Pain Points: Treat the Source, not the Symptom

Leaping into the day is this short entry that was inspired by my recent army reservist activity. For every in-camp training, a mandatory fitness test, known as IPPT, is given for National Service men to take part in to pass. Having been office desk bound all this time, the body tends to go through an awakening of movements during the test. The aftermath is a complete coverage of aching muscles from head to toe. As I experience the lactic acid flowing through my body, the term, pain points, came to mind.

A pain point is a moment or a situation where a user feels a level of discomfort or frustration. Most often, pain points are associated with an existing or new product faced by users. As a UX practitioner, user research will be conducted to understand user’s interaction and attitude towards an existing or new product. From the observations and probing, pain points, such as usage, familiarity and convenience, could emerge from the sharing of users. The solution is thus catered around the targeted areas. Better interactivity, clearer information and simpler steps are some solutions when it comes to designing for digital products.

While a better feature or design may create more conversions in transactions and lesser churn rate, the solutions to the pain points are no more than reliefs to symptoms, like aching muscles. Underlying the immediate symptom may be a bigger and more potent problem at hand, and it could be a root cause that is either known by the individual but not expressed, or an unrealisable situation that the user is oblivious of its existence, but presents a strong opportunity to create immense value once recognised. Beyond the cognitive awareness of a patient that is able to articulate the reasons behind the 5 whys, this is where an experienced medical consultant investigates and hypothesises possible reasons for the symptomatic pain points. The shimmer of the chance to discover what exactly is resulting in all associated symptoms may led to a complete re-imagination, which may result in an entirely new treatment. In this case, another solution.

For the unfit office worker/reservist men, the obvious reason for the aching muscles is due to the lack of physical training and a healthy habit of regular exercise, but to treat the pain of aching muscle will not treat the bigger problem of promoting healthy living. Likewise, nice attractive interactions or simpler steps may address some of the issues behind a product. Sometimes, a complete change of an entire flow of the product, or the product itself, could be the more impactful solution with bigger yields in customer satisfaction and loyalty. As problem solvers, let us strive towards finding the source, and not the symptoms behind pain points.