The Five Whys is a simple yet powerful research method from human-centered design. Starting with a broad question about a person's habits or behaviours, you ask "why" five times in a row — not horizontally ("why else?") but vertically, going deeper with each answer until you uncover the emotional and human roots of a problem. The method takes only about 15 minutes, requires nothing more than pens and paper, and is designed to get to the core of a person's beliefs and motivations.
Stuck in Behaviour Habits
Behavioural lock-ins are rarely about what they appear to be on the surface. The Five Whys is specifically designed to move past surface-level explanations and reach these underlying drivers. Without this depth of understanding, interventions risk targeting the wrong problem.
behavioural
Personal and Social Beliefs, Attitudes, Spatial Organisation
TML5
very low
very low
flexible
no
general public, local/district administration, local politicians, city administration, city politicians, residents of particular area, students, NGOs / local interest groups, private companies, schools/education, car drivers, employees at work
shared knowledge generation
english