15+ Realistic Problem Statements for your next Product Design Case Study!
In this article, I am going to share 15+ realistic problem statements that you can pick up for your next case study.
The industry’s benchmark for good design is increasing at a very steep rate. Higher the supply of designers, the higher the demand for good designers.
Now everyone who starts learning product design knows that in the end, they need to have a portfolio with 1 or more case studies to demonstrate their product design skills.
Many people who enter this profession either by self-learning, design boot camps, or design schools underestimate what it takes to be a good product designer and barely understand what product designers do and why they do, what they do.
And as a result of that, their case studies fail to meet the industry’s benchmark of the skills a good product designer needs to have.
Here are some of the top reasons,
- Poor UI design skills.
- Not knowing how to craft a framework to solve a particular problem.
- Using the wrong research methods to solve a problem, mainly because they don’t understand WHEN and WHY to use a research method.
- Picking poor problem statements.
Here are some examples of what I consider to be weak problem statements/projects.
- Generic apps such as e-commerce, food delivery, and ed-tech.
- Landing Pages for selling a product, service, or promoting something/someone.
- Redesigns of really popular apps such as Instagram and WhatsApp.
- Designing solutions for problems that aren’t really problems.
These types of projects don't give you the opportunity to showcase your product thinking skills which are very critical to work as a product designer.
It’s not having the Case Study that matters. It’s the Quality of the Case Study that matters.
💥 The root cause of the problem
With so much content online, opinions and information online, people learning design get very confused about what is right and what is wrong.
And honestly, a very significant portion of the content online gives a very false picture of how the product design industry works.
I was shocked to see some of the design briefs given by some design boot camps across the world and even the Google UX Certification Course. And when they graduate from an online course, they tend to trust it blindly without questioning it because they paid a hefty sum for it.
So people spend 3–6 months working on it and end up with a case study that barely meets the benchmark.
And this is why the industry is witnessing one of its worst nightmares. Companies across the world are struggling to hire designers because of this. Let me give you an example.
A restaurant doesn’t want someone who can cook an omelet. They want someone who can cook a full-course meal or a complex dish.
🌟 Problem Statements/Design Briefs
Seeing this problem, at the beginning of this year, I decided that I would share some real problem statements that will give you an opportunity to demonstrate your product design skills and set you up for success.
You can check out all the problem statements on my Instagram Account, but I’m going to give you a sneak peek into each one of them.
Many people have worked on these problem statements and created case studies on them, resulting in bagging good jobs. I keep updating the list as and when people send them to me.
🚨 Disclaimer
Technically these are called Design Briefs and not Problem Statements. But in this case, I still chose to call them as Problem Statements since it resonates better with freshers learning design.
Now for those who are actually interested in picking up one of these problem statements, here are a few things to keep in mind.
- There are many ways of understanding the design brief. Hence it’s your job to identify the core problem you want to solve.
- You can pick the target audience of your choice as you see fit.
- You are more than welcome to deviate from the problem statement if you find a more interesting problem to solve.
- Try to focus on finding user problems rather than having the urge to come up with fascinating solutions. If you pick good problems, you’ll have a good solution.
- Read the whole brief completely and try to understand the requirements and not jump to solutions.
- Feel free to make any assumptions when solving the problem.
🚀 Mega Product Design for Beginners
If you’re looking to up your Product Design skills which are industry relevant, check out my FREE course on YouTube.
Here is one of the most watched videos on solving problem statements!
Alright then, let’s take a look at each of the problem statements now.
📺 #1
🔗 — Link to the Instagram Post
Aspects to think about
- How do you help users discover the new store?
- How can you make them buy more?
- How do you ensure that focus is not taken away from the core experience of watching content?
- How can you design a smooth checkout experience?
👨💻 #2
🔗 — Link to the Instagram Post
Aspects to think about
- Consider the pain points in the entire process of getting a job.
- How do you make it flexible and scalable to fit the use case?
- How do you enable effective communication?
📸 #3
🔗 — Link to the Instagram Post
Aspects to think about
- What makes the app a SMART app?
- Can you take advantage of any technologies that exist out there?
- How can you cater to both tech-savvy and technically challenged people?
✈️ #4
🔗 — Link to the Instagram Post
Aspects to think about
- How can you make the whole system of planning apps more organized?
- Everyone plans trips in different ways. How can you design a scalable solution?
- How would you help users make decisions faster?
🏀 #5
🔗 — Link to the Instagram Post
Aspects to think about
- What actionable insights are players looking for? And why?
- How can the dashboard assist users in achieving their goals and meeting their needs?
🏨 #6
🔗 — Link to the Instagram Post
Aspects to think about
- How can you enable hotel staff and guests to communicate faster?
- How can design an experience with the least friction such that it’s faster than the manual way of communication?
🎁 #7
🔗 — Link to the Instagram Post
Aspects to think about
- Find creative ways to help people understand what would be the most optimal gift.
- Refrain from making it look and function like an e-commerce product.
🥗 #8
🔗 — Link to the Instagram Post
Aspects to think about
- What would make the most sensible business model for this product to have?
- What are the many use cases for using this app?
🛏 #9
🔗 — Link to the Instagram Post
Aspects to think about
- What are the various use cases for the app?
- Can you solve the many ways in which hostels are run?
🍱 #10
🔗 — Link to the Instagram Post
Aspects to think about
- How do you motivate users to give away food instead of throwing them away?
- How do you create a sense of trust and transparency?
🎤 #11
🔗 — Link to the Instagram Post
Aspects to think about
- How can you personalize the information so that users can find what they want?
- Define the business model and how would you monetize it if you had to.
📸 #12
🔗 — Link to the Instagram Post
Aspects to think about
- How can you ensure that introducing an app won’t create much additional effort?
- How can you inculcate the habit of using the app for the parents?
🖼 #13
🔗 — Link to the Instagram Post
Aspects to think about
- Take time to understand how Hoarding Advertising works and how companies make decisions when putting up ads on hoardings.
👤 #14
🔗 — Link to the Instagram Post
Aspects to think about
- How can the app give the power to the disabled to communicate effectively?
- Focus on understanding the current behavior of deaf and mute people to understand how they communicate.
🏝 #15
🔗 — Link to the Instagram Post
Aspects to think about
- Think about the experience of groups vs individuals.
- How can you solve for trust in this case since you might be traveling with strangers?
🗺 #16
🔗 — Link to the Instagram Post
Aspects to think about
- Try to identify problems with the way walking tours currently function.
- How can you use technologies like AR for making the entire guided tour experience much more engaging?
🧳 #17
🔗 — Link to the Instagram Post
Aspects to think about
- Ensure tourist guides can perform all activities that they would like to perform such as promotions, sharing updates, chatting payment, etc.
- This app can also be used by travelers to find touristy guides and go on budget travel that costs less than what travel agencies charge.
💕 #18
🔗 — Link to the Instagram Post
Aspects to think about
- Try to understand why users don’t get enough matches.
- What are the common patterns people follow when looking for someone to date?
- How can you help users understand how to use the A/B testing feature and understand actionable insights?
So that’s all the problem statements I’ve been able to come up with so far. I will keep posting more of them on my Instagram. So make sure to follow me there.
And of course, make sure to check out my Mega Product Design Course for Beginners on YouTube!
