C.40.PC:2 - Problem

A niche, a worthwhile problem, and a proposed contribution answer different questions. A niche is a possible fit between a contribution and a use. The problem explains why an inadequate or foregone result matters there. The contribution says what could be supplied and how the receiver would recognize it.

If these are collapsed, a supplier’s enthusiasm becomes demand, a proposed offer becomes a commitment, and a useful intermediate result becomes a promise of benefit. “Recover missing evidence” turns into “approve faster,” although neither the time saving nor the approval is established. Alternatively, a practitioner rejects a useful problem merely because no feasible way to address it is known yet.

The needed move is to make the value and contribution claims separately inspectable, preserving uncertainty without losing a worthwhile next question.