1. Painstorming Template
Painstorming is a method that is used to discover the real factors that underlie new opportunities for an organization. More specifically, Painstorming is a more targeted form of brainstorming that allows the innovation team to critically think about the ails or problems facing an industry, the business climate, the client base, or a particular product or service. Following which, the team should generate feasible solutions for those significant issues. Through the process of Painstorming, the team seeks to systematically uncover the pain points of the customer experience with the product or service being offered. When engaging in the Painstorming process, encourage your team to think about solvable problems rather than producing creative “solutions” to problems that, even when solved, do not provide any real benefits to the customers, the organization or the industry as a whole. The best things to consider when painstorming are where resources are being misused or used in an unproductive manner, what new settings or markets can be used, customer complaints or suggestions for improvement, and any product features that are causing customer support issues.
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2. Painstorming Template
Persona P
Who are we innovating for?
 Describe target persona, customer, target market
Activities A
What activities/jobs do they do? Why? To what ends?
Activity #1
Activity #2
Activity #3
Activity #4
Activity #5
Insights I
What are the actions or processes they unnecessarily do? What ‘work arounds’ have they invented?
Insights for #1
Insights for #2
Insights for #3
Insights for #4
Insights for #5
Needs N
What are the activity/job specific needs or pain points?
Needs for #1
Needs for #2
Needs for #3
Needs for #4
Needs for #5
What needs or pain points span activities/jobs?
Needs spanning activities/jobs
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