How Might We?

Course Content for ENT3607 Innovation by Design - Syllabus

Design Thinking > How Might We > Team > Plan > Empathize > Synthesize > Ideate > Build > Pitch

A More Beautiful Question

All Design Thinking projects begin with a question. Asking interesting questions is a valuable skill in the information age. Some say that questions are the new answers.

With so much information at our fingertips, finding answers is easy. Coming up with interesting questions has become a most valuable skill. Professional question-askers known as prompt engineers earn from $63,000 to over $200,000 annually

Curiosity, imagination, and creativity are uniquely human attributes that are never likely to be automated. Design Thinking allows us to leverage and nurture all of these!

EE Cummings wrote: “Always the more beautiful answer who asks the more beautiful question.”

In his book "A More Beautiful Question," Warren Berger states that

“A beautiful question is an ambitious yet actionable question that can begin to shift the way we perceive or think about something—and that might serve as a catalyst to bring about change.”

Every great innovation begins with a begins with a beautiful question.

How Might We?

The Design Thinking process begins with a Design Challenge state as a beautiful question beginning with the words “How Might We.”

  • “How” implies a solution is possible.

  • “Might” implies that all solutions, even those that are improbable, are considered.

  • “We” suggests that problem-solving is done by a team.

The format of a How Might We question, often called an HMW, is as follows:

How might we help___________________________ (primary stakeholder - the person or group experiencing the problem)

achieve ____________________________ (specific short term goal)

so that they might _____________________________(general long term goal).

It can be helpful to first outline the problem with a “Given that” statement.

Example:

Given that the transition to college life involves many major life adjustments and is often stressful for new students,

How Might We help first year college students, quickly acclimate to their new environment and lifestyle, so that they might thrive in college.

Tips for HMW Composing

  • Proper Scope

    Keep the HMW general enough to allow for thorough research around all relevant areas of the problem, but narrow enough to constrain the problem to only what matters. Remember the HMW will be reframed to be more specific half way through the Design Thinking process.

  • Don’t Suggest a Solution

    Leave your designers with full reign to explore all different types of solutions. Leave suggestions of solutions out of the HMW unless you wish to constrain. For example, How might we use Artificial Intelligence to reduce the lines at check-out eliminates all solutions without AI.

  • Is There Room to Innovate?

    Analyze your question to make sure there is room for innovation in a solution. Some challenges that we face have been around a long time and have many solutions already. Make your’s a beautiful question that serves as a catalyst to bring about change.

Activities

  • HMW Practice

    Write HMW’s that follow the above rules for issues at a variety of scopes:

    - Global scope (consider issues from the United Nations Sustainability Development Goals)
    - National scope (consider issues in the national news)
    - Local scope (consider your local news)
    - Individual scope (consider issues you face in your day-to-day life)

  • HMW Critique

    Critique the HMW’s created by others. Are they of proper scope that allows for rich research on the subject? Is it a problem that you relate to? Does it include a suggestion for a solution? Is there room for innovation?

    Consider some of the projects at IDEO and the related HMW.

Check your understanding of HMW’s

  1. What does HMW stand for?

  2. Why are questions valuable?

  3. What human traits are unlikely to ever be automated?

  4. According to EE Cummings the result of beautiful questions is _____________.

  5. Warren Berger identifies these attributes of a beautiful question…

  6. Design Thinking begins with a Design ___________ stated as an HMW.

  7. A How Might We question include what three components?

  8. What are the useful tips for composing proper HMWs?

  9. Prior to the HMW, it can be helpful to first outline the problem with a _____________ statement.

HMW Resources