This process requires engineers to start by first understanding and clearly formulating the client’s problem without introducing any biases about the solution. For instance, a problem statement like “Our start-up needs to build an AI system to do X” isn’t formulated in the best way, as it mixes the problem with the solution. A better formulation would be “Our clients are struggling with X” (and we should make an effort to truly understand X and describe it in detail). This way, we avoid putting the cart before the horse (Stage 1 from the beginning of this chapter).
