Ericsson argues that better mental representations are what set experts apart from novices.

He asked attendees to identify something that they wanted in their life. He gave a few examples, a house, a better job, more leisure time

He gave us a minute to write down our answers. Then he asked us another question. He said, “If you had whatever you wrote down today, what would that do for you?”

He then used this next answer to ask an even more powerful question.

“How else might you feel more grounded in your community?”

This final question is powerful because it disrupts our fixation on a single solution—owning a house—and helps us to think expansively about other ways we might get the same benefit—feeling grounded in our community.

Jonassen argues that ill-structured problems are problems that have many solutions. There are no right or wrong answers, only better or worse ones. The solver must start by defining the goal and constraints of the problem before exploring potential solutions.

Good product discovery starts with a clear desired outcome