Who Gets to Define the Problem?

A five-part series by Michael Kelly

An employee naming contest, an AI-assisted search, a room that didn’t like the answer, and a dashboard the paying customers loved and the reps couldn’t use. Five pieces on the question I try to answer before any other in product design: who are the experts, and who gets to define the problem?

1. The Name Nobody SubmittedThe Name Nobody SubmittedA naming contest, 200,000 fake votes, and the word nobody thought to submit.Part 1 of 5 in Who Gets to Define the Problem?
2. An Agency’s Worth of HandsAn Agency’s Worth of HandsWhat AI changed about a company naming project, and why the evaluation criteria still needed an author.Part 2 of 5 in Who Gets to Define the Problem?
3. Half the Room Didn’t Like ItHalf the Room Didn’t Like ItHow showing the search changed a naming discussion that kept starting over.Part 3 of 5 in Who Gets to Define the Problem?
4. The Experts Nobody AskedThe Experts Nobody AskedThe agency customers loved the dashboard. Then I showed it to the people taking the orders.Part 4 of 5 in Who Gets to Define the Problem?
5. The User on the InvoiceThe User on the InvoiceWhat a B2B business model can quietly decide about the product before design begins.Part 5 of 5 in Who Gets to Define the Problem?