Pain & Gain Map

Purpose

The Pain & Gain Map helps teams step into the user's shoes by systematically cataloguing what frustrates them (pains) and what they aspire to (gains). Derived from the Value Proposition Canvas, it creates a shared understanding of customer needs that anchors subsequent ideation and prioritisation.

At a glance

How to run

1. Define the user (3 min): Agree on a specific persona or user segment to focus on.
2. Map pains (10 min): Silent brainstorm on sticky notes: What frustrates this user? What obstacles do they face? What risks worry them? Place on the left side of the board.
3. Map gains (10 min): Same format: What does this user want to achieve? What would delight them? What does success look like? Place on the right side.
4. Cluster and rank (5 min): Group related items. Dot-vote to surface the most critical pains and most desired gains.
5. Bridge to solutions (2 min): Use the top pains and gains as input for ideation (e.g., How Might We statements).

Materials needed

• Large paper or whiteboard divided into two columns (Pains / Gains)
• Sticky notes in two colours
• Markers
• Dot stickers

Pitfalls & common mistakes

• Mixing user and business perspective: Stay in the user's world. Business goals come later.
• Too generic: "Bad UX" is not a pain. "Cannot find the search bar on mobile" is.
• Ignoring emotional pains: Functional pains are easy; emotional and social pains (embarrassment, status anxiety) are often more powerful.
• Skipping gains: Teams fixate on problems. Gains reveal aspirations that inspire innovation.

Inclusion & accessibility

• Use real user research data when available to ground the exercise in evidence, not assumptions.
• Include diverse voices — people from different backgrounds identify different pains.
• Offer digital participation for remote team members.

Variations

• Jobs-Pains-Gains: Add a "Jobs to be Done" column for a full Value Proposition Canvas customer profile.
• Quantified Pain Map: Rate each pain by severity (1–5) and frequency (1–5).
• Before/After Map: Map current pains alongside the gains your solution promises.

When NOT to use this

• When you have no user data and no domain knowledge — the map will be pure speculation.
• When the problem is already well-defined and validated — skip to solution design.
• When the focus should be on technical feasibility rather than desirability.

Source & further reading

• Alexander Osterwalder et al., *Value Proposition Design* (2014)
• Strategyzer: Value Proposition Canvas
• IDEO, *The Field Guide to Human-Centered Design*