gears

Five Ws and H

Overview

Five Ws and H is a checklist to make sure that, as you develop a new project or idea, you consider a range of questions.

The tool

The Five Ws and H refer to:

  • Who? 
  • What?
  • Where?
  • When?
  • Why?
  • How?

Strengths

  • Quick to apply.
  • Easy to use.

Weaknesses

  • You may find that you miss some specific questions that should be to be considered, even though the main question types are included in the tool.
  • Responses to the questions in the checklist are usually facts, and you may therefore overlook actions or problems that also need to be considered.

Similar to

Five Ws and H should not be confused with Starbursting. Although they use the same prompts, Starbursting generates additional, and more detailed, questions, whereas the objective of The Five Ws and H is to gather answers.