PAINstorming Template

What is PAINstorming?

PAINstorming is an innovation technique designed to identify and solve real-world problems by focusing on pain points experienced by customers, employees, or partners. Rather than starting with brainstorming random ideas, PAINstorming begins with problems—specifically, frustrations, inefficiencies, and unmet needs that are observable, felt, and often repeated.

The PAIN acronym stands for Persons, Activities, Insights, and Needs. This structured approach directs attention to the people involved, the tasks they perform, the challenges they face, and the deeper needs driving those challenges. By grounding ideation in reality, PAINstorming ensures that innovation efforts create solutions that are meaningful, practical, and aligned with real demand.

This technique is especially valuable in industries or organizations where incremental improvements are no longer sufficient and where innovation must be laser-focused on delivering customer value. PAINstorming helps teams uncover hidden opportunities, reduce waste, and build empathy—all while advancing product development, service design, or strategic planning.

PAINstorming in Innovation

In the context of innovation, PAINstorming ensures that solutions address the root causes of dissatisfaction or inefficiency. Rather than asking “What should we build next?”, it asks “What is causing frustration, and how might we fix it?”

This reframe makes PAINstorming particularly effective in environments where:

• Innovation efforts feel disconnected from customer needs.
• Teams are stuck generating ideas without clear direction.
• Products or services suffer from high churn, low engagement, or poor feedback.

For example, a logistics company might use PAINstorming to explore why delays are increasing in last-mile delivery. By focusing on activities (e.g., driver route planning), people (e.g., drivers, dispatchers), insights (e.g., confusion from route changes), and needs (e.g., better real-time updates), the company can pinpoint specific pain points and design solutions that improve reliability and satisfaction.

This method is used across innovation stages, including:

• Opportunity discovery (What’s broken?)
• Ideation and prioritization (What’s worth solving?)
• Concept development (How should we solve it?)

PAINstorming fits well within larger frameworks like design thinking, Lean Startup, or Agile development. It focuses innovation efforts where they will have the most impact—on the customer’s lived experience of pain.

Getting Started with the PAINstorming Template

The PAINstorming process can be conducted in a workshop or collaborative session and is supported by templates or digital canvases. Here’s how to run an effective PAINstorming session in your innovation project.

1. Select a Focus Area or Process

Start by choosing a specific experience, workflow, or service that you want to improve. Examples:

• The onboarding experience for new users.
• Customer support escalation processes.
• Internal approval workflows.

The more specific the context, the more actionable the pain points.

2. Map the PAIN Framework

Draw or display the four quadrants of the PAIN framework:

• Persons – Who are the people involved in the experience? Think of users, employees, partners, or other stakeholders.
• Activities – What tasks or interactions are they trying to complete? Map out workflows or touchpoints.
• Insights – What observable challenges or complaints arise during these activities?
• Needs – What deeper needs (emotional, functional, social) are being unmet or ignored?

This structure creates a full view of the experience and the pain embedded within it.

3. Conduct Observations and Interviews

To populate the PAIN canvas, gather real-world data:

• Shadow users as they complete the activity.
• Interview participants about their frustrations and workarounds.
• Collect support tickets, feedback, or customer complaints.

Use sticky notes or digital boards to record one observation per card. Be specific.

4. Identify Recurring Pain Points

Once all data is gathered:

• Cluster similar insights or complaints.
• Highlight pain points that appear multiple times or affect multiple people.
• Prioritize based on severity, frequency, and impact.

This helps narrow the focus to the most pressing opportunities.

5. Translate Pain Points into Opportunity Statements

Reframe each pain point as a problem to be solved:

• Instead of: “Customers get confused during checkout.”
• Try: “How might we simplify the checkout process to reduce confusion and abandonment?”

Use “How might we…” questions to shift from frustration to possibility.

6. Generate Ideas Aligned to Pain

Now begin the ideation phase—but only after the pain points are clearly defined:

• Invite cross-functional teams to propose solutions.
• Encourage both small fixes and bold innovations.
• Use brainstorming or sketching to explore multiple directions.

Solutions grounded in pain are more likely to be adopted and effective.

7. Prioritize and Prototype

Evaluate ideas based on:

• Alignment with priority pain points.
• Feasibility and available resources.
• Potential impact on experience or operations.

Develop low-fidelity prototypes to test with real users. Use feedback to refine and scale.

Project Recommendations for Success

Overloading the Canvas with Too Many Points

Clarity comes from focus.

• Limit the scope to one journey, role, or activity per session.
• Group pain points by theme before diving into solutions.
• Use timeboxing to manage discussions.

Jumping to Solutions Too Soon

Respect the discovery process.

• Spend at least half of the session on pain identification.
• Use silence and reflection to allow insights to emerge.
• Delay ideation until everyone has shared observations.

Assuming Rather Than Observing

Insights require evidence.

• Prioritize live observation and user quotes.
• Don’t rely only on internal assumptions.
• Include real data like NPS comments, emails, or interviews.

Focusing Only on Functional Pain

Innovation is also emotional and social.

• Capture feelings like confusion, embarrassment, or fear.
• Ask what customers want to avoid—not just what they want to do.
• Include pain related to perception, identity, or trust.

Complementary Tools and Templates for Success

• PAINstorming Canvas Template – A structured visual tool to capture persons, activities, insights, and needs.
• Empathy Map – Helps deepen understanding of the user’s mindset and emotions.
• Customer Journey Map – Provides a broader view of the touchpoints and pain hotspots.
• Opportunity Prioritization Grid – Ranks pain points by impact and solvability.
• Idea Tracker – Connects solutions to specific pain points for transparency and accountability.

Conclusion

PAINstorming is a powerful innovation technique that begins where it matters most—with real, lived problems. By centering pain points instead of abstract ideas, it ensures that innovation efforts are grounded in reality and geared toward outcomes that customers and teams truly value.

This approach promotes empathy, clarity, and focus. It bridges the gap between research and ideation, helping teams translate insight into impact. Whether used for refining an existing process or reimagining a service experience, PAINstorming aligns creative efforts with strategic relevance.

In a world where attention is limited and expectations are rising, solving real problems is the fastest path to creating value. PAINstorming provides the map. When used consistently and collaboratively, it becomes a foundational practice for organizations that seek to innovate with purpose, precision, and heart.