9/8/20255 min

Signs that there is no problem

No pain, no gain

One of the strongest signs that a pain is weak is the absence of sacrifices on the part of the affected people. That sacrifice could be money, but also time, effort, attention, or changes in behavior.

It can appear in different ways:

There is positive feedback, but they wouldn’t pay. This indicates that the friction is a "minor annoyance": it does not significantly interfere with the daily activities of potential consumers. People usually assume costs to resolve recurring problems: money, time, energy, or effort. If no one is willing to assume any of these, perhaps the friction is not as important as it seemed.
Few people leave their email or show pre-commitment. This is a clear sign of lack of demand or a signal that the experiment was not well designed. If the problem were serious, people would try to solve it even with improvised solutions or showing visible urgency to obtain the remedy you offer. Have you seen anyone try to solve this problem on their own? If the answer is no, it’s worth investigating further before assuming there is a relevant need.
They don’t relate to the Friction. Even if you describe a pain perfectly, if it does not resonate with the people you are talking to, the intention to pay will be zero. Try asking:
- When was the last time this happened to you?
- What did you do to solve it?
- What alternative do you use today?

Responses usually provide more information than a general opinion.

Reasonable doubts

Sometimes it’s not easy to know whether the problem doesn’t exist or, on the contrary, it is there, but it’s your solution that doesn’t fit. Before abandoning a hypothesis, observe again. Often, experiments they don’t show that the problem is fake. What they show is that . you still don’t understand it well enough.

It will be worth investigating to find out if the people you’ve spoken to say something like this:

They point out that the cost of switching is too high. If your potential customers already use an alternative solution, your proposal must be substantially better in order to overcome the switching costs: the costs of changing providers.

Examples: switching banks, changing software, switching providers, changing a routine that already works. Sometimes the problem exists, but the current alternative solution is sufficiently comfortable.

There is no positive feedback or commitment. You have received kind and polite but lukewarm feedback. Additionally, there are no actions demonstrating real interest. Conduct more experiments to determine whether the pain does not exist or if the product or service you offer does not match the specific needs of consumers.

Go back into the field and observe once more. Before changing the solution, make sure you have correctly understood the friction.

. Signs that you may not be observing a real problem

All you have are opinions.
No one can remember the last time they suffered the problem.
You cannot find observable behaviors related to the friction.
No one tries to solve it on their own.
You’ve only spoken with people close to you.
There are no spontaneous complaints in communities, forums, or real conversations.
Responses are generic and lack specificity.

If you observe several of these signs at once, perhaps you don’t need a better solution. Perhaps you need to observe again.

. What to do when you don’t find enough evidence of the problem

You don’t have to abandon your idea immediately. Before doing so, try refocusing the hypotheses:

Pivot to another pain. Sometimes experiments reveal a bigger or different problem than the one you thought you had identified. If this is your case, it’s good news: you’ll have to change your focus, yes, but now you already know what real friction your customers have (and they are probably willing to pay to solve it). Often, the best discoveries emerge precisely when an initial hypothesis fails.
Look for another, more niche consumer segment. Instead of a broad market, focus on a specific group of people for whom that pain is more intense or real. Explore a specific audience that is already complaining in forums, social media, customer service, etc. Sometimes the problem is not incorrect. You’re simply talking to the wrong people.

In any case, remember that not confirming the problem is also very valuable information: you now have another piece of evidence on the path of experimentation.

Abandon the hypothesis or pivot without drama, as you are saving time and resources for your next project. And before making a final decision, make sure you have observed enough real behaviors. In Explorer, good observation is worth more than a brilliant explanation.