Problem Scoping

• While finalising the aim of this system, you

scope the problem which you wish to solve
with the help of your project. This is Problem
Scoping.
The “Who” block helps in analysing the people getting
affected directly or indirectly due to it. Under this, we find
out who the ‘Stakeholders’ to this problem are and what we
know about them. Stakeholders are the people who face this
problem and would be benefitted with the solution. Here is
the Who Canvas:
Who Canvas – Who is having the problem?

1. Who are the stakeholders?

Restaurants offering buffets o Restaurant Chefs

2.What do we know about them?

Restaurants cook food in bulk every day for their
buffets to meet their customer needs. They
estimate the number of customers that would walk
into their restaurant every day.
Under the “What” block, you need to look into what you
have on hand. At this stage, you need to determine the
nature of the problem. What is the problem and how do
you know that it is a problem? Under this block, you also
gather evidence to prove that the problem you have
selected actually exists. Newspaper articles, Media,
announcements, etc are some examples. Here is the What
Canvas:
What is the problem?
o Quite a large amount of food is leftover everyday
unconsumed at the restaurant which is either thrown
away or given for free to needy people.
o Restaurants have to bear everyday losses for the
unconsumed food.

How do you know it is a problem?

o Restaurant Surveys have shown that restaurants
face this problem of food waste.
Now that you know who is associated with the problem
and what the problem actually is; you need to focus on the
context/situation/location of the problem. This block will
help you look into the situation in which the problem
arises, the context of it, and the locations where it is
prominent. Here is the Where Canvas:
What is the context/situation in which the
stakeholders experience this problem?
o Restaurants which serve buffet food
o At the end of the day, when no further food
consumption is possible
You have finally listed down all the major elements that
affect the problem directly. Now it is convenient to
understand who the people that would be benefitted by the
solution are; what is to be solved; and where will the solution
be deployed. These three canvases now become the base of
why you want to solve this problem. Thus, in the “Why”
canvas, think about the benefits which the stakeholders
would get from the solution and how it will benefit them as
well as the society
What would be of key value to the stakeholders?

o If the restaurant has a proper estimate of the quantity of

food to be prepared every day, the food waste can be
reduced.

How would it improve their situation?

o Less or no food would be left unconsumed.
o Losses due to unconsumed food would reduce considerably.
 “To be able to predict the quantity of food dishes to be
prepared for everyday consumption in restaurant buffets.”
Data Acquisition
After finalising the goal of our project, let us now move
towards looking at various data features which affect the
problem in some way or the other. Since any AI-based
project requires data for testing and training, we need to
understand what kind of data is to be collected to work
towards the goal. In our scenario, various factors that would
affect the quantity of food to be prepared for the next day
consumption in buffets would be: