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<figure class="image image_resized" style="width:50%;"><img style="aspect-ratio:2550/3300;" src="https://moon-website-prod-images.s3.us-west-1.amazonaws.com/havier_blog_b6c53fccc0.jpg" alt="havier-blog.jpg" width="2550" height="3300"></figure>Author: Javier Mata is a workshop designer and facilitator specializing in learning development and instructional design. With extensive experience creating both in-person and digital content for HRD and MBA programs, he also led a team developing digital content for a business microlearning platform within the corporate arm of a leading organization known for its MBA programs, corporate education, and venture capital initiatives. Passionate about fostering growth and innovation, he engages participants at Moon through dynamic, hands-on learning experiences that drive real-world impact. His interests lie in business innovation, design, and strategy.<hr>As a facilitator at Moon, I’ve worked with multiple people in early stage business creation who rush into creating solutions without fully understanding the problem. The result? Missed opportunities and wasted time on ideas that don’t have the stickiness needed to win in the market.&nbsp;Many jump straight to solutions, only to find they're addressing weak or irrelevant problems. Others drift further and further away from solving the actual problem they started out with. This article is my response to that trend. I’ll walk through some guidelines to deeply explore the problem space, identify problems that are painful, scalable, and meaningful–so you're not just solving any problem, but the&nbsp;right one.&nbsp;<h3>What Makes a Problem Worth Pursuing?</h3>Not all problems are created equal. To ensure your efforts go toward a problem that truly matters, there are three criteria you should consider when exploring the problem space:&nbsp;<h4>1. It Should Be Painful</h4>The more painful a problem is, the more people will beg for a solution. Pain is opportunity’s best friend. When something creates friction, loss, or inconvenience, people will pay to make it disappear.&nbsp;Example: SmartHR, a Japanese startup, identified a pain point for businesses: tedious HR processes and compliance with labor laws. By offering cloud-based solutions to automate payroll, tax filing, and other HR tasks, SmartHR alleviated administrative burdens, becoming a widely adopted solution in Japan. And let’s face it—if you're the one making HR paperwork disappear, you’ll be everyone’s hero.&nbsp;What you can do: Interview potential users, run surveys, or observe pain points in forums or social media groups to gauge the level of discomfort. Focus on issues that make people’s lives tangibly worse — those are the ones they’ll pay to solve.&nbsp;&nbsp;<h4>2. It Should Be Scalable</h4>Solving a painful problem is one thing. Solving a painful problem for&nbsp;millions of people? Now that’s where the real magic happens. The more widespread the issue, the larger your potential market.&nbsp;Example: Slack started as an internal communication tool for Tiny Speck, a game development company. However, Tiny Speck quickly pivoted Slack into a solution that addressed a much bigger problem: ineffective workplace communication. Slack became a must-have for organizations of all sizes. When you're solving a problem that can serve both small teams and large enterprises, you know you've hit the scalability jackpot.&nbsp;What you can do: Use tools like Google Trends, industry reports, or keyword research tools to analyze how many people are searching for or affected by the problem. Survey a diverse audience across different regions or demographics to validate demand. If the problem is widespread and growing, you're in a scalable space.&nbsp;&nbsp;<h4>3. You Should Care About It</h4>If you don’t care about the problem, you’ll throw in the towel the minute things get tough. Passion isn’t just a bonus — it’s what keeps you in the game when the obstacles pile up. You’ve got to be so invested in the problem that you’ll fight through the mess to see it solved.&nbsp;Example: Leila Janah, founder of Samasource was deeply empathetic to the struggles of underserved communities. After witnessing poverty firsthand, she became passionate about creating digital work opportunities to help people lift themselves out of it. Despite repeated rejections from investors, her empathy and commitment kept her going, resulting in real change for thousands. Like Leila, you need a problem that speaks to your empathy and gets you out of bed before the coffee kicks in.&nbsp;What you can do: Journal about your personal connection to the problem. Ask yourself: "Would I still work on this if it took years to solve?" If the answer is no, it might not be the right fit. Choose a problem you care about emotionally or personally to keep your motivation strong through tough times.&nbsp;&nbsp;<h3>Common Pitfalls in Problem Solving</h3>Even when you’ve found a great problem, the path to solving it is littered with potential missteps. Here are the pitfalls I often see that you need to sidestep:<h4>1. The Real Problem Isn’t What You Think</h4>Sometimes, what looks like the problem is just a surface-level symptom of something bigger. It’s easy to jump to conclusions and tackle what seems obvious, but often, the real issue lies deeper. Focusing on the wrong problem leads to ineffective solutions, wasted time, and missed opportunities.&nbsp;Example: Instagram started as a check-in app called Burbn, allowing users to check in at various locations and share photos. However, the founders quickly realized that users didn’t care about check-ins, and they struggled to differentiate Burbn in a crowded market. What users really wanted was a simple, visually appealing way to share photos. By pivoting to solve this deeper need, Instagram became a social media powerhouse. Turns out, when you give people what they actually want, they tend to stick around.&nbsp;What you can do: Apply the "5 Whys" method to dig deeper into the problem. Each time someone identifies a problem, ask “Why is this happening?” five times. This will help you uncover the core issue that needs solving, rather than just treating the symptoms.&nbsp;&nbsp;<h4>2. The Solution in Search of a Problem</h4>It’s easy to get dazzled by shiny new tech. But creating a solution and then hunting for a problem to solve? That rarely ends well. The solution has to&nbsp;fit the problem, not the other way around.&nbsp;Example: Clubhouse, the audio-only social app, skyrocketed in popularity during the pandemic, but it quickly fizzled out as the hype died down. The app created a buzz but didn’t solve a long-term, pressing need. As other platforms like Twitter and Facebook replicated the audio feature, users had little reason to stick with Clubhouse. Without a lasting problem to anchor its solution, Clubhouse couldn’t sustain its early momentum. Turns out, riding the hype train only works until the tracks run out.&nbsp;What you can do: Before developing a solution, make sure there’s a clear demand for it. Survey or interview potential users to ensure the solution addresses their specific needs. If you can’t clearly define the problem your solution solves, it’s time to rethink the approach.&nbsp;&nbsp;<h4>3. Lack of Experience in the Problem Space</h4>You can’t solve a problem you don’t understand. Experience in the problem space gives you the insight to know what works and what doesn’t. Without it, you’re likely to create solutions that miss the mark.&nbsp;Example: Quibi, a short-form streaming service founded by Hollywood executive Jeffrey Katzenberg and led by former HP CEO Meg Whitman, launched in 2020 with over $1.75 billion in funding. Despite their high profile careers, they lacked experience in the streaming space and failed to understand the viewing habits of mobile users. The service, which focused on short, premium content, couldn’t compete with free platforms like YouTube and TikTok. Just six months after launch, Quibi shut down, proving that even high-profile names can fail without deep knowledge of the problem space.&nbsp;What you can do: Choose a problem you have deep knowledge about, or partner with someone who does. Leverage your network or use platforms like LinkedIn to find and connect with experts in the problem space. Partner with someone who has deep knowledge, or immerse yourself in researching the area by working directly with those affected by the problem to gain critical insights.&nbsp;&nbsp;<h3>Conclusion: Don’t Waste Time on Useless Problems</h3>Exploring the problem space isn’t just a box-ticking exercise — it’s the foundation of your startup’s survival. As an early-stage entrepreneur, your top priority should be to nail down problem-solution fit before you burn through months (or years) building an MVP that no one asked for. You can’t find the right solution without first locking onto the right problem.Here’s the ugly truth: too many entrepreneurs waste years chasing the wrong idea because they never took the time to deeply explore the problem. So, dig deep to uncover those painful, real problems that people will pay to make disappear. Avoid the common pitfalls, and always remember: it’s not just about creating a brilliant solution — it’s about solving the right problem. Nail that, and you’re not just set to play the game — you’re on a trajectory to win it.<hr>Moon Creative Lab offers several programs to support startups. If you are interested in transforming your own business idea and growth, please check out the&nbsp;<a href="https://www.mooncreativelab.com?utm_source=blog&amp;utm_medium=CTA2410&amp;utm_id=storytelling+by+javier">top page</a>.&nbsp;Top Photo by<a href="https://unsplash.com/@danasaki?utm_content=creditCopyText&amp;utm_medium=referral&amp;utm_source=unsplash">&nbsp;Dan Asaki</a> on<a href="https://unsplash.com/photos/white-and-brown-concrete-blocks-aI3jlXTqrdI?utm_content=creditCopyText&amp;utm_medium=referral&amp;utm_source=unsplash">&nbsp;Unsplash</a>.

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Carbon Mileage is a venture from Houston, Texas that incentivizes air travelers to make carbon-conscious choices to enable a sustainable aviation ecosystem. Currently incubating at Moon Creative Lab, the Carbon Mileage team underwent a quick sprint to better understand decarbonization within the airline industry and plan their next course of action.&nbsp;<hr><h3>Key Learnings:</h3><ul><li>Defining a problem statement.</li><li>Identifying key users and stakeholders.</li><li>Understanding users through research.</li></ul><hr><figure class="image image_resized" style="width:75%;"><img src="https://moon-website-prod-images.s3.us-west-1.amazonaws.com/Carbon_mileage_pledge_9f7a3bbd54.png" alt="Carbon mileage pledge.png"></figure>The Moon team recently met with Carbon Mileage, one of the ventures selected to be part of our Boost incubation program. Over the course of two days at our Palo Alto studio, we dug into the problem the team is seeking to solve: incentivizing decarbonization in the airline industry. Two days might seem like a lofty goal, but for us, we thrive in a short-time bound environment. Rather than spending unreasonable amounts of time reworking the same problem over and over again, two days allowed the team to make quicker decisions and confidently map out all necessary steps.&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;Before the workshop began, the team outlined three main goals they were wanting to achieve during the two days:&nbsp;<ol><li>Define the problem statement.&nbsp;</li><li>Name the biggest assumptions and build a user research plan to de-risk them.</li><li>Commit to a product hypothesis.</li><li>Work on team building to sustain momentum remotely.&nbsp;</li></ol>&nbsp;<h3>Defining a Clear Problem Statement</h3>Before any project starts, it’s important for the team to align on a clear problem statement before identifying a possible solution. By defining a problem statement, this prepares the team to further investigate different solutions through proper research and confidently act on the best proposed solution.&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;Carbon Mileage defined their clear problem statement as, “How might we engage air travelers in decarbonization efforts?” which evolved from the original statement that fixated on the idea of an incentivisation program. The original problem statement felt narrow and closed-minded to how much broader the team could explore decarbonization efforts. By switching the problem of only having an incentivization program to thinking more broadly towards engaging customers, this allowed the team to think much deeper into possible solutions.&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;<h3>Analyzing Target Customers and Stakeholders&nbsp;</h3>After defining the problem statement, it’s important to analyze who the true stakeholders are, also known as the target audience of the Carbon Mileage program and all those who would be involved in Carbon Milage’s solution. The team outlined four main stakeholders: airlines, air travelers, travel organizers, and sustainable fuel suppliers. Beyond identifying stakeholders, it’s important to get to know them even more by determining what motivates them to act a certain way or make specific purchasing decisions. By specifying key motivations, Carbon Mileage can leverage this information as a way to build engagement amongst target users and explore solutions to their problem statement.&nbsp;&nbsp;<h3>Mapping Out the User Journey To Better Understand the User Experience</h3><figure class="image"><img src="https://moon-website-prod-images.s3.us-west-1.amazonaws.com/carbon_mileage_2_d30c966b9b.png" alt="carbon mileage 2.png"></figure>Aligning the user journey with the product hypothesis allowed the team to visually see where in the target audience’s journey it would make the most sense to implement Carbon Mileage.&nbsp;The team first explored, “How might Carbon Mileage reward travelers?” Some ideas included priority boarding, travel status, points redeemable for sustainable merch, and additional airline miles. Then the team explored how this might align with reduced carbon emissions. Ideas included buying carbon credits to compensate for annual travel and traveling with lighter bags to reduce fuel usage.&nbsp;While listing all of these ideas out is important, what makes the ideas even more tangible is creating concept cards to help paint a clearer picture of what direction the team feels is the ideal solution. By creating prototypes of the ideas, the team is able to confidently visualize the possibility of an idea before acting on it.&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;<img src="https://moon-website-prod-images.s3.us-west-1.amazonaws.com/Carbon_Mileage_bd0574516a.png" alt="Carbon Mileage.png">&nbsp;<h3>Name Assumptions and Build a Research Plan to De-Risk Them&nbsp;</h3>With these concept cards, the team then built out a user research guide to de-risk any of their previous assumptions. By gathering early feedback from Moon team members, the Carbon Mileage team was able to commit to a product direction during the workshop.&nbsp;What was unique about this user testing experience was that it was the first time Carbon Mileage team members asked open-ended questions and avoided leading questions about their product. A leading question might look like, “Would you pack lighter if it meant to be rewarded by product credits?” rather than open-ended questions like, “What is the first thing that comes to mind about air travel?” The reason for asking open-ended questions versus leading questions was to widen the knowledge base for the team, unleashing new insights into what potential customers might bring. Many times teams lean on assumptions to answer the root of their problem rather than exploring the truest needs of their users.&nbsp;Taking the exploration even further, the team created a landing page to test the value proposition with users. Why a landing page? It’s quick, it’s tangible, and it’s the first exploration of the product that might speak to potential customers.&nbsp;<h3>What’s Next for Carbon Mileage &nbsp;</h3>The team agreed that there needs to be even more exploration of de-risking the most critical assumptions by engaging further user research with key stakeholders, focusing on travelers and airlines. Additionally, there needs to be a design experiment to test the theory that IF consumers were rewarded for choosing carbon reduction efforts, they would do so.Since this workshop was only two days, the team agreed that this would need to happen at a later time. We look forward to learning more about Carbon Mileage in the coming months as they begin to explore further together with Moon.If a workshop similar to this sounds interesting to you and your team, Moon would love to hear from you. Contact us at <a href="mailto:hello@mooncreativelab.com">hello@mooncreativelab.com</a> to start the conversation of how we can help your organization, team, or startup begin digging deeper into the root of the problem you’re seeking to solve.&nbsp; &nbsp;

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Problem definition is the first step in creating a business. At Moon Creative Lab, we emphasize the importance of first delving into problem definitions from multiple angles. In the business incubation process, it is only after a problem is defined that a vision or concept can be created.In this article, we introduce essential tips that can be applied to problem definition and user-research preparation. Table of Contents<ul><li>Four essential tips in problem definition&nbsp;</li><li>Tennis Bear as an example&nbsp;</li><li>Necessary rules in brainstorming</li><li>How to check your bias&nbsp;</li><li>Preparation for user research&nbsp;</li></ul><hr><h3>Four essential tips in problem definition</h3>Defining a problem is the first step needed before creating a project vision or concept. It is necessary to consider various factors such as what are the users' problems, who are the people in need and whether there are competitors.There are four points we analyze at Moon to help us define the problem we are looking to solve.&nbsp;①&nbsp;Pain Points + AspirationsTo make problem definitions more concrete, we need to know the challenges people are facing. We try to identify the problem by answering the following questions:What needs currently exist? &nbsp; What are the unfulfilled needs? Are there any needs that people aren't aware of?&nbsp; ②&nbsp;Problem Scale + Opportunity&nbsp;Analyzing the problem with statistics and other data can help better understand the scale and severity of needs. The results of further investigation can help provide hints for identifying solutions. If there is no data found, we can conduct simple research such as interviews to help identify the specific solutions needed. &nbsp;③&nbsp;User ExplorationIdentify ideas that could have potential solutions and start thinking about the end users.&nbsp;Identifying both the users and related stakeholders can help better understand the overall structure of the business. It is important to identify all stakeholders as clearly as possible and visualize them on a map. <img src="https://moon-website-prod-images.s3.us-west-1.amazonaws.com/_ff3826e98e.jpg" alt="ユーザーエクスプロレーション.jpg">④ Can We Test?We need to understand the current market and user behavior, confirm how they are currently dealing with problems, what competitive services are available, whether they can be solved with existing services, etc., and examine whether new solutions are needed.<h3>Tennis Bear as an example</h3><img src="https://moon-website-prod-images.s3.us-west-1.amazonaws.com/Tennis_Bear_9bafde6d4d_5dc583f819.jpeg" alt="Tennis_Bear_9bafde6d4d.jpeg">Let's look at <a href="https://www.mooncreativelab.com/ja/ventures/tennis-bear">Tennis Bear</a> which is part of Moon's venture portfolio. Tennis Bear is a digital sports platform that brings recreational players together in Japan that allows users to search and make reservations at local tennis courts. Tennis Bear also allows users to search for players of the similar level as themselves.&nbsp; Below we apply the four essential tips in problem definition for Tennis Bear.&nbsp;① Pain Points + Aspiration.&nbsp; Before there was no way to check court availability online. Finding players at a similar skill level was a struggle among tennis players and these factors became important insights in finding what was needed as a service.② Problem Scale + Opportunity.&nbsp; The team identified the size of the tennis population, the number of courts, how many players are having troubles finding other players and how serious it is for users who love tennis.③ User Exploration.&nbsp; The Tennis Bear team examined various user scenarios such as experienced or inexperienced players, whether they play at a tennis club or whether they are tennis court owners or instructors.④ Can We Test?&nbsp; Tennis Bear searched for an online website that allowed users to check courts’ reservation status. What they found was that there was no service to make a reservation by searching for the availability of tennis courts. Based on this finding the team developed a function that allows users to search and reserve courts all at once.&nbsp; After the service was launched, Tennis Bear realized users were having a hard time finding training partners of a similar level. The team then added a function that allowed users to search for players of a similar level.&nbsp;<figure class="image"><img src="https://moon-website-prod-images.s3.us-west-1.amazonaws.com/_be63be5dbe.jpg" alt="ポストイットはる.jpg"><figcaption>Brainstorming session using Post-its</figcaption></figure><h3> Necessary rules in brainstorming</h3>Quantity Over Quality&nbsp;Before starting a discussion on your initial problem space, realize this is just the starting point. A single idea often leads to many more ideas in a brainstorming session. The best brainstorming sessions thrive when they are open discussions valuing any and all ideas, and opinions. Remember that quantity is encouraged over quality here!&nbsp;Don't Judge Ideas Right AwayYou might want to judge some of the ideas shared right away which is natural. It's important to have an open mind and consider various possibilities without jumping to conclusions.&nbsp;Steps for a successful brainstorming session.<ol><li>At first, try to come up with ideas by yourself&nbsp;</li><li>Share and discuss ideas with others&nbsp;</li><li>Group similar ideas together &nbsp;</li><li>Vote and pick ideas to prioritize&nbsp;</li></ol>Prioritization can be discussed and decided over time but voting is more effective especially when time is limited.&nbsp;After identifying your problem definition and running a proper brainstorm you'll next need to identify any biases.&nbsp;<h3>How to check your bias</h3>Doing a bias check after sharing honest opinions during a brainstorm session is important to make sure you have seen all perspectives of an idea (not just your own).&nbsp;After the brainstorming session you'll want to separate the hypotheses from the questions. Hypotheses are statements that seem to be true about the ideas where as questions ask whether there is prejudice or risk against that hypothesis.<img src="https://moon-website-prod-images.s3.us-west-1.amazonaws.com/_dd80ad9d12.jpg" alt="バイアスチェック.jpg">By analyzing the hypotheses and questions you are able to identify speculation and potential risks. Often times if you are unsure about a hypothesis you will need to consider more research or asking an expert. &nbsp;<h3>Research Preparation</h3><img src="https://moon-website-prod-images.s3.us-west-1.amazonaws.com/Design_research_thumbnail_7d739434e4.jpg" alt="Design research thumbnail.jpg">After narrowing our focus through the bias check process the next step is preparing for research. There are two items that are required in order to proceed: a strong vision and a game plan.&nbsp;Clarifying the vision plays a big role in deepening the shared goal and solutions among project members. Think about what needs to be shared to properly communicate your idea to others. Some questions you might ask include:What kind of influence would this create on people, and on whom? What kind of world do you want to create?&nbsp; What is the motivation?&nbsp; What are the barriers?&nbsp;Next, you'll want to develop a game plan which outlines the research plan and concept design. Start by identifying these questions:&nbsp;Who should we talk to?&nbsp; What are the risks?&nbsp; How serious is each risk?&nbsp;Based on the content identified through the brainstorming, we can easily answer these questions with confidence to create a shared vision among team members and develop a game plan.&nbsp;<h3>Next steps after Problem Definition&nbsp;</h3>Moon's incubation process moves from problem definition is just the first step to building a business idea. The next steps include clarification of vision, concept design, user research, prototyping, and product launch.This process is based on the design research methodology. Be sure to learn about the next steps here on Moon Stories!

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About Moon

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The Ugly Truth: Early-Stage Entrepreneurs Waste Time on The Wrong Problems

How a Two-Day Workshop Helped a Business Focus on a Better Solution

Problem Definition When Starting a Business

In The News

Moon Welcomes Community of Individuals, Corporations, and Startup Teams To Build Innovative New Businesses

Moon Opens Doors to Palo Alto Startup Community

What Does Artificial Life Reveal About Us?

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problem definition - Moon Stories Blog

The Ugly Truth: Early-Stage Entrepreneurs Waste Time on The Wrong Problems

How a Two-Day Workshop Helped a Business Focus on a Better Solution

Problem Definition When Starting a Business

In The News

Moon Welcomes Community of Individuals, Corporations, and Startup Teams To Build Innovative New Businesses

Moon Opens Doors to Palo Alto Startup Community

What Does Artificial Life Reveal About Us?