# Problem Framing Canvas Examples

### Example 1: Good Problem Framing (SaaS Onboarding)

**Q1 Response:** "Observed behavior — Users abandon onboarding at step 3 (60% drop-off)"

**Q2 Response:** "It's hard (technically complex) + We've assumed we know what customers want"

**Q3 Response:** "Optimizing for ourselves, not users — Building what's easy for us (enterprise features), ignoring solopreneurs"

**Q4 Response:**
- **Who:** Non-technical small business owners
- **When:** First 24 hours after signup
- **Consequences:** Waste time trying to configure product, give up, churn

**Q5 Response:**
- **Who else has it:** Most SaaS products struggle with onboarding activation
- **Who doesn't:** Consumer apps with guided tours (Duolingo, Instagram)

**Q6 Response:**
- **Who's been left out:** Solopreneurs without IT support
- **Who benefits (problem exists):** Engineering doesn't have to build guided flows

**Q7 - Refined Problem Statement:**
"The problem is: Non-technical small business owners struggle to activate our product during onboarding because we use jargon-heavy UI and lack guided workflows, which leads to 60% abandonment within 24 hours. This disproportionately affects solopreneurs without technical support, and has been overlooked because our team optimizes for enterprise users who have IT departments."

**Q8 - HMW Statement:**
"How might we guide non-technical users through onboarding with plain-language prompts as we aim to increase activation from 40% to 70%?"

**Why this works:**
- Look Inward revealed internal bias (optimizing for enterprise)
- Look Outward identified overlooked segment (solopreneurs)
- Reframe produced actionable HMW statement tied to metric

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### Example 2: Bad Problem Framing (Jumped to Solution)

**Initial statement:** "We need a mobile app"

**Why this fails:**
- Solution disguised as problem
- No exploration of root cause
- Skipped Look Inward and Look Outward phases

**Fix with canvas:**
- **Q1:** "Customers complain they can't access product on the go"
- **Q2:** "Low priority (focused on desktop features)"
- **Q3:** "Assumed mobile-first users weren't our target"
- **Q4:** "Freelancers, field workers experience this"
- **Q5:** "Competitors offer mobile apps; we don't"
- **Q6:** "Mobile-first users left out; desktop power users benefit from status quo"
- **Q7:** "The problem is: Mobile-first users (freelancers, field workers) can't access core workflows on the go, forcing them to wait until they're at a desktop, which delays time-sensitive work"
- **Q8:** "How might we enable mobile-first users to complete core workflows on any device as we aim to expand TAM by 30%?"

**Now solution space is clear:** Mobile app is one solution; responsive web, progressive web app (PWA), or SMS/Slack integrations are alternatives.

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