How to use the Problem reframing template

Start a board from it
Use this template opens a new Freero board with the Problem reframing template on it (sign up free first). On a board you already have, open Templates in the toolbar and search for “Problem reframing”.
Follow the instruction on the board
“Write the problem as people first state it. Answer each question with a new version of the problem, not a solution. Vote on the frame to solve.”
Fill in each part
- How was the problem first stated?
- What if it were broader: what is it part of? Zoom out one level.
- What if it were narrower: where exactly does it hurt? Zoom in to one place, time or group.
- What if the opposite were true? Flip the assumption behind it.
- Who would describe it differently, and how?
- Which frame will we work on, and why?
Bring your team and your agents
Invite people to the board or share a link, and work on it together live. The timer is in the top bar, private mode and voting in the board menu, and Claude or ChatGPT can join through Freero’s MCP server.

Work on it with an AI agent

Connect an assistant once and it works on the board with you, with your permissions: by default it reads and proposes, and people decide.

You ask: “Fill in the Problem reframing board from these notes.”
What happens It reads the board, then proposes sticky notes for it. Nothing changes until someone on the board accepts them.
You ask: “Group what we wrote into themes and list the actions.”
What happens It proposes clusters with a title each and task cards for the actions, labelled with its name and yours.

How might we
Turn research insights into “How might we…?” questions, then into first ideas.
Idea scorecard
Score a long list of ideas on the same few criteria so the shortlist comes from the group’s judgement, not the loudest voice.
Perspective shift
Look at one challenge through the eyes of very different people, from a first-time customer to a competitor, to find ideas you would miss.
Starbursting
Question an idea from six sides: who, what, where, when, why and how, as a mind map.
SCAMPER prompts
Seven ways to twist an existing product or process into new ideas: swap, combine, adapt, resize, repurpose, remove, reverse.
Idea sorting wall
After a brainstorm, sort every idea by what it needs next, so the good ones don’t die on the board.