Fix the Pain Before Adding the Sparkle
Practical ways to get stakeholders to focus on fixing what matters most
👋 Happy Saturday, my dear UX friends, Marina here! Welcome to this week’s ✨ Saturday edition ✨ of UX Mentor Diaries where I tackle readers’ (and my students’) questions about building strategic influence as a UXer and accelerating UX careers. If you read it and value it, please consider sharing, liking this post and/or becoming a premium subscriber (here’s why)
This week's question hits on a frustration I hear constantly in our field:
"My stakeholders are obsessed with adding “delightful” features and animations, while I keep trying to redirect their attention to serious usability issues. How do I get teams to prioritize fixing pain points over adding sparkle?"
The eternal battle between "delightful moments" and actual user needs!
It took me right back to a project where a stakeholder wanted to add confetti animations to a medical records system. Yes, really. 🤦♀️
Let's think how to shift these conversations from "surprise and delight" to meaningful improvements that actually matter to users.
The Delight Dilemma
Here's the thing about delight: it's like trying to make someone smile while they're wearing uncomfortable shoes. Sure, you might get a momentary grin, but they're still in pain with every step.
Let's explore how to redirect these conversations effectively.
1. The Pain-Point Economics Framework
I learned this approach from a UX director who transformed how her company prioritized UX work:
Calculate the Cost of Pain:
Number of users experiencing the issue
Frequency of encountering the problem
Time lost per occurrence
Impact on key metrics (conversion, retention, support tickets)
Example: "This form error affects 2,000 users weekly, causing 3 minutes of rework each time. That's 5,000 minutes of user frustration weekly—enough time to watch 'The Godfather' 33 times."
2. The Kano Model Conversation
Reframe discussions using the Kano Model:
Basic Needs (Must-haves)
Performance Needs (More is better)
Excitement Needs (Delighters)
Key insight: You can't delight users who are struggling with basic needs.
3. The Evidence Portfolio
Build a compelling case:
Record user testing sessions showing pain points
Collect support ticket data
Document user feedback
Track abandoned transactions
Pro tip: Create a "Pain Point Repository" dashboard that's always up to date and accessible to stakeholders.
Making Pain Points Tangible
Sometimes the challenge isn't convincing people that pain points matter—it's making them feel the urgency.
Try these approaches:
1. The Stakeholder Safari
Invite stakeholders to observe user testing
Have them attempt common tasks themselves
Show them unedited support calls
Present real user complaints without sanitizing the frustration
2. The Cost Calculator
Create a simple spreadsheet that shows:
Time wasted by users
Potential revenue loss
Support ticket costs
Customer churn risk
One UX lead I mentored created a "Pain Point Calculator" that converted user struggles into dollar values. Suddenly, stakeholders were a lot more interested in fixing those "minor" issues.
3. The Priority Flip
When someone suggests a "delightful" feature:
Acknowledge the creative thinking
Ask how it solves existing user problems
Present relevant pain points that could be addressed instead
Calculate the impact of both approaches
Converting Stakeholders into Pain-Point Champions
Here's how to make your case:
The Business Impact Story
Instead of: "Users find this confusing"
Try: "This confusion leads to 150 support tickets monthly, costing approximately $3,750 in support time"
The User Journey Audit
Map current user journeys
Highlight pain points with real user quotes
Show how these issues impact business metrics
Present clear solutions with expected outcomes
The Delight Reframe
Help stakeholders understand that:
True delight comes from things working smoothly
Removing friction is more valuable than adding features
Basic needs must be met before excitement features matter
Your Challenge This Week:
Identify your product's top 3 pain points
Calculate the business impact of each
Create a compelling presentation using the frameworks above
Present it to one key stakeholder
Real-World Success Story
A UX designer I mentored faced this exact challenge. Her team was pushing for animated onboarding tooltips while users struggled with basic form submissions. She created a simple "Pain Point Impact Score" combining frequency, severity, and business impact. Within two months, her product team had shifted from requesting "delightful features" to asking "what's our highest-impact pain point this sprint?"
The most delightful experience is one that just works.
Users don't remember the cute animations. They remember whether or not you solved their problems.
Quick tip: Start collecting user quotes about pain points. Real user voices are often more persuasive than any metric.
Till next Saturday,
P.S. Next time someone asks for delight, try asking: "What if we made it delightful by making it effortless?" Sometimes, reframing the conversation is all it takes ;)
UX Mentor Diaries helps UXers become (and remain) successful and influential through quick tips, in-depth guidance and personal experience stories. Become a Premium Subscriber for just $9.99 a month or $99 for the whole year and unlock every article and resource in the archive (+ more benefits)
P.S. A few more ways I can help you ↴
Book a 1:1 UX career coaching session—
UX Career Acceleration session - 60 min
During the session, we'll identify your natural strengths and explore how you could lean on them to accelerate your career growth.
If you are a paid subscriber, DM me, and I'll send you a discount code for either of these sessions.
Follow me on LinkedIn for proven UX career strategies.
If you aspire to become a UX mentor, check my book on Amazon.