Talk about the problem, not the solution • Hacker News Board

Re: Talk about the problem, not the solution

#11

Post by demian » Sat, Apr 06, 2013, 3:52 PM UTC

I'm worried about the tendency to letting just "nontechnical" people "define the problem", and the general relegation of "technical" people to only build and execute a vision.

Some people have a background that deals mostly in perception and form, while others deals mostly in structure and function. If both balance strategic trade-offs of the product, both are designers. If they only execute plans, they are craftsmans and technicians.

Which one of them is better for "defining" the problem deppends on the problem. Both can learn to have holistic vision, and how to understand where their expertise and skills end.

There are creative and intuitive technical people. They are out there, as many as "artists" that can truly design products.

Re: Talk about the problem, not the solution

#12

Post by kategleason » Sat, Apr 06, 2013, 4:05 PM UTC

namank wrote: post #2

OP, what are your motivations behind this? Anyways, this is right on the money. Finding the problem is an art in itself. It's only once we find the root problem that we can design the holistic solution, otherwise it's a whole bunch of patched held together by desperation and neediness. Example: if it turns out poverty is related to global warming and for the past decade we've spend resources trying to rid poverty in…

hey namank, no motivation just sharing my thoughts. we're building eligibleapi.com though if you want to check it out.

Re: Talk about the problem, not the solution

#13

Post by mikecarroll » Sat, Apr 06, 2013, 6:43 PM UTC

This is also a big problem in health tech: the people that are good at identifying the problems (doctors, public health officials, etc.) don't communicate them but instead focus on convincing others to build their vision of the solution (which tend to be inadequate, or even counterproductive).

Given that the author is the founder of health tech startup (EligibleAPI.com), it's hard not to read this as being implicit in the post :)

Re: Talk about the problem, not the solution

#14

Post by DrJokepu » Sat, Apr 06, 2013, 7:31 PM UTC

jey wrote: post #3

"A&R" apparently means "artists and repertoire", which is a standard department in a record label (and analogous to a tech company's R&D department).

It's more like business development rather than R&D. It's basically about finding new talented recording artists (performers) and publishers/writers who would be a good match for them.

Re: Talk about the problem, not the solution

#15

Post by auxbuss » Sat, Apr 06, 2013, 7:58 PM UTC

mikecane wrote: post #9

Two things. 1) A clip from Moneyball: http://youtu.be/HiB9L3dG-Aw 2) I remember from a book about someone marketing in Japan. They were trying to sell a rice cooker that could also cook other foods. They couldn't understand why this convenience wouldn't sell. It seemed to solve a "problem." In many consumer interviews, a passing comment revealed the new problem they had actually created. Housewives feared that the ta…

I have one of those rice cookers. It's the single best piece of cooking equipment I've ever owned. It has a Teflon pot, so flavours don't linger. We cook chilli in it, wok-style fried rice dishes, baked fish, breakfast fry ups, and a lot of boiled rice-based dishes. Awesome piece of kit.