More often than not, a need is expressed by the users in terms of some  expected solution at high-level. However, in order to create the most valuable solution, we must start with the need expressed in terms of pain points and problems causing that.  It should be as specific as possible with clear data points.

5W1H is one of the widely used model in journalism for capturing information on any situation. In the initial stage of Design Thinking, the 5W1H questions provide high-level information about the problems, users, and user-environment.  However, these questions help throughout the process, in capturing information on the various aspects of a situation.

1. What: What exactly is the pain point or problem ?  What is the situation ? 

2. Why: Why is this problem important to solve? How does it impact the user?

3. Who: Who all are involved in the process ? Who all are impacted due to this problem ? Who all influences this problem ? Other Stakeholders ?

4. Where: Where in the user's environment is this problem encountered ? Any specific place/unit/environment the problem is limited to ?

5. When: When does this problem occur ? What is the frequency of its occurrence ?

6. How: How does this problem occur ? What is the current process ?