problem solving

It may not be a post code, but 5W1H can help you find what you’re looking for.

The 5W1H acronym, which stands for five Ws and one H, represents a systematic method of asking questions to help you find the most critical details about a process, project or a problem.

I first learned about 5W1H – Who, What, When, Where, Why, and How – while studying journalism. News stories, I was taught, must include 5W1H in the lead – the first sentence or two – of the article. Good news stories compose the five Ws and the H in a compelling narrative that keeps the reader reading. For the journalist, 5W1H is a formula for getting all the pertinent facts on a subject to present a complete picture for the reader.

Sometimes referred to as the Kipling method after the English author Robert Kipling who paid homage in a poem to the questions for helping trigger ideas in his writing, 5W1H is commonly used to stimulate creative thinking or to find and develop new ideas. However, its use isn’t limited to the writing or creative process.

Since none of the questions can be answered with simple yes or no, 5W1H is also used as a basis for information gathering and problem solving. Asking who, what, when, where and why – no less than five times – in early stages of problem solving elicits detailed answers that support a complete analysis of the problem. It can also uncover additional opportunities, if they exist, so that better solutions and decision can be made.

In project management, the 5W1H questions are used as a checklist to ensure a project is covering all the necessary basis as well as ensure the overall effectiveness of project delivery.

As a corporate communications professional, I use the questions as the starting point for just about everything I do – from writing organizational announcements to developing manager talking points and naturally, building frequently asked questions. I also use them when I’m developing new programs and initiatives as the foundation for my business case. Answering the 5W1H questions helps me answer and organize all the key points my leadership team will need in order to decide if the program is worth funding.

Whatever your profession, project, process, or problem, you can use 5W1H to structure your thinking. Answering the 5W1H questions will give you a complete fact-based story and give you the facts you need to make an informed decision about what to do next.

^Sources:

^{“Check out This Minilesson: Asking and Answering the 5 W’s and H Questions.” K, 6 Nov. 2015, k12.thoughtfullearning.com/minilesson/asking-and-answering-5-ws-and-h-questions.}

^{Ipma. “5Ws 1H: A Technique to Improve Project Management Efficiencies.” IPMA International Project Management Association, 15 June 2018, www.ipma.world/5ws-1h-a-technique-to-improve-project-management-efficiencies/.}

^{Kipling, Rudyard. “The Elephant’s Child (Poem).” Short Stories and Classic Literature, americanliterature.com/author/rudyard-kipling/poem/the-elephants-child-poem.}

^{Markov, Sergey. “Sergey Markov.” Genvive, 7 Apr. 2019, geniusrevive.com/en/the-kipling-method-5w1h/.}

^{Mindjet. “Five Ws and an H: 6 Questions All Project Managers Should Ask.” Five Ws and an H 6 Questions All Project Managers Should Ask Comments, 12 Apr. 2013, www.mindjet.com/blog/2013/04/6-questions-all-project-managers-should-ask/.}

^{Mycoted, www.mycoted.com/Five_Ws_and_H?mobileaction=toggle_view_mobile.}

^{“Using the Five W’s and One H Approach to Six Sigma.” ISixSigma, 15 Oct. 2014, www.isixsigma.com/implementation/basics/using-five-ws-and-one-h-approach-six-sigma/.}

I recently had the chance to speak with Jennifer Barton, Senior Director Product Management, and Toni Lo Sasso, Principal, User Experience, who both work for Accolade, a high-touch healthcare technology company, about the techniques they used to improve a claims interface for their internal customer service team.

To address the interface’s shortcomings, Barton and Lo Sasso started from scratch. They began by conducting interviews with the Accolade Health Assistants who rely on the system to answer claims questions for their users and to help them navigate the complex world of healthcare.

“We were looking to uncover the top pain points for Health Assistants and apply the 80/20 rule,” says Barton. The 80/20 rule, also known as the Pareto principle, focuses on finding and fixing the 20 percent of causes that create 80 percent of the effect.

But getting that information isn’t always easy. “I feel like half of the job is getting people to tell us the problem without solutioning it for us,” says Lo Sasso.

“We get a lot of solutions,” she says. “People say, ‘just change this to that or that to this,’ and it’s our job to push back and say, ‘but I really want to understand your problem because your solution may not scale or your solution may not solve two or three other problems we know we have.’”

Lo Sasso says the three most important things to identify at the outset of a process improvement project are, “What problem needs to be solved, why is it a problem, and who is it affecting?”

As a user experience designer, Lo Sasso gets users to reveal problems by observing them. “I get them to show me what they’re doing,” she says. “It adds a lot of value to be able to see someone use their tools…to see what they’re doing and the shortcuts they’ve created for themselves. I always want to see it…show me what you’re talking about.”

For Barton, it’s all about asking the right questions to solicit the kind of responses you want. “There are techniques like the five whys,” she says, “where you keep going and digging deeper until you get to the actual problem.”

“It’s an art,” Barton continues, “a skill you have to hone over time to make sure you are getting to the actual problem.”

Barton asks questions like, “If you say you want to get this done, tell me the process you would normally walk through to get to that point.” She says she takes on the role of a student: “I say, ‘just teach me, you’re the expert, tell me what you think is going on here and walk me through that.’” When users start talking about what they do every day, Barton says, “They are released from responsibility of giving me a solution, and they can start to just openly and freely talk about things.”

Barton and Lo Sasso both say their version of show and tell helps them get to the real problem, while uncovering the user’s thoughts, feelings and emotions. This gives the team a complete picture of who they are designing the improvements for.

Using show and tell, Barton and Lo Sasso learn what needs to be solved, for whom it’s a problem, and why it’s a problem. They’re then ready to compare notes and start working toward a scalable solution that works for everyone.

^Sources:

^{Koch, Richard. “The Pareto Principle: Achieving More With Less.” Process Excellence Network, 25 May 2018, www.processexcellencenetwork.com/lean-six-sigma-business-performance/interviews/the-pareto-principle-achieving-more-with-less.}
^{“The UXer’s Guide to User Personas.” Justinmind, www.justinmind.com/blog/uxers-guide-to-user-personas/.}