What It Is, Why It Matters, and How to Write One
You’ve done the listening. You’ve organized what you learned. You’ve written a stronger problem statement. You’ve opened that problem into several How Might We questions.
Now you choose one direction and ask, “What does our community partner actually need in order to make progress in this situation?” Your answer becomes the first draft of your needs statement.
Where you are in the process
At this point in the Define phase, you are moving from possibility to focus.
· A problem statement helps you name the challenge clearly.
· A How Might We question opens that challenge into possible directions.
· A needs statement helps you identify what your community partner actually needs.
These moves are small shifts in perspective to help you understand the problem and its context in greater depth. They keep you from jumping to solutions too quickly. Each small step prepares you to see the whole situation from the perspective of your community partner.
What a needs statement is
A needs statement is a clear, actionable sentence that describes who your community partner is, what they need in order to make progress on the problem defined in the problem statement, and why that need matters to them.
A useful way to think about it is this: Who, What, and Why.
Writing your needs statement
Step 1: Choose one “How Might We” question
Choose the How Might We question that seems most likely to help your team make meaningful progress on the original problem statement. You can come back later and choose a different one if you need to.
Step 2: Return to the problem statement and empathy data
Revisit the problem statement and your empathy data. Look for what would meaningfully improve the situation for your community partner. What is missing? What is blocking progress? These answers help you see what your community partner most needs in order to make progress.
Step 3: Identify the need
The need is what your community partner requires to move forward. It is not the solution itself. The solution is the specific method or tool that will address the need. In other words, the need you identify is the destination, and the solution you co-create with your community partners is the route to get there.
Step 4: Use the “Mad Lib” template to write your needs statement
Many innovators find it helpful to use a fill-in-the-blanks template that resembles the popular “Mad Lib” game as a quick, clear way to state the need.
[Your community partner] needs a way to [goal/need] because [why it matters].
This short statement helps keep the focus on the need (goal), not a solution (how to get there). That comes later in the Ideation phase. The “Why” comes from your empathy data and shows the motivation for improving this situation.
A quick example
Maria (your community partner) needs a way to get fresh groceries she can afford close to home after work (goal) because current options do not fit the time and budget pressures she faces each evening (her why).
Common mistakes
Naming a solution instead of a need. Writing “Maria needs a mobile grocery app” jumps to how you’ll help. Instead, focus on what she needs: affordable access to fresh food.
Being too vague. “Maria needs better grocery options” doesn’t give you direction. Be specific about what aspect needs improvement.
Losing connection to the problem statement and data. If your empathy research showed time pressure matters most, but your needs statement focuses on variety, you’ve drifted from what you actually learned.
Try this now
1. Choose one How Might We question.
2. Return to the problem statement and empathy data.
3. Identify the need.
4. Ask what is missing or blocking progress.
5. Draft the needs statement.
6. Check whether it reflects a real barrier.
Why this matters
A strong needs statement helps you move from possibility to focus. It keeps your team centered on what your community partner actually needs, instead of rushing too quickly toward a solution.
That matters because teams sometimes solve the wrong problem. They build something useful in general, but not something that truly fits the real situation, barriers, and priorities of the people they want to help. A clear needs statement lowers that risk.
Sometimes a needs statement also reveals a deeper issue. We will explore that in a later post. For now, think of a needs statement is a necessary bridge in a design project. It links what you have learned about your community partners and the solutions you will begin generating in the Ideation phase.
In the next post, we will walk through a full example of this process.
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If you’re interested in more about the design thinking process, check out my book Design Thinking: A Guide to Innovation.
I generated the image of the design team with ChatGPT.