craft your problem statement

Optional Video:

Why Asking the Right Questions Is Important

Step 1

“Problem statement” is another way of saying “describe the problem you want to solve.” Think about what kind of problems related to being online, or using technology that you and your friends have, or things you know other people have problems with.

Step 2

Discuss and write down all your brainstorm ideas from all team members. Then decide which one you would all like to work on today. (You can also scroll down to the bottom of this page for sample problem statements and work on one of those if you can’t come up with any on your own.)

Step 3

Once you’ve decided which problem to work on as a group, work on going more in detail about the problem statement. A good problem statement usually has:

  • What the Current Problem Is: A short description of the existing problem or challenge.

  • Desired Outcome: What would it look like if you solved the problem? What do you want to have happen?

  • Define Your Target Audience: Who / which group of people is facing this problem the most? (Pre-teens in Singapore; kids in your school only; university students globally; etc.)

  • Importance: Why is addressing this problem important?

  • (Optional) Contextual Details: Other background information that helps other people understand the problem better.

Step 4

Examples of Problem Statements and Questions

    • Current State: Research shows that social media is purposefully designed to create addiction so that we spend more time on them than is healthy.

    • Desired Outcome: Pre-teens should be more aware of the negative impacts of social media addition before they make accounts.

    • Define Your Target Audience: Pre-teens around the world (between ages of 9 and 12).

    • Importance: Our initial research found that doctors believe that “prolonged use of social media sites like Facebook may be linked to negative manifestations and symptoms of depression, anxiety, and stress” (NIH, 2023). It’s important for us to teach young kids this early on so they can make healthy decisions.

    • Contextual Details: Not all social media is bad, and research shows that it can be helpful to our mental health to connect with others online. However, it is important to understand how to balance your time online and offline and how to prioritise in-person relationships and activities.

    • Current State: Kids are often not aware of how much data they share online until it’s too late.

    • Desired Outcome: Kids who are online should know about what kinds of things it’s ok to share and with whom.

    • Define Your Target Audience: All kids who use the internet.

    • Importance: Our initial research found that cybercrime towards kids is increasing. According to Singapore’s DQ Institute, “almost two-thirds (60%) of children aged 8-12 surveyed across 30 countries are exposed to one or more forms of cyber risk, amounting to a ‘cyber pandemic’” (2020).

    • Contextual Details: It can be hard for kids to tell who to trust online. It’s also hard for kids to predict how small pieces of information (like their age, or which school they go to) can change into someone targeting them online. Apart from teaching kids what pieces of info to share with whom, it’s also important to talk to them about the difference between online friends and real-life friends.

    • Current State: With advertisements, social media and deepfakes, it can be hard to tell what is true and what is not online.

    • Desired Outcome: We should all know how to recognise fake information online.

    • Define Your Target Audience: Anyone who uses the internet of any age.

    • Importance: We found through our research that “fake news is a serious problem for children and young people, threatening their well-being” but that children are capable of playing a role in actively countering the flow of misinformation (UNICEF, 2024).

    • Contextual Details: Children sometimes aren’t prepared to understand what is real and what is fake. If someone doesn’t teach them at school or at home, it is easy for them to assume that what they see online is true. Children should know that they are not just reading information but also should think about whether they agree or disagree and form their own opinions from many different sources.