Element A - Problem Identification and Justification

Preface

This element takes students through the initial steps of devising a problem statement for their team’s project. The terms valid and justifiable mean the same thing to most people. For the purpose of this course, a valid problem refers to a problem that other credible sources also identify as a problem. Describing a problem as justifiable indicates that there is evidence that it is worth the expense and effort to attempt to solve the problem.

Element A focuses finding a problem and establishing the validity of the problem. Each team should have identified a valid problem at the completion of this element.  After identifying a valid problem through initial research, the team will focus on justifying the problem. At any point in the process, it may be necessary to adjust the problem statement or start over with a new problem statement. While revising the problem statement may seem to the students to be counterproductive and increase the effort needed to complete the project, students should find that creating a new or adjusted problem statement is quicker and less difficult in successive iterations because they have previously been through the creation process. More importantly, students will achieve more success during the remainder of the course, and their final product will be more effective if they work from a valid and justifiable problem statement.

Although preliminary research is an important step in the design process, there is no natural conclusion to this step of the process. Encourage students to thoroughly research their chosen topic, but to be mindful of their project timeline. According to the Rule of Thirds, preliminary research should be concluded and a project proposal outlining a valid and justified problem presented at the end of the first third of the project. Ensure that students are making progress toward validation and justification of the problem and remind them that good project management requires good time management and adherence to the project schedule.

Some websites post challenges that large companies would like to have solved. Edison Nation at http://www.edisonnation.com Links to an external site. provides some good examples.

Choosing a Topic and Presentation of Problem: The presentation Choosing a Problem and the related activities lay the groundwork for defining an EDD problem. Ensure that students understand the process, the problem statement step, and that the problem will be refined as the project progresses and they become more of an expert on the problem.

Presentation methods might include a PowerPoint presentation in lieu of the poster. This may save time in the classroom. However, posters allow the students to review and compare the information later and provide a nice classroom display. Students should take notes pertaining to peer presentations as they begin to consider which class members they may want to work with.

This is an excellent time to introduce students to the resources available in your media center. It is recommended that you enlist the help of a media specialist to explain the use of the resources that may be beneficial to their research, including available databases and the USPTO websites. Media specialists can also instruct students on how to refine searches and determine whether a source is credible. Ask the media specialist to discuss how to properly cite sources or be sure to distribute the APA Style document and review how to properly cite sources.

Prior to taking the students to the media center for instruction, you should meet with the media specialist to familiarize him or her with the course requirements and expectations.

Justifying a Problem: In this course it is asked that you justify the selection of your project in one of two ways.  You must show that the project is justified / valid through academic research and that the solution to the problem you have identified will benefit people others than yourself.  If on the other hand, your project represents a product for which no evidence can be found through research that the need exists for it, you can show justification for the project though knowledge of the marketplace. Regardless of which path you use in the end to justify your project, you are required to complete the academic research assignments and document all searches showing that in fact no such research exists.  You may only move on to market research when you have fully satisfied your instructor that the academic research does not exist to support your claims through well documented search.

Ethical or Academic Justification: Ethical or academic justification represents the highest order of proof that your problem is worth pursuing a solution to.  The research skill sets you use will demonstrate your depth of knowledge on the subject and make you an expert on this topic.  Do not be discouraged if through your research, you begin to see lots of inventions or devices that have been created to solve the problem you identified.  We will address whether you can build something better later. Make sure you stay focused on the essential questions and that you can prove “it is a problem” and “it is a problem worth solving”

Knowledge of the Marketplace: 

“Anything that won't sell, I don't want to invent. Its sale is proof of utility, and utility is success”.  Thomas A. Edison

“It isn’t the consumer’s job to know what they want.” Steve Jobs

Some products that have changed the world had no ethical or academic justification at the time of their inception. They were born of people like Thomas Edison or Steve Jobs who gave us devices we didn’t even know we needed until we saw their application.  But to realize those dreams, both had to find others who would invest money make them a reality. Being able to show that people would be willing to buy something might be more challenging than searching databases for academic justification.

You will have to decide early on how you will justify your project.  The process should begin with academic/ethical justifications, but should you be able to show your instructor none exist, demonstrating a need in the market place may be a better path.  If you have time, you might explore both.  Your first priorities in “Component 1 – Research” you should be to;

  1. Find a Problem
  2. Become an Expert
  3. Justify the Problem
  4. Write a Problem Statement
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Assessment
Problem Identification and Justification

  1. The problem is clearly and objectively identified. It is defined with considerable depth, and it is well elaborated with specific detail.
  2. The justification of the problem highlights the concerns of many primary stakeholders and is based on comprehensive, timely, and consistently credible sources.
  3. The problem statement offers consistently objective detail from which multiple measurable design requirements can be determined.

 

Essential Questions

  1. What exactly is the problem?
  2. How do I phrase it as an objective problem statement?
  3. What is the background, context or setting of the problem? 
  4. Who in fact says that this is a problem worth solving and why should anyone believe them?
  5. Where does the problem exist?
  6. When has it happened and for how long?
  7. How prevalent is the problem (statistics)?