Asking what's the problem before designing/creating leads to better and more efficient outcomes.

1. IT COULD BE FUN?! LET’S SOLVE PROBLEMS

2. RICHARD STOREY ON THE IPA EFFECTIVENESS AWARDS “Without exception, each campaign was effective because its 'creators' developed a theory about the problem they were facing and, from that, found a means of influencing the dynamics in their favour. I guess we call that having a strategy.”

3. ROBERT MCKEE “Limitation is vital. the first step toward a well-told story is to create a small, knowable world… The constraint that setting imposes on story design doesn't inhibit creativity: it inspires it."

4. STEPHEN KING THE JWT PLANNERS GUIDE Where are we? Why are we there? Where could we be? How could we get there?Are we getting there?

5. DON NORMAN “Almost always when somebody comes to you with a problem, they’re really telling you the symptoms and the first and the most difficult part of design is to figure out what is really needed to get to the root of the issue and solve the correct problem.”

6. MARTIN WEIGEL The crafting of that jewel-like single sentence of strategic brilliance - the ‘key thought’ or ‘proposition’ or whatever you want to call it - is often held up as the truest test of planning’s craft, and contribution. But polishing the proposition/key thought/etc. isn’t the hard bit of developing creative strategy. Defining the role of communications in solving the problem is.

7. MAYER HAWTHORNE

8. MUSIC INDUSTRY symptom:HEY! SPOTIFY IS GOING TO END OUR CAREERS

9. MAYER HAWTHORNE

10. MUSIC INDUSTRY problem:we need to get people unlimited access to new content in a way that supports the artist.

13. BE IN BETA It’s not perfectbut it’s fun(and fun is good)

14. SOME IDEAS Always Define the problemfirstdon’t be fooled by symptoms“the client asked for it” is not a valid problem

15. jay cohen @sojaysays www.jaywho.com So What’s your problem?