A fact was not the answer
1A small museum invited visitors to comment on an audio guide. The staff expected requests for shorter recordings. Instead, several visitors explained that they could not tell which object a recording described. The recordings themselves were short, but the links between the objects and their numbers were unclear.
2The team discussed what the visitors needed before buying new equipment. What they needed was a clearer way to match each number with an object. The fact that the recordings were short did not solve that problem. The staff tested larger number labels and placed a matching number at the start of each recording.
3The test helped the team separate two kinds of information: a fact they already knew and something they still needed to identify. They knew that the recordings were short. They had to identify what would make the guide easier to use. Repeating a true fact was not enough if it failed to answer the practical question.