Despite having used the "we're solving problems" argument myself on occasion, I think what we're really doing is identifying problems and assisting with possibl

Despite having used the "we're solving problems" argument myself on occasion, I think what we're really doing is identifying problems and assisting with possible solutions using particular knowledge of our domain. Somebody wants something done within particular constraints, so our job is to identify potential issues that may occur, such as scalability problems, costing issues, UX concerns, etc. And help explain to that client such concerns and possible solutions or compromises, and let the client decide on the solution. Once actually implementing some plan, we have some creative freedom on the implementation details, but I'd hardly call that solving a problem (apart from it being your own problem on how to get the design coded up).