The Define Phase Step by Step
The Define phase can feel like a big leap. Once you have empathy data, how are you supposed to turn it into a clear direction for action? Where do you start?
Don’t leap. Instead, take small, connected steps. Each one builds on the last, and each one narrows your focus slightly until you arrive at a needs statement that guides your work.
In the last post, we defined the needs statement and looked at how to write one. Now let’s see how it develops in practice.
Return to Maria
Maria is a single working parent who wants to get healthy food for her family after work, but affordable fresh groceries are hard to find near her home at that time.
We’ve used Maria in earlier posts because her situation helps us see how the Define phase works in real life. In this post, we will follow her story as it moves through three connected steps: framing the problem, opening possibilities with How Might We questions, and crystallizing a needs statement.
Framing the Problem
Your team has organized its empathy data into themes. Now you frame those themes as a problem.
Here is the problem statement we have been using for Maria:
Single working parents like Maria cannot obtain affordable, fresh groceries between 5–7 p.m. near their homes, forcing them to rely on fast food despite their desire to serve their families healthy meals.
This statement tells us:
• who is affected
• what the barrier is
• when and where it shows up
• and why it matters
Instead of a broad concern about “healthy food access,” the team now has a clearly framed problem grounded in real-life constraints.
Opening the Problem with How Might We
Once the problem is clearer, the next step is to ask a question that opens possible directions. This is where How Might We questions help.
For Maria’s case, the team might ask:
• How might we help working parents like Maria get affordable fresh groceries near home after work?
• How might we reduce the evening time pressure that pushes families toward fast food?
• How might we make healthy meals easier to access during the hours families actually need them?
The problem statement gave focus. These questions open possibilities within that focus.
At this point, the team still has several directions it could explore. Design thinking often means holding several options open before choosing one to pursue.
Choosing One Direction
To write a needs statement, the team now chooses one How Might We question to pursue.
For this example, let’s use:
How might we help working parents like Maria get affordable fresh groceries near home after work?
Why this one? Because it stays close to the original problem statement. It keeps the team focused on the community partner, the barrier, and the real situation.
The other How Might We questions are not wrong. They simply point toward slightly different directions. Your team may come back to them later. For now, this question gives the team a clear path forward.
Crystallizing the Need
Now the team asks a new question:
What does Maria actually need in order to make progress here?
Maria does not simply need an app, a coupon, or a delivery service. Those may become possible solutions later.
What Maria needs is more basic and more practical:
• a reliable way to get healthy food for her family
• that is affordable
• close to home
• during the evening hours after work
Writing the Needs Statement
Now the team can use the sentence frame from the last post:
[Community partner] needs a way to [need] because [why it matters].
Here is one possible needs statement:
Maria needs a way to obtain affordable fresh groceries near home after work because her current options don’t fit the time and budget pressures she faces each evening.
Why This Progression Matters
Look at this development process:
• The problem statement clarifies the challenge.
• The How Might We questions open possible directions.
• The needs statement identifies what the community partner actually needs in order to make progress.
Each step builds on the one before it.
This is why the Define phase matters. It slows you down just enough to frame the right problem before you start designing solutions. Skip this work, and you risk building something that doesn’t fit the actual situation.
What Comes Next
In the next post, we will bring the community partner, the need, and the underlying insight together into a Point of View statement.
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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.