Question Zero

Identify the fundamental root problem before solving it.

In Idea / Context · Out Problem Statement · Cost 25 credits

What it does

Asks whether the problem is the right problem. Instead of “how do we solve X”, it asks “is X actually what’s wrong” — and surfaces the assumptions buried in the way the question was posed.

When to reach for it

At the very start, before budget goes in a direction. Or later, when every solution you try seems to fail — a stuck solution space is often a badly framed problem.

⚠ What it is not

Not a description of what users want — the subject is the problem statement in front of you, not the person behind it. The output is a critical analysis in three parts: the assumptions the problem rests on, one root question, and reframings of the original problem — proposals you decide on, not a verdict. No persona, no jobs, no ranking; when you need the progress a user is after, that is Jobs To Be Done.

What it feeds

How Might We, and the strategy methods. A reframed problem changes what all of them produce.