Introduction
You come into contact with new products frequently. Some of these new products
improve upon time-tested designs. Some come about because another new process,
product, or material provided an opportunity to improve upon an existing product or
opened the door for another new product. Some products are based on a completely
new idea and solve a very specific problem. In every case, a new product begins when
someone identifies a problem that they he believes needs to be solved. However, before
a problem can be successfully solved, the problem must be well defined.
Equipment
· Problem Statement Evaluation
· Problem Statement Rubric
Procedure
For this activity you will be given four different products to evaluate. You will write a
problem statement that could have led to the solution for each.
Problem Statement 1
1. Write a problem statement that identifies a possible reason why the product you
are evaluating was created. While it is possible that the product solves more than one
problem, remember to choose only one aspect about which to write a quality problem
statement.
Each year in California, over 1,500 fires are started because of Utility poles lighting the
surrounding area on fire, the majority of which are caused from the poles falling over.
In California forests, the leading cause of utility poles failing is the wood breaking,
making it fall over and starting over 1500 fires in the surrounding area.
2. Use the Problem Statement Evaluation document to improve your statement.’
