Pains
Pains are one of the three elements of Empathy Map 2.0 that connect the tool directly with the Jobs to Be Done framework:
- Jobs to be done: the tasks the user is trying to complete.
- Pains: the obstacles along the way.
- Gains: the benefits they seek.
Types of pains
- Functional: the product or process does not do what the user needs, or does it worse than expected.
- Emotional: the user feels frustrated, insecure, or anxious during the process.
- Social: the user worries about how others perceive them when using the product or when unable to complete the task.
- Financial: the cost of the current solution exceeds the value it provides.
- Time-related: the process takes more time than the user considers reasonable.
What they are for in product design
Identifying and prioritizing the pains that matter most to users is one of the most direct ways to steer the backlog toward real value. A feature that relieves a frequent, intense pain has more impact than one that adds a marginal gain.
Common mistake
Confusing pains with the solutions the user proposes. "I want a button to export to PDF" is not a pain: it is a solution. The underlying pain might be "I have to manually copy the data into Word every week, which takes me 30 minutes." Identifying the real pain, rather than the proposed solution, is what allows the team to explore alternatives that may solve the problem better.
Resources
🏦 Skill Design ThinkingState of the art and development guide · Skill Arena
See also
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