[{"data":1,"prerenderedAt":110},["ShallowReactive",2],{"QdEIZ4GHjDmoIzD0UctVzH1_160U9TIvty2HsTuEaOY":3,"article_frustration-not-all-pain-is-created-equal_solidworks":10,"_apollo:default":108,"_apollo:identified":109},{"mailchimpAudience":4},{"actionUrl":5,"slug":6,"locale":7,"default":8,"__typename":9},"","frustration-not-all-pain-is-created-equal","en","https:\u002F\u002F3ds.us3.list-manage.com\u002Fsubscribe\u002Fpost?u=ed4601044e1936748c0d2aa6b&id=e5080ff9fe&f_id=002d4de2f0","MailchimpAudience",{"posts":11},{"nodes":12,"__typename":107},[13],{"id":14,"slug":6,"title":15,"uri":16,"excerpt":17,"locale":18,"featuredImage":21,"tableOfContents":29,"content":30,"date":31,"authorJobTitle":5,"author":32,"masterings":45,"globalTags":49,"products":63,"disciplines":75,"seo":96,"__typename":106},"cG9zdDo1NDY3MQ==","Frustration―Not All Pain Is Created Equal","\u002Fproducts\u002Fsolidworks\u002Ffrustration-not-all-pain-is-created-equal","\u003Cp>An Actionable Definition for “Frustration” Frustration is when … Someone has a…\u003C\u002Fp>\n",{"locale":19,"__typename":20},"en_US","Locale",{"node":22,"__typename":28},{"large":23,"__typename":24,"medium_large":23,"thumbnail":25,"srcSet":26,"sizes":27},"https:\u002F\u002Fblog-assets.solidworks.com\u002Fuploads\u002F2025\u002F12\u002F6a00d83451706569e201538ddefd3d970b.png.webp","MediaItem","https:\u002F\u002Fblog-assets.solidworks.com\u002Fuploads\u002F2025\u002F12\u002F6a00d83451706569e201538ddefd3d970b-150x150.png.webp","https:\u002F\u002Fblog-assets.solidworks.com\u002Fuploads\u002F2025\u002F12\u002F6a00d83451706569e201538ddefd3d970b.png.webp 620w, https:\u002F\u002Fblog-assets.solidworks.com\u002Fuploads\u002F2025\u002F12\u002F6a00d83451706569e201538ddefd3d970b-300x200.png.webp 300w","(max-width: 620px) 100vw, 620px","NodeWithFeaturedImageToMediaItemConnectionEdge",[],"\u003Ch3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">\n\u003C\u002Fh3>\u003Ch3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">An Actionable Definition for “Frustration”\u003C\u002Fh3>\u003Cp>\u003Cem>Frustration is when …\u003C\u002Fem>\u003C\u002Fp>\u003Cp>\u003Cem>Someone has a very important goal that needs to be  achieved, or task that needs to be accomplished.  But there is one or  more barrier(s) to them achieving their goal which they feel is out of  their control.  This results in a combination of helplessness and anger,  which we recognize as frustration.\u003C\u002Fem>\u003C\u002Fp>\u003Cp>So how do you act on this?  You should set out to understand your  customers’ specific goals.  You also want to find out what they see as  barriers to achieving those goals.  Eventually, you want to provide a  solution that eliminates any feelings of helplessness and instead makes  them feel empowered.  We will touch on learning about goals and barriers  in this blog post, and save empowerment (and it’s actionable  definition) for a later post.\u003C\u002Fp>\u003Cp>Being stuck in rush hour traffic is a great example of a frustrating  situation that most of us can relate to. Have you ever been in the  situation where you needed to make an important appointment and you  thought you left enough time for the drive? But once you got on the  road, you found an infinitely long barrier of cars between you and your  destination.  All moving at a pace that was certainly going to make you  late.  Breaking it down:\u003C\u002Fp>\u003Cul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n\u003Cli>Goal: get to important appointment on time\u003C\u002Fli>\n\u003Cli>Barrier: slow pace due to road being clogged with too many cars\u003C\u002Fli>\n\u003Cli>Helplessness: there is little you can do to move all those cars out of your way\u003C\u002Fli>\n\u003Cli>Anger: let’s do our best to keep road-rage in check\u003C\u002Fli>\n\u003C\u002Ful>\u003Ch3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Why Is Frustration So Important?\u003C\u002Fh3>\u003Cp>Your end goal is to deliver successful products that your customers  love.  This requires deliberate effort on your part from start to  finish.  Identifying customer frustration is the first and arguably the  most important step in this process.  The success of everything else  that you will do is dependent on you getting this right.\u003C\u002Fp>\u003Cp>The best  emotional reaction your customer can have for your solution is limited  by their emotional reaction to the problem it solves.\u003C\u002Fp>\u003Cp>   \u003C\u002Fp>\u003Cfigure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\">\u003Cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"565\" height=\"449\" src=\"https:\u002F\u002Fblog-assets.solidworks.com\u002Fuploads\u002F2025\u002F12\u002F6a00d83451706569e2014e60f34b89970c-800wi.jpg.webp\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-54674\" srcset=\"https:\u002F\u002Fblog-assets.solidworks.com\u002Fuploads\u002F2025\u002F12\u002F6a00d83451706569e2014e60f34b89970c-800wi.jpg.webp 565w, https:\u002F\u002Fblog-assets.solidworks.com\u002Fuploads\u002F2025\u002F12\u002F6a00d83451706569e2014e60f34b89970c-800wi-300x238.jpg.webp 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 565px) 100vw, 565px\" \u002F>\u003C\u002Ffigure>\u003Cp>Be aware that if you do a fantastic job of solving a problem that  customers really don’t care about, they probably won’t even notice.  But  if you solve one of their top-of-mind frustrations, you’ll be their  hero.  So if you want customers to rave about your solution, it is a  requirement that you uncover their real frustrations.  And as you can  see in the graphic, an inconvenience is not a frustration.  It might  even be helpful to put the customer pains you know about on the scale  shown in the graphic.  It would be even better to have customers put the  pain points on the scale for you.\u003C\u002Fp>\u003Cp> \u003C\u002Fp>\u003Ch3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">How Do You Uncover Your Customers’ Frustration?\u003C\u002Fh3>\u003Cp>Just ask. You need to get out there (or at least on the phone) and talk to your  customers.  Surveys might be useful later, especially when you want to  validate what you have learned from interviews.  But in this discovery  phase, not only do you want to hear their words, but you also want to  experience any emotion in their voices, facial expressions, and body  language.  During your interviews, you aren’t necessarily looking for  the things that are most frequent.  You are instead looking for strong  emotional reactions, both good and bad, to anything being discussed.   This is when you need to pay the most attention.\u003C\u002Fp>\u003Cp>Interviewing: This is a huge topic that entire careers are dedicated to.  I want to  touch on some high-level tools you can use to have a good and  productive conversation with customers.  You want to understand their  goals, needs, processes, and frustrations.  That’s a lot, but you will  benefit from having as many interviews as possible with different  customers.  \u003C\u002Fp>\u003Cul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n\u003Cli>Start with really easy questions for them to answer.  “How long in  the job?”; “Products they produce?”; “Typical tasks they perform?” This  gets the conversation rolling in an effortless way.\u003C\u002Fli>\n\u003Cli>Keep it very open ended, at least in the beginning.  Let the  customer talk about what is important to them before you direct them to  talk about what is important to you.\u003C\u002Fli>\n\u003Cli>Listen, listen, listen!!! When you are done, not only do you want to  understand your customer’s needs and frustrations, but you also want  them to feel listened to. You can’t listen when you are talking.  It is  NOT important that you demonstrate your understanding of their industry,  job, or problems.  Please keep the need to do this in check.\u003C\u002Fli>\n\u003Cli>Try to capture actual customer quotes. This helps to make the information you capture and later present more authentic.\u003C\u002Fli>\n\u003Cli>Give them permission to talk about things seemingly outside your  area of interest.  Being thoughtful, customers will typically just talk  about the things that they think are relevant to you.  You can sort out  the relevance later.  You should explicitly invite them to broaden the  scope of what they are talking about.  We are starting out by casting a  wide net.\u003C\u002Fli>\n\u003C\u002Ful>\u003Cp>Example interview questions. Note that these are phrased for a  business context, but they are just as applicable for a person’s  personal life.\u003C\u002Fp>\u003Cul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n\u003Cli>“What is the most frustrating part of your job? Are there daily,  weekly, and\u002For monthly events that you just dread?  Please elaborate.”\u003C\u002Fli>\n\u003Cli>“Is there any part of your job that you wish you could eliminate? Why?”\u003C\u002Fli>\n\u003Cli>“What are the most important things you must accomplish and\u002For  deliver? Pleas elaborate on the tasks. What goes well and badly during  the process?”\u003C\u002Fli>\n\u003Cli>“What are the things that get in the way of you accomplishing your  important goals and tasks?  How do they get in your way?  Which of these  do you have control over, and which of these do you not?”\u003C\u002Fli>\n\u003Cli>“What is the best part of your job?  Please elaborate?”\u003C\u002Fli>\n\u003Cli>“What tasks do you wish you could do more of as part of your job?  Why?”\u003C\u002Fli>\n\u003C\u002Ful>\u003Cp>These last two questions are focused on helping you to understanding  what the good things in their job look (and feel) like.  You may use  these insights to help set the bar for your solution.  A bar that you  will not only reach, but hopefully exceed.\u003C\u002Fp>\u003Cp> \u003C\u002Fp>\u003Ch3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Wrap up with an elevator pitch\u003C\u002Fh3>\u003Cp>Frustration = Opportunity.  Given the frustration you have identified  and your understanding of your customer, can you create a two-minute or  shorter description of the opportunity you have uncovered?  This will be  helpful as you try to sell the idea to your management, recruit  potential product team members, and establish early team alignment.  Try  to identify who has the frustration, what the frustration is, the  cause, and the situation in which this occurs.  Try to keep this high  level, and not focused on a specific function or task.\u003C\u002Fp>\u003Cp>Do NOT get into a  description of the solution yet.  If you do this, you run the risk on  only seeing incremental solutions and missing any real opportunity for  innovation.  More on this in a later post.\u003C\u002Fp>\u003Cp>When we first uncovered the frustrations that led to the \u003Ca href=\"https:\u002F\u002Fwww.edrawingsviewer.com\u002F\" target=\"_self\">SolidWorks  eDrawings\u003C\u002Fa> product, the elevator pitch could have gone like this …\u003C\u002Fp>\u003Cp>\u003Cem>“Communicating their designs is one of the top responsibilities  all engineers have.  But they get very frustrated when they attempt to  send design files to other engineers, especially those who work for  other companies.  The problem is that different companies use different  CAD systems or different versions of the same system.  This makes their  design files incompatible.  CAD files are also typically too large to  email over typical internet connections.”\u003C\u002Fem>\u003C\u002Fp>\u003Cp>It was this understanding that led to a product that customers used and shared with great enthusiasm for over a decade.  \u003C\u002Fp>\u003Cp>Now it’s your turn …\u003C\u002Fp>\u003Cul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n\u003Cli>Do you agree or disagree with this approach?\u003C\u002Fli>\n\u003Cli>Do you have a relevant experience to share?\u003C\u002Fli>\n\u003Cli>Can you identify any important frustrations in your space?\u003C\u002Fli>\n\u003Cli>Do you want to take a stab at an elevator pitch for a frustration\u002Fopportunity?\u003C\u002Fli>\n\u003Cli>I want to hear what you really think!\u003C\u002Fli>\n\u003C\u002Ful>\u003Cp> \u003C\u002Fp>\u003Cp>[Editor’s note: This was originally posted on Rick’s peronal blog, \u003Ca href=\"https:\u002F\u002Fwww.absurdlyideal.com\u002F\" target=\"_self\">Absurdley Ideal\u003C\u002Fa>. Rick will cross-post entries to the SolidWorks blog from time to time.]\u003C\u002Fp>\u003Cul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n\u003C\u002Ful>","2011-04-15T10:14:57",{"node":33,"__typename":44},{"nicename":34,"description":35,"slug":36,"name":37,"firstName":38,"lastName":39,"avatar":40,"__typename":43},"rick-chin","25+ year veteran of the CAD industry.  Helped conceive and deliver DS SolidWorks products such as eDrawings, FeatureXpert, FilletXpert, DraftXpert, Sustainability, and Augmented Reality in eDrawings.   \r\n\r\nMy mission is to come up with new product ideas which are inspired by needs that REALLY matter to technology users.","rick chin","Rick Chin","Rick","Chin",{"url":41,"__typename":42},"https:\u002F\u002Fsecure.gravatar.com\u002Favatar\u002F9a48f87fc4f7a4e377c8eb12ce99d509cf19f66df8b8716a45f75d759a3de37c?s=96&d=mm&r=g","Avatar","User","NodeWithAuthorToUserConnectionEdge",{"nodes":46,"edges":47,"__typename":48},[],[],"PostToTaxonomy_masteringConnection",{"nodes":50,"__typename":62},[51,57],{"id":52,"name":53,"slug":54,"uri":55,"__typename":56},"dGVybTo5NTk5","Design","design","\u002Ftags\u002Fdesign\u002F","Taxonomy_tag",{"id":58,"name":59,"slug":60,"uri":61,"__typename":56},"dGVybTo5NjAz","SOLIDWORKS","solidworks","\u002Ftags\u002Fsolidworks\u002F","PostToTaxonomy_tagConnection",{"edges":64,"nodes":72,"__typename":74},[65],{"isPrimary":66,"node":67,"__typename":71},false,{"id":68,"name":59,"slug":60,"uri":69,"__typename":70},"dGVybTo1Ng==","\u002Fproducts\u002Fsolidworks\u002F","Taxonomy_product","PostToTaxonomy_productConnectionEdge",[73],{"id":68,"name":59,"slug":60,"uri":69,"__typename":70},"PostToTaxonomy_productConnection",{"nodes":76,"edges":91,"__typename":95},[77],{"id":78,"name":79,"slug":80,"uri":81,"parentId":82,"disciplines":83,"__typename":90},"dGVybTo2MA==","3D CAD","3d-cad","\u002Fdisciplines\u002F3d-cad\u002F","dGVybTo1OA==",{"nodes":84,"__typename":89},[85],{"title":79,"uri":86,"parentId":87,"__typename":88},"\u002Fdisciplines\u002Fdesign-engineering\u002F3d-cad","cG9zdDozNzcz","Discipline","Taxonomy_disciplineToDisciplineConnection","Taxonomy_discipline",[92],{"isPrimary":66,"node":93,"__typename":94},{"parentId":82,"id":78,"name":79,"slug":80,"uri":81,"__typename":90},"PostToTaxonomy_disciplineConnectionEdge","PostToTaxonomy_disciplineConnection",{"canonical":5,"title":97,"metaDesc":5,"opengraphAuthor":5,"opengraphDescription":98,"opengraphTitle":15,"opengraphUrl":99,"opengraphSiteName":100,"opengraphPublishedTime":101,"opengraphModifiedTime":102,"twitterTitle":5,"twitterDescription":5,"readingTime":103,"metaRobotsNoindex":104,"__typename":105},"Frustration―Not All Pain Is Created Equal - Blog Solidworks","An Actionable Definition for “Frustration” Frustration is when … Someone has a…","\u002Fproducts\u002Fsolidworks\u002Ffrustration-not-all-pain-is-created-equal\u002F","Blog Solidworks","2011-04-15T14:14:57+00:00","2025-12-17T11:32:09+00:00",7,"noindex","PostTypeSEO","Post","RootQueryToPostConnection",{},{},1777208101549]