The purpose of design is to solve problems. Form the problem statement before brainstorming, so you can focus on the problem instead of the solutions. Tell both your goal and your constraints. Analyze your constraints and see if they are arbitrary. If after exploring several ideas you realize the "real" problem, go back and restate the problem clearly.
Advantages:
- Broader creative space: Most people jump to solutions without figuring out the real problem. Instead, explore the broader creative space and find solutions where no one else is looking.
- Clear measurement: You have a clear measurement of the quality of proposed ideas: How well do they solve the problem?
- Better communication: When you are designing with a team, communication is much easier if the problem has been clearly stated. Very often, collaborators will be trying to solve different problems and not realize it if the problem has not been clearly stated.
(The Art of Game Design: A Book of Lenses by Jesse Schell, Carnegie Mellon University, 2008. Page 60-61)
Game Design
Often, your problem statement will constrain you to some established decisions about one or more of the quadrants of the elemental tetrad, and you will have to build from there. As you try to state your problem, it can be useful to examine it from the point of view of the tetrad to check where you have design freedom and where you don't.
If you have no limitations on the tetrad, then you need to decide some constraints. Pick a story you might like to pursue or a game mechanic you would like to explore. The moment you pick something, you will have a problem statement. View your game as the solution to a problem.
(The Art of Game Design: A Book of Lenses by Jesse Schell, Carnegie Mellon University, 2008. Page 61)
Game Design: Lens of the Problem Statement
Think of your game as the solution to a problem. Defining the constraints and goals for your game as a problem statement can help move you to a clear game design much more quickly.
- What problem, or problems, am I really trying to solve?
- Have I been making assumptions about this game that really have nothing to do with its true purpose?
- Is a game really the best solution? Why?
- How will I be able to tell if the problem is solved?
(The Art of Game Design: A Book of Lenses by Jesse Schell, Carnegie Mellon University, 2008. Page 61-62)