How Might We is a question format that structures the transition from problem definition to idea generation. The formula reads: How might we [solve problem] for [user]? Every word is deliberately chosen. “How” expresses confidence that a solution exists. “Might” keeps the space open for different approaches. “We” emphasizes that the solution is created collaboratively.
For example, a team has discovered through user observation that patients in the emergency room suffer from uncertainty about wait times. The How Might We question is then not “How might we shorten the waiting time?” — that would already be a solution. Instead: “How might we make the waiting time less stressful?” This framing opens the solution space: information, distraction, comfort, or triage all become equally conceivable. Teams typically generate ten to twenty such questions and select the most promising ones for the ideation phase.
The format goes back to Min Basadur at Procter and Gamble and was integrated into the Design Thinking process by IDEO. The most common pitfall: questions formulated either too narrowly or too broadly, failing to open the solution space in a useful way.
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