Problem Statement

Try it: /pm-skills:define-problem-statement "Your context here"

A problem statement is a concise document that frames the problem you’re solving, articulates the impact on users and the business, and defines clear success criteria. It serves as the foundation for all subsequent product work by ensuring alignment on what problem to solve before jumping to how to solve it.

When to Use

Starting a new initiative or project to establish shared understanding
Realigning a drifted project back to its original intent
Communicating up to leadership or stakeholders about priorities
Evaluating whether a proposed solution actually addresses the core problem
Onboarding new team members to provide context

When NOT to Use

The problem is already agreed and engineering needs the spec -> use deliver-prd
You want to propose and compare solution approaches -> use develop-solution-brief
You are capturing customer motivation rather than a business problem -> use define-jtbd-canvas
The “problem” is really an unvalidated assumption -> frame it with define-hypothesis and test it before committing a team to it

How to Use

Invoke the skill by name (/pm-skills:define-problem-statement on Claude Code, $define-problem-statement on Codex):

/pm-skills:define-problem-statement "Your context here"

Or reference the skill file directly: skills/define-problem-statement/SKILL.md

Instructions

When asked to create a problem statement, follow these steps:

Identify the User Segment Ask who is experiencing this problem. Get specific about the user persona, role, or segment. Avoid vague descriptions like “users” - instead target “mobile shoppers completing checkout” or “enterprise admins managing 50+ users.”
Understand the Pain Points Explore what friction, frustration, or unmet need the user experiences. Ask probing questions to understand the severity and frequency of the problem. Look for evidence from user research, support tickets, or behavioral data.
Establish Business Context Connect the user problem to business impact. How does this problem affect revenue, retention, growth, or strategic goals? Why should the organization invest in solving this now versus later?
Define Success Metrics Identify how you will measure success. What metrics will move if this problem is solved? Establish current baselines and target improvements. Be specific and time-bound.
Surface Constraints and Considerations Note any technical limitations, resource constraints, regulatory requirements, or dependencies that will shape the solution space.
Capture Open Questions Document what you don’t know yet. What assumptions need validation? What additional research is needed?

Output Format

Use the template in references/TEMPLATE.md to structure the output. A complete problem statement fills every template section: Problem Summary; User Impact; Business Context; Success Criteria; Constraints & Considerations; and Open Questions.

Examples

See references/EXAMPLE.md for a completed example.

Output Template

Problem Statement: [Problem Title]

Problem Summary

[Describe the problem in clear, jargon-free language. Focus on the user’s experience and the gap between current state and desired state.]

User Impact

Who is affected?

[User segment description]

How are they affected?

[Pain point description]

Scale of impact

[Quantify the reach and frequency]

Business Context

Strategic Alignment

[Connection to business priorities]

Business Impact

[Quantified business impact]

Why Now?

[Timing rationale]

Success Criteria

Metric	Current Baseline	Target	Timeline
[Primary metric]	[Current value]	[Target value]	[By when]
[Secondary metric]	[Current value]	[Target value]	[By when]
[Guardrail metric]	[Current value]	[Maintain]	[Ongoing]

Constraints & Considerations

[Constraint 1]
[Constraint 2]
[Consideration 1]

Open Questions

[Question 1]
[Question 2]
[Question 3]

Example Output

Problem Statement: Mobile Checkout Abandonment

Problem Summary

Mobile shoppers on our e-commerce platform abandon their carts at checkout at significantly higher rates than desktop users. Despite having items in their cart and reaching the checkout page, 73% of mobile users leave without completing their purchase, representing a substantial revenue opportunity and a frustrating experience for customers who intended to buy.

User Impact

Who is affected?

Mobile shoppers who add items to their cart and initiate checkout. This segment represents 62% of our total traffic and skews toward younger demographics (18-34) who prefer shopping on their phones.

How are they affected?

Users report frustration with:

Small form fields that are difficult to complete on mobile keyboards
Having to re-enter payment information each session
Confusion about shipping costs that appear late in the flow
Slow page loads between checkout steps causing timeouts
Difficulty applying promo codes on the mobile interface

Scale of impact

2.3 million mobile checkout sessions per month
73% abandonment rate (vs. 45% on desktop)
Approximately 1.68 million abandoned checkouts monthly
Average cart value of abandoned sessions: $67

Business Context

Strategic Alignment

Mobile-first commerce is a key pillar of our 2026 strategy. The executive team has committed to achieving mobile revenue parity with desktop by Q4. Reducing mobile checkout friction directly supports OKR 2.1: “Increase mobile conversion rate by 25%.”

Business Impact

Potential monthly revenue recovery: $14.8M (assuming 20% of abandoned carts convert)
Estimated annual impact: $177M revenue opportunity
Secondary impact: Higher mobile conversion improves CAC payback for mobile ad spend
Customer lifetime value: Mobile-acquired customers have 23% higher repeat purchase rate

Why Now?

Q4 holiday season approaching with 40% of annual mobile traffic
Competitor launched one-tap checkout in September, creating pressure
New payment provider integration enables Apple Pay/Google Pay
Mobile traffic growing 8% MoM while desktop is flat

Success Criteria

Metric	Current Baseline	Target	Timeline
Mobile checkout abandonment rate	73%	60%	Q1 2026
Mobile conversion rate	1.8%	2.3%	Q1 2026
Checkout completion time (mobile)	4.2 min	2.5 min	Q1 2026
Mobile revenue as % of total	38%	45%	Q2 2026
Customer satisfaction (checkout NPS)	32	50	Q1 2026

Constraints & Considerations

Payment provider contract limits changes to payment form UI until March
Must maintain PCI compliance for any checkout modifications
iOS and Android apps share checkout webview - changes affect both platforms
Engineering capacity: 2 engineers available, 6-week runway before feature freeze
Cannot remove guest checkout option (legal requirement in EU markets)
Must preserve existing promo code functionality for marketing campaigns

Open Questions

What percentage of abandoners return later on desktop to complete purchase?
Are there specific points in the checkout flow where drop-off spikes?
How do abandonment rates vary by product category or cart value?
What do competitors’ mobile checkout flows look like?
Would users prefer saved payment methods vs. digital wallet integration?
Is shipping cost surprise a larger factor than form friction?

Real-World Examples

See this skill applied to three different product contexts:

Storevine (B2B): Storevine B2B ecommerce platform . Campaigns feature problem framing for engineering and design

Prompt:

define-problem-statement

Project: Campaigns . native email marketing for Storevine merchants
Stage: Define . establishing shared problem framing before PRD draft

Problem I want to articulate:
- ~68% of active merchants use an external email tool [fictional]
- Storevine's built-in email lacks purchase-based segmentation and
  revenue attribution . the two capabilities merchants cite most
- Q4 exit survey: 22% of churned merchants cited this as a primary
  cancellation reason [fictional]
- Competitive analysis filed last week: Shopify Email has already
  validated the built-in email model; Campaigns is behind

Prior work to integrate:
- Competitive analysis (Feb 2026): feature gap matrix vs. Shopify Email,
  Klaviyo, and Mailchimp; confirmed attribution is the primary v1
  differentiator opportunity
- Q4 exit survey data (internal): 22% churn cited email gaps [fictional]

Need: full problem statement with user impact, business context, success
criteria, constraints, and open questions. Audience: engineering lead,
design, legal, and head of product before PRD review.

Output:

Problem Statement: Merchants Require External Email Tools for Capabilities Storevine’s Platform Should Provide

Brainshelf (Consumer): Brainshelf consumer PKM app . saved content re-engagement problem statement

Prompt:

define-problem-statement

the guilt pile problem. users save a ton of stuff to brainshelf but
never come back to read it. interview data says 5/7 users described
their library negatively. behavioral data says <9% revisit rate within
30 days [fictional]. 7-day return rate is 18% [fictional], OKR target
is 25% [fictional] by end of Q2.

need a clean problem statement to align the team before we start
building the resurface hypothesis.

Output:

Problem Statement: Saved Content Re-Engagement Gap

Workbench (Enterprise): "Workbench enterprise collaboration platform: enterprise documentation completeness gap"

Prompt:

define-problem-statement

Product: Workbench (enterprise collaboration platform, Series B, ~500 enterprise customers [fictional])
Feature area: Document templates and approval workflows (Blueprints)

The problem: Enterprise teams create documents using templates but no tool enforces template completion before a document enters the approval workflow. Result: approvers receive incomplete documents, send them back, and the approval cycle inflates from what should be a same-day decision to a multi-day back-and-forth.

Who is affected: Primarily two personas -- (1) document authors (project leads, ops managers) who use templates but don't complete every section; (2) approvers (department heads, compliance leads) who receive incomplete documents and must either reject and wait or approve and accept compliance risk.

Scale:
- 38% of Blueprints in closed beta reach approval with ≥1 empty required section [fictional]
- 60% of enterprise projects in our customer base lack an approved kickoff document at the time of project handoff [fictional]
- Median time to first approval: 4.0 days [fictional]; estimated 3 of those days are queue time while the doc is bounced back for completion
- Approvers review ~15 docs/month on average; at least half are incomplete [fictional]

Strategic context:
- H1 2026 OKR: expand enterprise customer base from 500 to 650 [fictional]
- Enterprise churn in compliance-heavy segments (healthcare, financial services, government) is 18% annual [fictional]; governance tooling is the most-requested feature in churn exit surveys
- Series C fundraise planned for late 2026; enterprise traction is the anchor narrative
- Competitive gap: no doc-first tool (Confluence, Notion, Coda) enforces template section completion; Monday.com has approval workflows but is not a document tool

Stakeholders: Sandra C. (Head of Product), Mei-Lin T. (Enterprise Sales Lead)

Output:

Problem Statement: Enterprise Document Approval Inefficiency Due to Incomplete Template Submissions

Quality Checklist

Before finalizing, verify:

Problem is specific to a defined user segment (not “all users”)
Impact is quantified with data or reasonable estimates
Success metrics have baselines and targets
Problem describes the “what” without prescribing the “how”
Business context explains why this matters now
Open questions are captured for follow-up