Unit 2: Problem Definition and Analysis - Practice Quiz

1 Who is a stakeholder in a design problem?

2 What is a stakeholder need?

3 Which factor describes the setting in which a problem occurs?

4 Why should designers consider different stakeholders?

5 Which technique involves asking people questions to learn about a problem?

6 What is observation used for during problem identification?

7 What is the main purpose of brainstorming during problem identification?

8 Which tool is commonly used to identify the causes of a problem?

9 What does the repeated use of the question "Why?" help reveal?

10 What is the purpose of a problem statement?

11 Which statement is the best example of a problem statement?

12 A well-written problem statement should usually be:

13 Which item should generally be avoided in a problem statement?

14 What does project scope define?

15 What is an out-of-scope item?

16 Why is defining scope important?

17 What is a constraint?

18 Which is an example of a time constraint?

19 Which of the following is a common project constraint?

20 What is an objective?

21 A hospital wants to reduce patient waiting times. Patients value speed, nurses value manageable workloads, and administrators value cost control. Which approach best addresses the different stakeholder needs?

22 A public transportation app has low usage in a rural area. Which contextual factor should be investigated first?

23 During interviews, teachers request more digital tools, but students report difficulty using existing tools. What is the most appropriate interpretation?

24 A team notices that customers abandon an online payment process. Which technique would best reveal where users encounter difficulty?

25 A team repeatedly asks "Why?" after identifying that deliveries are late. What is the main purpose of this technique?

26 A school assumes that students need longer library hours because attendance is low. Which action would best test this assumption?

27 A cause-and-effect diagram shows that a manufacturing defect may result from materials, machines, methods, or people. How should the team use this diagram?

28 Which problem statement is most suitable for a design thinking project?

29 A team writes, "Employees are lazy and do not complete training." Which revision is more useful and less biased?

30 Which element is most important when converting a general issue into a focused problem statement?

31 A team changes "How can we reduce complaints?" to "How might we help first-time customers understand return policies before purchase?" What improvement does the revision make?

32 A project aims to improve food delivery in a university. Which scope is the most manageable for an initial study?

33 A project team includes improving parking, public transport, classroom design, and cafeteria service, although its original goal concerns classroom navigation. What scope problem is present?

34 Which statement best defines an out-of-scope item?

35 A nonprofit has only two months and a limited budget to improve access to legal information. How should these conditions be treated?

36 A proposed healthcare solution requires collecting sensitive patient data. Which constraint should receive particular attention?

37 A team lists low funding, limited staff, safety regulations, and unreliable internet access. What is the best next step?

38 Which objective is most measurable for a project improving appointment scheduling?

39 A team wants to improve access to educational materials. Which objective best balances outcome and feasibility?

40 A project objective is to reduce errors in a warehouse process. Which indicator would best measure achievement?

41 A hospital introduces a digital check-in system. Patients report shorter queues, reception staff report increased workload, and clinicians report missing allergy information. Which interpretation best reflects the stakeholder analysis?

42 A public-transport redesign is based mainly on interviews with frequent commuters. Later, occasional users and people with disabilities report severe navigation difficulties. Which analytical error most directly caused this result?

43 A school wants to reduce absenteeism. Parents cite transportation, teachers cite disengagement, and students cite fear of bullying. Which next step is most defensible before selecting an intervention?

44 A company observes that customer complaints about billing have doubled, although the number of customers has also doubled. Which technique best prevents premature labeling of this observation as a worsening problem?

45 During a root-cause investigation, the team repeatedly asks why a medical sample was mislabeled and eventually identifies an unclear handoff protocol. What is the main limitation of relying only on this technique?

46 A service has acceptable average performance, but a small subgroup experiences extreme delays. Which investigation approach is most appropriate?

47 Which problem statement is most suitable for design exploration?

48 A team defines its problem as: "Small retailers need better inventory software." Which revision most improves the statement while preserving analytical neutrality?

49 A project team writes, "Employees are unmotivated, causing low productivity." Which issue is most important to resolve before adopting this as the formal problem statement?

50 A nonprofit wants to increase food access but risks defining the problem as "low food donations." Which formulation best avoids confusing an indicator with the underlying need?

51 A university investigates delayed graduation. Which scope boundary is most useful for an initial study intended to produce actionable findings within one semester?

52 A team studying emergency-department congestion excludes ambulance arrivals because they are difficult to influence. What is the principal risk of this scope decision?

53 A project initially targets reducing workplace injuries in one factory. Midway through, the sponsor requests inclusion of all regional factories and long-term employee wellness. What is the best response?

54 A team can either study every stage of a customer journey superficially or study one high-loss stage deeply. Which principle should guide the choice?

55 A redesign must comply with privacy law, use existing hardware, launch in six months, and serve users with limited connectivity. Which classification is most accurate?

56 A team claims that a fixed budget is an absolute constraint, but stakeholders would accept a delayed launch for a higher budget. What does this reveal?

57 A proposed solution meets all stated requirements but cannot be operated by staff during peak demand. Which overlooked constraint is most likely involved?

58 A project objective states: "Make the service better for everyone." Which revision is strongest?

59 A city sets an objective to minimize traffic congestion. A proposed redesign reduces car travel time but increases pedestrian injuries. Which objective structure would best expose this failure?

60 A team must choose between objectives that reduce cost, increase equity, and improve reliability. No option dominates on all three dimensions. What is the most rigorous next step?