty in the problem statement, stays inside the chapter boundary and ends with a feasible next check.
Exam move
Rehearse Gap
Practise on requests that already name a product: recast three of them as a gap plus a need.
Mark any claim with no direct evidence behind it and attach one realistic observation or question capable of settling it.
Review Problem Framing and Evidence
Compare the result with this limit: Evidence can support the existence and importance of a gap without proving that the client's first solution is the right response. Record the first failed move and the evidence that exposed it.
