What vs. How
Every problem has more than one solution. First identify the problem, then ideate on solutions.
Overview
In design, there are two spaces designers work in: the problem space and the solution space. One benefit of separating them is that people tend to fall in love with solutions — and if we fall in love prematurely, we end up solving the wrong problem.
The value of the What / How worksheet is that it reminds us of two important things. First, we should always focus on the problem we're solving (and why) independently of the solution. Second, every problem has more than one solution (easy to forget once we land on a cool one).
It also makes the outcome (the What) tangible and visible. By committing it to paper, we can share the purpose of the work and drive better alignment. Doubt it's valuable? Have your team each write the problem statement down and compare. If everyone matches, great. If not, align on the What before getting too far into the How.
The Double Diamond
Best when done with teams. This pairs perfectly with the Abstraction Ladder (Why version) — once you have a good problem statement, bring it here and iterate on multiple divergent solutions.
In design this is called the Double Diamond: start in the problem space and diverge until the right problem emerges, then converge on a well-defined problem statement. Then diverge on solutions until a promising one emerges, and converge on it. Divergence, emergence, convergence.
You could rename the What and How boxes to Problem and Possible Solutions.