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A living collection from Natural Artificial Labs at Dartmouth. Problems come from expert sources — research agendas, standards bodies, agencies — and every source is fetched and checked before a problem enters; independent readers re-tag samples blind so the genes can be trusted.

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Genome › Failure mode

Failure mode · gene 14 of 14

60 problems carry aimed at the wrong person

failure:wrong-stakeholder

The goal was right; the audience was wrong. A device built for doctors when nurses are the actual users. A program aimed at individuals when the binding constraint is institutional. A product designed for one context and handed to a completely different one. The intervention was competent — it just knocked on the wrong door, and the person who could have made it work never saw it.

Related genes

solved the wrong problemwrong-problemprior efforts executed well against an objective that was itself mis-specified · independent readers often disagree on this tag — it passes an extra decision gate before use exists but goes unusedadoption-barriera working solution is available, yet the people who need it won't or can't take it up ignored real-world conditionsignored-contextthe solution assumed conditions — power, weather, skills, institutions — that the real setting doesn't provide people won't changebehavioralthe barrier is human behavior — adoption, habits, compliance — not whether the solution exists

How to recognize it

Identify who the intervention was designed for and who actually controls the outcome. If those two differ — the real user, buyer, or decision-maker was never the target — this is the tag. If the objective itself was wrong rather than the audience, that's 'solved the wrong problem'.

Independent readers re-tag samples of the collection blind so tags like this one can be trusted — plain-words reliability numbers live on data & method.

60 problems · 11 fields — filter them, then share the link.

field: the built worldthe helmet stops at the handlebarsbuilt without the people who'd live with ithigh field: the built worldthe app that rides alongbuilt without the people who'd live with ithigh field: health & medicinenobody thinks they are the vulnerable onebuilt without the people who'd live with itmedium field: water & energyforever chemicals with no return addressbuilt without the people who'd live with ithigh field: health & medicinefive million health workers, mostly unpaidthe economics don't workhigh field: society & learninga "borderless" job market that still checks your papersbuilt without the people who'd live with ithigh field: health & medicinethe hearing aid isn't the bottleneck — everything around it istested in the wrong worldhigh field: water & energywhen the lights go out on the loanthe economics don't workmedium field: digital & spaceentitled, but unenrolledbuilt without the people who'd live with ithigh field: food & the living worldthe female farmer the app forgotbuilt without the people who'd live with itmedium field: health & medicinebuilt for the clinic, worn at homebuilt without the people who'd live with ithigh field: health & medicinedesigned by those who don't need itbuilt without the people who'd live with ithigh field: health & medicinefound the disease, lost the patientbuilt without the people who'd live with ithigh field: food & the living worldgreen batteries, dry villagesbuilt without the people who'd live with ithigh field: society & learningevery test assumes one kind of brainbuilt without the people who'd live with itmedium field: society & learningthe labs transfer students never enterbuilt without the people who'd live with itmedium field: society & learningeverything they learned, unlearnedmeasured the wrong thinghigh field: digital & spacedata governance built without askingbuilt without the people who'd live with itmedium field: food & the living worldhigh-yield rice nobody wants to eatbuilt without the people who'd live with ithigh field: society & learningconnected world, disconnected campsthe economics don't workmedium field: society & learningmental health apps with no safety proofbuilt without the people who'd live with itmedium field: society & learningno id, no aidthe rules got in the waymedium field: health & medicineone in ten pills is a liebuilt without the people who'd live with itmedium field: food & the living worldthe tractor can't talk to the sensorbuilt without the people who'd live with ithigh field: society & learningheat kills farmworkers nobody monitorsbuilt without the people who'd live with itmedium field: society & learningburned for the copper insideit fell between the cracksmedium field: food & the living worldthe kilns changed, the workers didn'tbuilt without the people who'd live with itmedium field: society & learningloans that lifted, then buriedmeasured the wrong thinghigh field: health & medicinesixty miles to the nearest erbuilt without the people who'd live with ithigh field: health & medicinethe count that never leaves the districtbuilt without the people who'd live with ithigh field: health & medicinethe cardiologist is three counties awayit fell between the crackshigh field: food & the living worldthe forecast speaks celsius, the farmer needs rain datesbuilt without the people who'd live with ithigh field: food & the living worldthe invisible seed marketbuilt without the people who'd live with ithigh field: food & the living worldthe machines exist, the burning continuesbuilt without the people who'd live with itmedium field: water & energythe filter works, a third use itbuilt without the people who'd live with ithigh field: the built worldthree companies tried, three went bankruptbuilt without the people who'd live with itmedium field: the built worldchargers everywhere except where they're neededbuilt without the people who'd live with ithigh field: health & medicinea thousand studies, nine worth trustingbuilt without the people who'd live with ithigh field: health & medicinesent home during the deadliest windowbuilt without the people who'd live with itmedium field: health & medicineside effects only some people reportbuilt without the people who'd live with itmedium field: health & medicinedonated, broken, unrepairablebuilt without the people who'd live with ithigh field: health & medicinefast results, no plan to use thembuilt without the people who'd live with itmedium field: food & the living worldcool parks in rich neighborhoodsbuilt without the people who'd live with ithigh field: food & the living worldthe warning system nobody maintainsbuilt without the people who'd live with ithigh field: health & medicinehospital machines at the kitchen tablethe rules got in the wayhigh field: society & learninglatrines that fifteen percent cannot usebuilt without the people who'd live with ithigh field: health & medicinethe test demands what the sickest can't producetested in the wrong worldhigh field: health & medicinethe robot needs a therapist toobuilt without the people who'd live with ithigh field: society & learningtherapy designed for a clinic, needed in a campbuilt without the people who'd live with ithigh field: society & learningdigitized aid that disabled refugees can't reachit fell between the crackshigh field: society & learningtwenty-five million trees burned for dinnerbuilt without the people who'd live with ithigh field: health & medicineantivenom waits at hospitals victims can't reachthe economics don't workhigh field: health & medicineoxygen machines that drown in humiditytested in the wrong worldhigh field: health & medicinethe test said no, the doctor prescribed anywaybuilt without the people who'd live with ithigh field: health & medicineinvisible to the systembuilt without the people who'd live with ithigh field: society & learningprofessors who know better but lecture anywaybuilt without the people who'd live with ithigh field: society & learningconnected classrooms, disconnected schoolsbuilt without the people who'd live with ithigh field: society & learningfixing the student instead of the institutionbuilt without the people who'd live with ithigh field: society & learningmindset fixes can't bridge structural gapsbuilt without the people who'd live with ithigh field: society & learningnew skills, old examsmeasured the wrong thinghigh