The document discusses problem-solving strategies, emphasizing the importance of understanding and defining problems correctly to ensure successful solutions. It includes a case study of Sonar Media, detailing its challenges and ultimate failure, which stemmed from a disconnect between product features and user needs. The text also outlines methodologies for idea generation, user research, and prototyping, providing practical advice for effectively addressing problems in various contexts.

1. Level up your Problem-Solving skill

2. WWW.DANA.ID
Let’s start with a story…

3. WWW.DANA.ID
SONAR MEDIA
Founded : 2010
Funding : Raised almost $2M in 2 rounds
Runner-Up
(2011)
Finalist
(2012)
Achievement :
Promoted in
>100 Countries
by Google & Apple
Featured on
>300 Publications
“App to find nearby friends (from FB, Twitter, and LinkedIn)”
SOURCE:
https://medium.com/@brett1211/postmortem-of-a-venture-backed-startup-72c6f8bec7df

4. Segment
Sonar Closed
their business
in 2013
Brett Martin – Sonar Founder
(Now: Investor & Professor at
Columbia Business School)
SOURCE:
https://medium.com/@brett1211/postmortem-of-a-venture-backed-startup-72c6f8bec7df
http://startupgraveyard.io/company/sonar/
Reason for Failure:
Product/Market Fit
False Positive
“I would use your product if only you had LinkedIn Connect feature”
False Negative
Putting huge effort on fixing issues on other Platform (FB Sharing)
instead of their own experience (Map Interface)
Growth vs Engagement
Focusing on Engagement for existing User instead of building
Growth and get more network effect

5. WWW.DANA.ID
It’s not only about “How to Solve a Problem”
It’s also about
“Picking the Right Problem and
try to understand why”

6. WWW.DANA.ID
When
is the problem needs to be solved?
Understand the timing for problem solving
NOWTime Constraint
Known
(Learn)
Urgent/Important
(Deliver)
Longtail
(Plan)
What we’ll learn together…
CraftingUnderstanding
What How
“I want to enable cashless payment” “using Blockchain”
Who
is having the problem?
Segments PersonasUnderstand the stakeholder (You, Your Boss, Customer?)
Why
Customer having problem?
Understand the reason and impact
Stakeholder’s
Empathy
Stakeholder’s
Success
Gain
(Impact)

7. WWW.DANA.ID
Understanding the problem

8. Defining the Problem - #who
VISION (TARGET)
Indonesian
SEGMENTS
Age, Gender, Occupation, Behavior
PERSONA
SOPHIE
• Age Range : 15-20 Years Old
• Gender : Female
• Occupation: Students
• Behavior : Tech Savvy, Social
GOALS
#WHAT
“Sophie wants to be
able to watch movie
with her friends, while
still be able to follow her
father & school’s hour”
Problem to solve
VALUES
#WHY
Expected Gains
#social
#cost-savvy
#easiness

9. Early Morning Lunch at Canteen Before School Closed At the Cinema
DOING
(Journey)
FEELING
(Pain & Gain)
MOMENT
OF TRUTH
(Opportunity
& Loss)
Defining the Problem (#why)
Chat w/ her friends about
new movie launch
Set the schedule together
w/ her friends after school
One of her friends still having
quiz and they’re few minutes late
Sophie doesn’t get the ticket
& cannot join the next schedule
(late hours to go home)
Neutral Feeling
#1 Moment of truth
Sophie access the mobile
website but cannot book
a ticket and pay
#2 Moment of truth
Sophie cannot get the
ticket offline and it will
cost the business a
Customer
SOPHIE
• Age Range : 15-20 Years Old
• Gender : Female
• Occupation : Students
• Behavior : Tech Savvy, Social
GOALS
“Sophie wants to be able to watch movie
with her friends, while still be able to
follow her father’s & school’s hour”
VALUES
#social
#cost-savvy
#easiness

10. Persona is not made to…
Stop talking w/ the
Stakeholders
Observation
(Interviews)
Inflate
your ego
It’s a guideline to validate
the problem and solutions
Research
(Data)
Solving
the Problem
validate
Released
Solution
validate
Common Mistake
when defining Persona & their Journey

11. VIDEO
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yY96hTb8WgI

12. Exercise #1: Solving the Norman Door
Norman Door
1. A Door that tells you the opposite of
what you’re actually supposed to do
2. A Door that gives wrong signal and
needs a sign to correct it
Epic Problem #1
How we design better door?
How the Door should be…
Source:
Design of Everyday Things (Books)

13. Wicked ProblemTame Problem
Turn On Electric Bulb
Solution: Success or Failed
Designing a Mouse
Solution: How do you know
User need 1 or 2 buttons?
Exercise #2: which one is the harder problem to solve?

14. Defining the Problem (#what)
Tame Problem Wicked Problem
“One that can be solved by choosing and
applying the correct algorithm.”
“A wicked problem, however, is one for which
there is no known algorithm to solve it.”
Problem Solutions
Problem
Solutions
More
Problems
More
Solutions

15. Defining the Problem (#what)

16. #How Norman solve problems?
What You Know
What You
Don’t Know
KNOWN
KNOWN
UNKNOWN
UNKNOWN
KNOWN
UNKNOWN
Tame-part
of the Problem
Wicked-part
of the Problem
Understand
(Discover)
Solvable Space
Idea Generation (Solution)
#1 Principle G roup Think
Build Prototype
Low Fidelity High Fidelity
Get Feedback
Talk w/ Personas (User Research)
Source:
Design of Everyday Things (Books)

17. WWW.DANA.ID
Solving a Problem

18. Deducing Problem (#how)
First Principle
(a priori)
Statement #1
“All men are mortal”
Statement #1
“Socrates is a Man”
Deduction (a posteriori)
“Socrates is mortal”
Notable Thinker
Elon MuskAristotle Descartes
a basic, foundational, self-evident thinking (theory)
that cannot be deduced from any other proposition or assumption
Empirical
(proven)
Criteria
Truth
(self-evident)

19. #Exercise 3: Deducing Problem
Elon Musk style…
I want to make Space Travel
available for everyone
How to launch cheaper?
Liquid Oxygen – Cost
$1-3 per kg or
~$200,000 per launch*
What do rocket
need to launch?
How we build
reusable Rocket?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NV3sBlRgzTI
https://space.stackexchange.com/questions/8330/what-is-the-cost-breakdown-for-a-falcon-9-launch
Source:
#1
Principle
If fuel cost is low, then what’s wrong?
Launch cost the rocket,
Not only the fuel
Cost per Launch is High
#1
Principle
Application for everyday life
Housewife
Checking if your husband is lying
CEO or Founder
Defining your strategic milestone
Engineer
Bug fixing

20. KNOWN
KNOWN
UNKNOWN
UNKNOWN
KNOWN
UNKNOWN
However…
there’s limitation on what we can solve, alone
Group Think
- Talk
- Observe
- Ask Feedbacks
How you solve
Unknown-Unknown?
Pair Programming User Research Brainstorming

21. Group Think (#how)
What you need to prepare for effective Brainstorming
Keep the audience
below 8 person,
More people doesn’t
mean more results
Social Loafing
Brainwriting
Always prepare Pen and Paper
for Anonymous Feedback
Set Time-Box
Check where the discussion is
going and set time limit
Facilitator
Audience
Sample: How Might We

22. Prototyping your Solution (#how)
Paper Prototype
Digital Mockup
LOW
Fidelity
HIGH
Fidelity
Excel Prototype Wireframe
Effort
Clarity
Feedback
Quality
Effort
Clarity
Feedback
Quality
“Typically used for
internal stakeholder who
understand the context”
“Typically used for
external stakeholder
to see the detail feedback”
Choosing the right method for right goal

23. Getting Feedback (#how)
What you need to prepare for effective User Research
Stakeholder
Schedule
Set time-box:
1 Person should
take ~2 hours
Rewards
Gift for attending
the session
High Fidelity
Beware of “sample”
contents. it changes
the context!
Prototype
Low Fidelity
Get some spare and
sort it by script
(i.e. photocopy for
Paper prototype)
Space
Interviewer
Max. 1 interviewer
on the same room
Audience
Should be on
different room
(not intimidating)
Give Break
When necessary
Persona
Find extreme users
(i.e. Old vs Young)
Tools
Record
You’ll have no time
to write notes
Live Testing Tool
Lookback
https://lookback.io/
Keeping the insights
Productboard
https://www.productboard.com/
Prioritize
Q&A based on
Goals defined
Script
Validate Bias
For any Q&A
Measure
Set measurement for
each tasks defined
(i.e. Easiness =
total steps taken)

24. Value
(Feedback)
Efforts
(Delivery)
Current Ability
Quick
Win
Plan
Ahead
NO
GO
Medium
High
TBD
MVP
Scope Down
You can solve everything,
but not everything at once (#when)
MVP: Minimum Viable Product

25. How to add this thinking framework
into your Product Pipeline (#when)
Dev. Sprints
(Development + Testing)
Prototyping
Technical
Design
Planning
Prioritizing which feature
you want to build within
team’s capacity
Understand Test
Prioritize Estimate
Prioritize the solution
based on Value
the problem space
and generate ideas
Get feedback from
the Customers
Get the efforts
needed for tech spec
Release
Deliver the solution
to all Customers
PrototypingMeasure
Understand Test
Product
& Design
Tech
Design Sprints

26. At DANA, we practice this kind of methods regularly
Check below link, so we can solve problem together…
dana.id/karir

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Thank You