One stakeholder wants better analytics. Another needs faster performance. Your users say the UI is confusing. And somewhere in this mess of opinions, there’s a real problem that needs solving.

But if you pick the wrong problem, you’ll waste weeks or months building the wrong solution.

This is a pattern I’ve seen repeatedly over 15 years as a business analyst: teams building features that never get used and systems that don’t solve real business problems. The root cause is almost always the same — we jump to solutions before truly understanding the problem.

What we need is a way to organize and validate evidence before committing resources to a product, a project or a program. That’s where the Evidence Box comes in — a simple but helpful way to separate signal from noise.

More Than Just Another Documentation Tool

The Evidence Box isn’t about creating more documentation. It’s about capturing the right information in a way that prevents expensive mistakes. The Evidence Box comes with three nested boxes, each designed to tell a critical part of the change story:

1. The Problem Evidence box helps you prove whether an issue is real or perceived. It captures hard data showing impact, direct quotes from users, current workarounds people use, and the actual cost of the problem.
2. The User Behavior box shows what people actually do, not what they say they do. It documents where they get stuck, how they work around issues, and their consistent pain points.
3. The Solution Tests box validates potential fixes before you invest in building them. It documents what you’ve tested, what worked, what failed, and what constraints you must work within.

How It Works in Practice

Let’s look at how this works through a hypothetical but common scenario: a sales team demanding better lead scoring.

In the Problem Evidence box, we might capture that conversion rates dropped from 35% to 20%, with $2M in lost quarterly revenue and 500 leads affected each month. We’d record quotes like “I had already signed with someone else by the time they called back” and document workarounds like SDRs checking lead queues hourly, maintaining personal spreadsheets, and creating manual daily reports. The cost of inaction becomes clear: 60% of leads get responses after two hours, while 85% of won deals had responses within one hour.

The User Behavior box might reveal SDRs constantly checking their CRM, manually copying lead information to spreadsheets, and using Slack for urgent notifications. We’d spot that morning leads get faster responses, territory rules cause delays, and most importantly, the first responder usually wins the deal. These patterns point to a different problem than poor scoring — response time matters more than lead quality.

The Solution Tests box could show that when we tested quick responses (under 15 minutes) against better scoring, fast response led to 65% conversion while improved scoring only moved rates by 5–10%. We’d note critical constraints like CRM integration requirements, territory rule compliance, and the need for mobile access. Most importantly, we’d identify that sub-1 minute assignment and real-time notifications are must-haves for any solution.

Why This Structure Works

Each section of the Evidence Box serves as a check against common project pitfalls. For example:

• Data We Find prevents opinion-based decisions.
• Current Workarounds reveal hidden needs.
• Where Things Break exposes process failures.
• What Works / Doesn’t validates solutions before you build.

But the real power comes from how these pieces work together. When you see high-impact problems validated by consistent user behavior and confirmed through testing, you know you’re onto something real.

Using the Evidence Box in Practice

Start filling your boxes as soon as you hear about a business problem that you’re likely to be called upon to help fix. Let the evidence accumulate. Use it in stakeholder discussions to move conversations from opinions to facts. Reference it during planning to ensure you’re solving real problems. Update it as you learn more.

Most importantly, use it to build confidence in your decisions. Because when you can point to clear evidence in each box, you know you’re solving the right business problem in the right way.

The Evidence Box won’t make your decisions for you. But it will make sure those decisions are based on evidence, not opinions. In a world of complex problems and limited resources, that’s the difference between building something people need and building something nobody wants.

Remember: The most expensive solution is the one that solves the wrong problem. The Evidence Box helps you get it right before you start building.