The Solution Design Framework
Clarity, Structure, and Momentum for Solving What Matters Most
The Solution Design Framework is a structured thinking and execution framework for translating complex business problems and opportunities into actionable, scalable solutions. It's designed for situations where the path forward isn't obvious, where surface-level fixes fall short, and where deeper insight, structured alignment, and rigorous execution are required.
This framework brings a consistent methodology to uncovering root causes, defining strategic challenges, and engineering high-ROI solutions. It gives teams a shared language and mental model to move from ambiguity to action—fast, clearly, and effectively.
The Solution Design Framework is used to:
Diagnose and untangle complex, interdependent issues
Identify meaningful opportunities hidden within operations, systems, or customer journeys
Convert loosely defined pain points into structured, high-value solution spaces
Develop and deliver scalable solutions through concept design, validation, and execution
" The Solution Design Framework is not a theory or abstraction—it's a practical sequence built to help decision-makers and operators move forward with confidence and clarity. It adapts to cross-functional use cases, supports both strategic and tactical problem solving, and allows for modular implementation depending on context and stage. "
Solution Design Framework Overview
At its core, the Solution Design Framework answers a simple but essential question: "What's the smartest, clearest way to move from challenge to solution—without wasting time, resources, or momentum?"
Identify pain points, inefficiencies, and areas of untapped value
Key Questions:
What's slowing us down? Where are we wasting time or resources? Where could we be doing more with what we already have?
Output:
Clear list of business-relevant problems and opportunities
Surface the true drivers and systemic factors behind what's happening
Key Questions:
What's underneath this issue? Who or what is involved in making change possible? Where are the real points of failure?
Output:
Root cause map with relevant people, tools, and processes
Organize insights into focus areas and determine what matters most
Key Questions:
What's related? What rises to the top in terms of value, urgency, and feasibility? Are we aligned on what to solve first?
Output:
Grouped themes, impact/effort map, or scored list
Frame the right problems to solve in a way that guides thinking and action
Key Questions:
Is this challenge framed around outcomes? Does it reflect real constraints? Is it broad enough for innovation, but focused enough to act on?
Output:
Well-formed challenge statements
Generate viable, creative paths to address the challenge
Key Questions:
What are the possible ways forward? Which ones fit the context, capabilities, and goals?
Output:
Prioritized list of strategic approaches
Build implementable, validated solutions designed for near-term and long-term ROI
Key Questions:
What does success look like? How do we validate early and scale later? Are we designing for flexibility, speed, and sustainability?
Output:
De-risked, staged solution plans with clear criteria
Stage 1: Identify Problems & Opportunities
Pinpoint what's holding the business back—or what could propel it forward.
The first step in the Solution Design Framework is to define what's worth solving. This means identifying the problems that create measurable friction or risk, and surfacing the opportunities that represent untapped value or strategic upside.
This stage requires moving beyond vague complaints or open-ended goals. It's about surfacing the right inputs to work on—those with enough significance, urgency, or potential return to justify structured attention and resource investment.
Problems are recurring inefficiencies, constraints, or breakdowns that degrade performance, increase cost, or limit growth.
Guidelines:
- • Focus on the impact
- • Separate symptoms from root problems
- • Validate with data and observation
- • Be precise with language
Opportunities represent leverage points—places where the organization can unlock growth, efficiency, or strategic advantage.
Guidelines:
- • Look at external forces
- • Consider internal strengths
- • Evaluate competitive gaps
- • Tie to specific outcomes
Poor Statement:
"Our onboarding process is a mess."
Refined Statement:
"Customer onboarding takes an average of 14 days, resulting in a 22% drop-off rate before activation."
Vague Statement:
"We should improve customer retention."
Refined Statement:
"Competitors using AI-powered personalization have increased customer retention by 20%. We currently lack personalization capabilities in post-sale communications."
| Type | Example | Why It Matters |
|---|---|---|
| Problem | "Manual invoice processing is delaying payments by 10–15 days, causing friction with vendors." | Clear financial impact and operational drag |
| Problem | "Internal ticketing takes 4+ touchpoints before resolution, frustrating both users and IT." | Reveals a need for better routing and workflow logic |
| Opportunity | "We have clean access to historical performance data that hasn't been centralized for analysis." | Unused asset that could support better decisions |
| Opportunity | "Customers have shown interest in live onboarding, but we haven't explored real-time support." | Direct customer signal tied to conversion potential |
Use this to uncover where friction and failure points exist in your current workflows or systems.
- • Where are delays, rework, or confusion happening most often?
- • What problems keep getting escalated, flagged, or revisited?
- • What processes consistently break down under volume, pressure, or scale?
- • Where do mistakes, handoffs, or breakdowns regularly occur?
- • What are people manually working around—or actively avoiding?
- • Are there persistent gaps between expectations and actual delivery?
- • Do performance metrics show recurring underperformance in key areas?
Use this to identify untapped potential, leverage points, or strategic gaps.
- • Where is customer demand or expectation increasing—but not being met?
- • What internal strengths, assets, or workflows aren't being fully utilized?
- • Where could optimization unlock higher margin, speed, or efficiency?
- • What outcomes are stakeholders asking for that don't yet exist?
- • Where are competitors operating faster, cheaper, or more intelligently?
- • Are there shifts in behavior, tools, or market trends we've yet to capitalize on?
Stage 2: Investigate Root Causes & Dependencies
Understand what's really driving the problem—or blocking the opportunity.
Most issues are caused by a small set of underlying factors that drive larger patterns of inefficiency, friction, or missed potential. This stage focuses on uncovering the true root causes and understanding the systems, tools, and processes they depend on.
Effective solutions start with clear diagnosis. This step ensures you're not solving the wrong thing—or building on broken foundations.
Chronologically map breakdowns or errors over time to find patterns in when and how issues arise.
Use when:
You have recurring failures or escalating issues, but unclear causes.
What it highlights:
- • Trigger events
- • Process gaps that allow errors
- • Latent weaknesses in scale, speed, or visibility
Use performance, error, or workflow data to surface trends that can point to deeper issues.
Use when:
You have access to logs, metrics, or historical performance records.
What it enables:
- Objective view of problem areas
- • Quantified root cause signals
- • Validation of hypotheses with hard data
| Surface Issue | Root Cause | Key Dependencies |
|---|---|---|
| Sales follow-ups are inconsistent | No standardized post-demo workflow | CRM logic, SDR workflow, team availability, content library |
| High employee churn in one department | Poor onboarding and unclear expectations | HR onboarding, manager training, performance reviews |
| Product usage drops after trial | Users lose context or momentum after setup | In-app messaging, email automation, CS handoff, analytics |
| Ops process stalls under volume | Manual routing for multi-team approvals | Permissions setup, workflow engine, escalation rules |
Use this to identify the real issue behind what you're seeing.
- • Have we asked "why" enough times to get past the surface and uncover the actual cause?
- • What causes repeated delays, confusion, or rework?
- • Where are mistakes or errors happening most often?
- • What gets flagged, escalated, or complained about over and over?
- • Where does the process consistently slow down, break, or fall through the cracks?
- • What are people manually working around instead of using the system as intended?
- • What tools, teams, or approvals are creating friction or dependency?
Use this to surface what the solution must account for.
- • Who is involved in making this work today?
- • What systems, tools, or workflows will need to change or stay aligned?
- • What other teams, partners, or vendors interact with this process?
- • What data inputs or outputs are required?
- • What policies, rules, or approval processes will influence success?
- • Who needs to be consulted, informed, or trained?
Stage 5: Develop Approaches
From insight to intent: shaping how we solve the challenge.
Once a challenge is clearly framed, the next step is to explore multiple ways it could be solved—then narrow in on the most promising. Strategic approaches are not yet full solutions; they're structured concepts that outline direction, intent, and tradeoffs.
This is the bridge between the challenge and the actual solution.
A strong approach is:
- • Aligned with the challenge and its root causes
- • Feasible within real-world constraints (time, cost, talent, etc.)
- • Scalable enough to drive meaningful ROI beyond a one-time fix
- • Flexible to evolve into different solution formats
Each approach needs to include:
- • A core idea or method (e.g. automate, consolidate, restructure)
- • A reasoning path (why it fits the challenge)
- • Early consideration of constraints, feasibility, or resources
- Who is impacted? (Users, teams, systems)
- What resources are available? (Data, tools, budget, skills)
- What change is required? (Behavioral, technical, organizational)
- What constraints must be respected? (Regulatory, budgetary, timeline)
- How will we measure if it works? (KPIs, milestones, qualitative feedback)
Approach Archetypes
Remove repetitive manual work
Reduce steps or complexity
Bring things into one place
Add visibility, intelligence, or insight
Change the sequence, model, or ownership
Empower teams with autonomy
Shift ownership of effort externally
Approach development benefits from two mental modes:
Divergent Thinking
Generate as many potential approaches as possible, even ones that seem out of scope or impractical at first.
- • "What if we did the opposite?"
- • "How would a startup tackle this?"
- • "How might we use what we already have differently?"
Convergent Thinking
Narrow down ideas by filtering based on criteria.
- • Alignment with goals
- • Ease of implementation
- • Potential for ROI
- • Risk and complexity
- • Speed to value
Lay out multiple directional options side-by-side to clarify trade-offs.
| Approach Option | Strength | Risk or Constraint | Best Fit For |
|---|---|---|---|
| Automate onboarding steps | Speeds up delivery | Requires upfront dev time | High-volume onboarding environments |
| Centralize tracking dashboards | Easier visibility | May slow team autonomy | Executive visibility challenges |
| Build role-specific playbooks | Easier handoffs | Requires training | Cross-functional alignment issues |
| Approach Type | Description | Example Use Case |
|---|---|---|
| Process Reengineering | Rethinking and redesigning workflows from the ground up | Replacing multi-step approvals with auto-routing rules |
| Automation Injection | Using RPA, scripts, or triggers to reduce manual effort | Auto-generating reports from real-time system data |
| System Integration | Connecting siloed tools or platforms | Syncing CRM and finance systems for unified reporting |
| Role Redesign | Shifting responsibilities or team structures | Moving support triage from email to dedicated Slack channels |
| Self-Service Enablement | Empowering users with tools, templates, or interfaces | Giving managers access to editable forecasting dashboards |
- • Does it address the root cause, not just the symptoms?
- • Can it scale to other teams or contexts if it works?
- • Is it realistic to prototype or validate in a short timeframe?
- • Does it create measurable value if successful?
- • Can we explain it clearly in one sentence?
Stage 6: Define Solutions
From approach to execution: designing the real-world answer.
A solution is a specific, validated, and actionable implementation of a strategic approach. It accounts for real-world constraints, defines success clearly, and is engineered for measurable business impact.
Solution Formats & Examples
Workflow Automation
Scripted task automation, RPA, or low-code routines
Example: Automating invoice validation and approval routing
System Integration Layer
APIs or sync processes that unify platforms
Example: Connecting HRIS, payroll, and scheduling tools
Enablement Tools
Templates, dashboards, or knowledge systems
Example: Real-time inventory dashboard for ops managers
Service Redesign
Changes to delivery model or service interaction
Example: Shifting support triage to a priority-based chatbot
Digital Product or Feature
A new application or internal tool
Example: Creating a supplier onboarding portal
Immediate ROI
Clear, measurable outcomes on a short time horizon
Long-Term Value
Built to scale, evolve, and sustain value over time
Feasibility
Can be delivered with available resources and within constraints
Adaptability
Modular and flexible enough to evolve with business needs
The Solution Design Framework Summary
A clear path from insight to impact.
The Solution Design Framework provides a clear, repeatable path from complexity to clarity—transforming scattered problems and untapped opportunities into strategic, high-impact solutions. This framework is designed to be applied flexibly across industries and use cases, while providing shared clarity around what each stage means, why it matters, and how to execute it well.
How This Framework Helps
Clarity
Everyone speaks the same language about where we are and what's next
Speed
Cut through confusion and opinion with a clear process
Impact
Build smarter solutions that solve for both ROI and risk
Scalability
Apply this process from quick wins to enterprise-wide transformations
Apply It Across the Business
This framework is designed to work across growth, strategic, operational, and creative projects. Whether you're designing a new marketing engine, automating internal processes, or tackling a large-scale transformation, this gives you a common structure to align teams, move faster, and deliver better outcomes.
Ready to Apply the Solution Design Framework?
Let's work together to solve your most complex business challenges with clarity and precision.