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The core idea
Feature lists describe a proposed solution before the problem is understood. A problem statement keeps the team focused on who struggles, when the difficulty occurs and what the current workaround costs. It should be specific enough to investigate without assuming your preferred product is already the answer.
A practical approach
Step 1
Name one audience and one situation. Describe the task they are trying to complete in their own language.
Step 2
Record evidence from observed behaviour or recent examples. Separate what people actually do from what they say they might do someday.
Step 3
Define the outcome you want to improve and the assumptions that remain untested. Keep proposed features in a separate section.
Worked example
Instead of ‘build an AI dashboard for trainers’, a problem statement might say that independent trainers spend time finding the latest participant resources across several folders after each session. That statement can be investigated and may lead to a simpler solution than a new dashboard.
A mistake to avoid
A statement such as ‘people need our app’ merely restates the solution. Another weak version names an audience so broadly that interviews produce unrelated problems.
Try it yourself
Write a problem statement in three sentences: person and situation, current difficulty, desired outcome. Remove every mention of your proposed tool and check whether the problem still makes sense.
Your implementation checklist
- The audience is specific.
- The situation is observable.
- Evidence is separated from assumptions.
- The statement does not depend on one solution.
Share or cite this guide
Innovate with Ajay Editorial (2026-10-04). Write a Problem Statement before a Feature List. https://innovatewithajay.com/blogs/write-a-problem-statement-before-a-feature-list
Editorial approach, sources and corrections
Apply this guide to your own work: build a project brief with inputs, test cases and review boundaries.