S-O-L-V-E
SOLVE is a five-dimension prompting framework for complex problems: frame the Situation, state the Objective, set the Limits, request Variations, define the Evaluation.
Description
SOLVE structures your prompts across five dimensions for complex problems: Situation (operational context), Objective (desired outcome), Limitations (constraints to respect), Variations (multiple avenues to explore), and Evaluation (decision criteria). This framework is designed for strategic trade-offs, product solution design, and situations where the quality of thinking matters more than the speed of the output.
Objectives
- Explore opportunities
- Identify problems
- Structure AI prompts
How to apply S-O-L-V-E
- 1
Describe the Situation
Set the context: who, which organization, what stage of the project, what starting data. Five to seven sentences maximum.
- 2
State the Objective
Formulate the expected outcome: what decision to make or what state to reach.
- 3
List the Limitations
List the constraints: budget, deadline, resources, out-of-scope angles, non-revisable decisions.
- 4
Ask for Variations
Request several differentiated options based on a criterion: risk level, deployment speed, cost, etc.
- 5
Define the Evaluation Criteria
State your decision criteria and their priority order for judging the proposed options.