MOVE TO THE INTRODUCTION

As you have seen, the Problem Definition Framework for the most part lays out the problem elements in the order in which they can most easily be used in the introduction. You simply move from left to right and down. The last thing known by the reader is always the Complication.

Following are examples illustrating the introduction and pyramid for each of the seven standard questions. These examples are somewhat abstract, in order to emphasize the bare structure, but you can read the full content of each introduction in Appendix B, Examples of Introductory Structures.

This structure is the simplest of all to analyze and write, since the Situation always describes what is going on now, and the Complication is always that the reader is at R1 and wishes to be at R2. This is also the structure used to tell someone how to change or upgrade a system that is presently in operation. In that case, you would have:

Situation                 Here's how the system works today

Complication          It does not do what it is meant to do

Question                 How do we make it do what it is meant to do?

The plural noun for the Key Line here would be "changes." It differs slightly from the structure you would use if you were telling someone how to do something new, where the plural noun would be "steps."

Situation                    Here's the activity we are trying to perform

Complication            We are not able to perform it

Question                    How do we create the capability to perform it?