Richard Buchanan is a “design theorist” whose career revolves around human-centered design thinking principles. In his paper,
Design Research and the New Learning, he alludes to a user’s unarticulated need when he defines design as “the human power of conceiving, planning, and making products or services that serve human beings in the accomplishment of their individual and collective purposes.” It’s the user’s purpose that needs attention, not simply an unwelcome situation. This deeper need is at the root of what a user desires, whether or not they can articulate it.
Ford’s customers thought they needed a faster version of what they already had. But Ford understood their deeper purpose:
to get from one place to another faster. This distinction helped him avoid simply engineering a faster horse and instead opened the doors to create something that had never existed before.
A problem isn’t simply an unwanted situation or a matter that deviates from the norm — although these are still valid definitions of a problem. For designers and creative problem solving, a problem is an unmet need that, if met, can satisfy the user’s purpose.