As a PM, customers and customer proxies come to me all the time with A Thing They Need Right Now. When those things are specific and weird, that’s a time to remember that sometimes we are not good at understanding our own problems. This is an understandable human impulse, and one that I feel all the time. As a PM, it can be helpful to get people out of their I Need This Thing Right Now feelings in order to talk to them.

Here are some questions I try to ask before I either suggest a solution OR say “no” to someone.

  1. What things are we trying to prevent from happening ever again?
    1. Alternatively: what are you experiencing right now that is unpleasant?
  2. What things are trying to prevent from happening frequently?
  3. How does the problem make me feel?
  4. What things do we need to always happen?
  5. What things do we need to happen most of the time?
  6. What have been the impacts of the problem that are unacceptable to me?
  7. How do I imagine feeling when this problem is solved?
  8. How do I imagine others feeling when this problem is solved?
  9. Would a successful solution prevent the problem from ever happening again OR make it harder for the problem to occur?
  10. Is there a situation where this outcome is actually desirable even though it’s not desirable in my specific situation?

If I were doing this for a grocery shopping list system, I would maybe answer like such:

  1. What things are we trying to prevent from happening ever again?
    1. forgetting ingredients that I need for what I’d planned
    2. getting to the store and not knowing what to buy
  2. What things are trying to prevent from happening frequently?
    1. food going bad in my fridge
    2. only eating dumpings
    3. getting home with a bunch of stuff and not knowing what to cook
  3. How does the problem make me feel?
    1. like i’m a bad adult
  4. What things do we need to always happen?
    1. have a clear list when i get to the store
  5. What things do we need to happen most of the time?
    1. not buy stuff I already have at home
    2. not buy stuff on a whim that i end up not eating
  6. What have been the impacts of the problem that are unacceptable to me?
    1. food waste
    2. wasting money