I. Strategy Overview: Identifying and Classifying Customer Pain Points
1.1. The concept of Pain Points in the context of website development and digital transformation
Customer pain in the context of website project implementation is a collection of difficulties, challenges, or needs that are not satisfactorily met throughout the process from creation, development to product operation. Clearly identifying and classifying these pain points is the first strategic step to establishing a successful project.
These pain points are often classified into four main groups, demonstrating their coverage across the customer's entire business: Financial Pain Point, Productivity Pain Point, Process Pain Point, and Support Pain Point Point).1
Notably, in the digital environment, pain is often transformative. A basic technical error can quickly become a serious business problem. For example, slow page load speeds are a technical pain point, but it quickly turns into productivity pain when customers have to wait for long periods of time, and ultimately financial pain when it leads to high bounce rates and lost revenue.1
To effectively solve the pain, it is essential to build a value proposition framework and optimize the customer journey.3 Insight methods include interacting directly with customers through interviews or conversations. talk to listen to feedback and acknowledge difficulties.3 At the same time, businesses must use the customer's own language to describe the problem, create a strong emotional connection and make customers feel deeply understood.1
1.2. The importance of understanding pain to build a sustainable Digital strategy
Understanding pain not only helps fix problems but is also the foundation for establishing a sustainable competitive advantage. Businesses need to analyze their competitors to determine how they solve customer pain points, or identify market segments that competitors are leaving open.1 This allows businesses to identify opportunities to improve their products or services.
However, a common strategic barrier is a lack of readiness for true digital transformation. Although businesses are aware of the urgency of digitizing and building websites5, they often tend to consider the cost of investing in technology as a burden instead of a long-term strategic investment.5 The lack of willingness to change long-term business habits and the failure to budget enough costs for high-quality digital technology solutions are the biggest barriers.5
This leads to many businesses looking for "cheap web making" or lack-of-strategy solutions. comb. As a result, they undermine the requirements definition phase from the start, leading to poor quality products and increasing hidden costs in the future. The difference between having a website and building a website that creates value for customers is a big gap that needs to be identified right from the strategy stage.3
II. The Strategy & Scoping Pain
The scoping phase is the foundation that determines the output quality of the website. Many problems that arise later, especially cost and schedule control, stem from laxity in determining the initial scope and requirements.
2.1. The challenge of converting business goals into features
Before starting to build a website, clearly defining the business goals and website type is a key step.6 These decisions guide the entire interface design, technical features, content, and user experience.
The big challenge is that customers often have difficulty converting macro business goals into specific, necessary technical features. set. As a result, they tend to lack the ability to identify features that are "right, sufficient, and bring value" to users.7 Instead, businesses tend to cram too much information into the homepage or integrate unnecessarily complex functions, leading to a confusing and ineffective website.8
2.2. Knowledge Gap between Customer and Developer Expectations
The difference in expertise between the customer (who understands the business market) and the developer (who understands the technical capabilities) often creates gaps in service quality.
The first gap is the misalignment between the customer's actual expectations and the design unit's perception of those expectations.9 If the design unit does not listen and understand the core needs properly, the final deliverable will lack the elements that the customer really wants. expect. This is a common communication barrier, where customers may not know how to use technical language to accurately name their requirements.
Even when needs are properly understood, problems continue if the business (or developer) fails to establish clear and workable service standards (Gap 2).9 Lack of management direction or lax operational processes can lead to unsatisfactory execution demand.
2.3. Lack of detailed planning leads to Scope Creep
Scope Creep, or scope creep, occurs when requirements, features, or deliverables exceed the initially established and agreed upon project scope.10 This is a common project management problem, especially in website projects with vague requirements.
The root cause of Scope Creep is often lack of detailed planning and ambiguity in defining requirements from the inception phase.11 If the project scope is not tightly defined from the beginning, it is easy for stakeholders to arbitrarily request additional features, disrupting schedule and budget.10
In fact, Scope Creep is a clear indicator that the Perception Gap (Gap 1) between the customer and the developer has not been effectively closed.9 Customers often only notice the gaps shortcomings or additional needs when they see the actual product (prototype). At that point, they ask for more features, causing Scope Creep.10 This indicates that the design unit did not adequately conduct a professional consulting and needs analysis process from the beginning, or that the customer is not ready to commit to the initially agreed upon scope.11
To break this cycle, businesses need to prepare a clear, detailed plan that accurately reflects the successful translation of business goals into specific features before looking for partners.6 The consequences of Scope Creep are very clear: it not only prolongs implementation time and increases costs, but also reduces the working motivation of the development team, directly threatening the success of the project.10
III. The Financial Burden
Financial risk is one of the biggest pain points for customers, not only related to explicit costs but also hidden costs, maintenance costs, and lost opportunities.
3.1. Analyze Implicit Costs and Business Impact
Implicit Costs are expenses that are not directly declared in the contract but cause significant damage to the business throughout the project life cycle.13
The main types of hidden costs in website projects include:
Management Time Costs: This is time Managers' valuable resources must be spent resolving technical errors, conflicts that arise, or monitoring the Scope Creep processing process. This wastes internal resources and distracts from core business activities.13
Rework Costs: Costs incurred when having to redesign interfaces, reprogram features, or fix source code due to poor code quality, or due to sudden changes in requirements.13
Opportunity Costs: This is the direct loss of revenue due to performance poor website. A prime example is high bounce rates: more than 40% of customers said they would leave a website if they had to wait more than 3 seconds for a page to load.1 Losing potential customers due to slow speeds or technical errors is a huge opportunity cost that cannot be seen on the balance sheet.2
3.2. The issue of additional costs and ancillary investments
The basic cost structure of a website includes mandatory investments such as domain names, hosting costs appropriate to the type of website and traffic, and design/programming costs.6
However, a cost often overlooked by customers is Recurring License Cost. Many platform solutions, premium themes, or specialized plugins (e.g. Elementor Pro Plugin) require licensing fees or annual renewals. If this expense is not planned, businesses may face the decommissioning of important features or have to switch to another, costly solution.
Another major financial risk is the choice of "cheap website building". While they may seem cost-effective up front, these solutions often pose risks to code quality, security, and support.11 This creates an invisible “budget black hole” where businesses continually have to pump money to address technical symptoms instead of addressing the root cause. Specifically, low investment in poor hosting or suboptimal code 18 will increase hidden costs later (time spent managing errors, lost revenue due to slow speed).1
3.3. Long-term economic problem: Cost of maintaining performance (Maintenance vs. Performance)
Website is not a static asset. It requires ongoing investments in maintenance, administration, and especially search engine optimization (SEO) to maintain performance.16 SEO costs are a necessary investment to help businesses increase visibility, reach the right potential customers, improve organic traffic, and increase brand reputation.16
Lack of sustained investment will lead to "Performance Debt", when The code becomes outdated, loading speeds are slow, and the website loses search rankings. This causes a business's technical assets to become inefficient over time, contradicting long-term investment goals.
To illustrate the relationship between these costs, below is an analysis of the differences in financial impact:
Financial Risk Analysis: Comparing Explicit and Implicit Costs
Design, planning fees Program
Cost Type: Explicit
Impact: Initial Capital Expenditure (CAPEX)
Proposed Strategy Solution: Detailed Scope for Control
Software/Plugins License Costs
Cost Type: Explicit (Conventional) forgotten)
Impact: Increase Total Cost of Ownership (TCO)
Suggested Strategic Solution: Require partners to clearly list annual renewal costs 19
Management Time & Rework Costs
Cost Type: Implicit 13
Direct Sales Loss
Proposed Strategic Solution: Commit to Core Web Vitals standard in contract 20
Incurred Technical Support Fees
Cost Type: Explicit/Implicit
Impact: Create dependencies and unforeseen maintenance costs
Solution Recommended Strategy: Require full CMS training and a clear support contract 11
IV. The Operational Friction
Inefficiencies in the project management process are the direct cause of customer productivity pain points and wasted resources.
4.1. Scope Creep and change management
Although Scope Creep is often seen as a customer error for continuously adding requirements 10, it is also a consequence of the lack of a rigorous Change Request management process. Customers need to actively participate and monitor the project, understanding that web design is more complex than they think, and functionality needs to be updated regularly.8
Without a clear process, Scope Creep increases costs and lengthens implementation time, creating tension in the partnership.
4.2. Lack of transparency and quality in the development process
A professional design company needs to have a clear working process, including steps from consulting, analysis, design, development, testing, to handover and warranty.11 Failure of customers to learn or partners' failure to comply with this process will lead to great risks.
Specifically, the lack of periodic technical error checking is a serious problem.22 If technical errors such as broken links are not regularly checked and repaired, (404), the quality and performance of the website will decline.22
4.3. Time Management Challenge: Slow Responses and Edits
Productivity Pain Points are evident when customers have to wait long for support responses or corrections.4 Delayed support responses or overly complicated purchasing processes both cause lost productivity and increase user and business frustration.1
The problem of delays is also related to server performance. Slow server response time (Time to First Byte - TTFB) causes slow page load speeds.24 Although optimizations such as caching or database optimization can fix TTFB, if workflow and support are prolonged, these optimizations are also delayed.
Delays in response and correction are not only a technical issue but also a management issue, directly increasing "Time Costs". "implicit cost".13 If the developer has a less transparent process or is overloaded with projects 26, the customer is forced to spend more time monitoring, which causes "The Management Drag", reducing the ability to focus on the core business.
V. Contractual Vulnerability
Contracts are the most important legal tool to protect customers' rights and ensure project quality. Many risks that arise later can be prevented if the contract is strictly established.
5.1. The importance of a strict contract: Legal basis and Protection of rights
A website design contract is an agreement that clearly stipulates the rights and obligations of each party, and is also the legal basis to resolve problems that arise during the cooperation process.26 If there is a lack of detailed agreement from the beginning, many complications will appear during the later use and development process.26
A detailed contract can functions as a list of requirements to be achieved.26 More importantly, it constrains the design unit from neglecting the project, especially in cases where they receive too many projects beyond their ability to manage.26
5.2. Essential clauses to bind quality and progress
To protect rights, the contract should include the following core elements:
Transparency in Requirements and Scope:The contract must detail the list of requirements, ideas, functions, and content that the customer wants the design unit to implement.28 The more specific the description, the easier it is to control the project
Compensation and Penalty Clauses: The contract needs to clearly stipulate the rights and obligations of both parties, especially the level of fines and compensation if problems occur or progress is delayed.27 This clause is an effective tool for customers to speed up work or request compensation according to the agreement.26
Warning about Renewal: Customers need to pay attention that, if they agree to extend the performance period without clear legal claims or terms, they may lose their right to claim compensation for breach of contract due to delay compared to the original provisions.29
5.3. Intellectual property issues and system administration rights
The contract needs to clearly define intellectual property rights to the source code, design (UI/UX) and content of the website.
At the same time, to avoid falling into the "dependency trap" after handover, the contract must include a commitment to detailed training on how to use the content management system (CMS).11 Customers need to operate basic tasks themselves. like posting articles, updating products, without needing constant outside support.
However, an often overlooked regulatory risk is "The Compliance Gap". Many contracts only guarantee that features work, but not that they work. A professional contract must translate key technical indicators such as Core Web Vitals into required delivery standards. If the website is delivered but the loading speed is slow, or the user experience is poor 30, the customer cannot protect themselves against loss of revenue, because the contract is not binding on technical conversion performance.20
VI. Technical Pain and User Experience Performance (The Performance Deficit)
Technical performance is a key factor that directly affects user satisfaction, conversion rates and Google search rankings (SEO).
6.1. Business Impact of Slow Page Load Speeds
Slow load speeds are one of the most common causes of productivity and financial pain. More than 40% of customers will leave a website if they have to wait more than 3 seconds for a page to load.1
The most common technical causes of slow speed include:
Images are large and uncompressed.18
Code is not optimized.18
Using a poor hosting service quality.18
The technical solution requires image optimization (using compression tools such as TinyPNG or the appropriate compressed WebP/JPEG format) 7, and uses technologies such as Content Delivery Networks (CDN) and caching to improve load times.7
6.2. Analysis of Core Web Vitals (LCP, INP, CLS) and Google standards
Core Web Vitals (CWV) is a quantitative measure established by Google to evaluate the quality of user experience, which has a direct impact on SEO rankings.20
Below are the required technical performance standards:
Largest Contentful Paint (LCP)
"Good" Threshold: $\le 2.5$ seconds 20
Customer Experience Impact: Reduce user bounce rate
Direct Business Consequence: Increase conversion rates, improve SEO rankings 25
Interaction to Next Paint (INP)
"Good" Threshold: $\le $200 ms 20
Customer Experience Impact: Smooth interactions, app feels responsive
Direct Business Consequences: Reduce user errors, increase customer satisfaction and retention
Cumulative Layout Shift (CLS)
"Good" Threshold: $\le 0.1$ 20
Customer Experience Impact: Image stability, avoid false activation
Direct Business Consequence: Improved reliability, reduced purchase interruptions
Mobile Compatibility (Responsive)
Required Criteria: 100% 18
Customer Experience Impact: Can access and purchase on any device
Direct Business Consequence: Preserve Mobile traffic (majority of traffic) 2
If website has poor CWV performance (e.g. LCP > 4 seconds or INP > 500 ms), it will be rated as "Poor".20 This leads to major SEO risks, reduces search rankings and makes investments in content and SEO go to waste.16
Many projects often focus on feature completion at the expense of performance, which creates "Performance Debt". For example, using heavy code or plugins to speed up development 18 will increase INP and CLS 31 later. Businesses will be forced to spend costs and time re-optimizing after handover.
6.3. Evaluate UI/UX: Consistency, readability, and cross-device compatibility
Optimal User Interface (UI) and User Experience (UX) design are critical to retaining customers and building brand loyalty.30
Responsive Design: Websites are required to display well and automatically adjust their layout on all devices, especially mobile mobile.33 If the website displays ugly or is difficult to operate on mobile, it will be difficult for customers to patiently make purchases, leading to loss of revenue.2
Basic Design Principles: Ensure the design is consistent in color palette, typography, and visual style.7 Effective use of white space improves readability.7 Also, Call to Action (CTA) buttons should be optimized to stand out, be easy to find, and provide visual feedback as users interact.7
Accessibility: One An important criterion that is often overlooked is accessibility. The design should ensure keyboard navigation for all interactive elements, supporting users with mobility disabilities or using screen readers.32
VII. The Post-Launch Abandonment
The post-handover phase is the period of maximizing the value of the website, but is where the most support pain points arise, leading to the risk of the website becoming an ineffective asset.
7.1. Lack of Technical Support and Periodic Warranty Services
After the website is completed, businesses often encounter difficulties due to lack of available support team or delayed support response.23 Failure to regularly check and repair technical errors (Maintenance) periodically is the cause of the appearance of serious problems such as broken links (error 404).22
Essential support services that customers Contract requirements should include: answering technical questions, editing support, periodic website checks, and warranty.21
7.2. System administration barrier: Inadequate CMS training
One of the biggest post-handover pains is unwanted dependencies. The design unit needs to provide detailed training on how to use the content management system (CMS).11 Customers need to know how to post articles, update products, manage orders, and change contact information.11
If the training is incomplete or of poor quality, the business will fall into a situation of depending on the partner for basic tasks. This increases Management Time Cost 13 and reduces internal productivity, while also preventing the business from autonomously resolving minor errors (e.g., 404 errors).22
7.3. Difficulties in integrating SEO measurement and optimization tools
After completing the design, businesses need to perform important post-deployment tasks: basic image processing (logo, banner), posting main content, and installing linking tools.35
Installing Google Analytics is a mandatory step for website administration, allowing tracking important indicators such as the number of Users, Sessions, and Percentage page abandonment rate.21 This helps evaluate the effectiveness of online marketing activities.
After posting content, businesses must monitor reporting metrics and continuously optimize to improve search engine rankings and conversion efficiency.35 If the design unit does not support the installation of measurement tools or advise on optimization strategies, customers will have difficulty evaluating and maximizing the value of their investment. This omission directly conflicts with the website's sustainable development goals.16
VIII. Strategic Solution Framework and Recommended Actions
Based on analysis of core strategic, financial, process and technical pain points, this report proposes a strategic solution framework to help customers proactively minimize risks and optimize investment performance.
8.1. Methodology for Identifying and Prioritizing Pain
Businesses need to shift their focus from just listing features to clearly identifying the pain that target customers are experiencing.
Customers should start by clearly identifying Productivity Pain Points 1, looking for solutions that save time and increase efficiency. To close the Perception Gap (Gap 1) 9, businesses need to use a combination of qualitative (direct interactions, behavioral surveys) and quantitative (real-life data analysis, competitor research) research methods.3 This ensures that the website is built to solve a core need, instead of just being a set of complex features.
8.2. Proactive Project Management Strategy
Professional project management is the key to controlling Scope Creep and ensuring quality.
First, Control the Scope by clearly defining the project scope from the beginning and establishing a formal change management (Change Request) process. This prevents hidden costs and unplanned delays.10
Second, Investment in UI/UX Testing is required. Businesses need to establish or hire UX testing experts to perform usability testing, A/B testing, or focus groups.7 This ensures that any design improvements and tweaks are based on actual user behavior data.
Third, it must Optimize Performance early in the development phase. Customers must require the developer to commit and implement measures to optimize page load speed, including simplifying the interface, compressing images (WebP, JPEG), and implementing caching and CDN to improve server response time (TTFB).7
8.3. Guide to Choosing and Negotiating a Contract with a Web Design Partner
Choosing a reputable, experienced web design unit with a professional working process is a prerequisite.11 Building a transparent and strict contract is the most important line of legal and quality defense.28
To transform technical standards into legal bindings, businesses need to:
Technical Constraints with Quantitative Metrics: Include Core Web Vitals performance metrics (LCP $\le 2.5s$, INP $\le 200ms$, CLS $\le 0.1$) in the required delivery terms.20 This ensures that the website not only works but is also effective in delivering the user experience use, helping to protect customers' rights and revenue potential.
Comprehensive Support and Training Requirements: Make sure the contract includes a commitment to detailed CMS training so customers can operate autonomously.11 At the same time, the contract must clearly stipulate post-handover technical support services, including periodic error testing 21 and a commitment to source code intellectual property. This helps businesses avoid falling into the "dependency trap" and unforeseen costs arising after the project is completed.
IX. Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
9.1. What is Scope Creep and how to prevent it?
Scope Creep is the phenomenon in which requirements, features or deliverables exceed the initially established project scope. This is a common pain that causes project delays and increased costs.10
Prevent: From the beginning, businesses need to prepare a clear, detailed plan 11, strictly define the project scope, and establish a formal Change Request management process. Any additional requests must be reviewed, approved, and the budget/schedule may be revised.12
9.2. What are hidden costs (Implicit Costs) when making a website?
Hidden costs are costs that are not directly declared in the contract but cause significant damage.14 The most common types of hidden costs include:
Rework Costs: Arising when features must be repaired or reprogrammed due to poor code quality or sudden change requests. suddenly.13
Management Time Cost: Manager's valuable time must be spent on resolving technical errors or monitoring Scope Creep, wasting internal resources.13
Opportunity Cost: Direct revenue loss due to poor website performance, e.g. high bounce rate due to slow loading speed (> 3 seconds).14
9.3. Why does my website need to meet Core Web Vitals standards?
Core Web Vitals (CWV) is a measure set by Google to evaluate the quality of user experience, directly affecting SEO rankings. Failure to meet CWV standards (such as LCP > 2.5s) will cause the website to be rated as "Poor", reducing search rankings and making investments in content and SEO wasteful.31 Meeting CWV standards helps:
Increase customer retention: Fast page loading speed and high layout stability (CLS $\le 0.1$) help users feel satisfied more.20
Increase conversion rate:Improved interaction speed (INP $\le 200ms$) makes the purchasing process smoother, thereby increasing sales.20
9.4. How to ensure benefits when signing a website design contract?
A strong contract is the most important legal basis.28 Customers need to ensure the contract has:
Detailed requirements list:Specifically listing ideas, functions, and deliverable content.28
Technical quality clauses: Binding quantitative performance standards (for example, Core Web Vitals) are mandatory delivery conditions mandatory.20
Regulations on compensation and penalties: Clearly determine the penalty level if the partner is behind schedule or does not comply with commitments.27
Commitment to CMS training: Ensure customers receive detailed training to autonomously operate basic tasks after handover.11
Website design project, in essence, is a a business transformation project delivered through technology. The pain customers experience—from Scope Creep, to hidden costs, to slow loading speeds—comes from a disconnect between business strategy and technical execution.
This analysis shows that the biggest barrier is not just a lack of technology, but a lack of financial and management willingness to invest in quality from the start. Choosing a cheap solution or being lax in shaping requirements immediately leads to the accumulation of "Performance Debt" and "Budget Black Holes", causing hidden costs incurred later to be much larger than the initial investment costs.11
To achieve sustainable digitalization goals, senior management needs to adopt a comprehensive strategic framework:
Transforming the Finance Mindset: Consider The cost of quality website design (including hosting, standard UI/UX, and SEO) is a long-term strategic investment, not a short-term cost burden. Fully estimate Total Cost of Ownership (TCO), including license and performance costs.
Strengthen the Defining Process: Standardize the consulting and design process by proactively closing the Perception Gap between expectations and execution 9, using UX testing tools to refine the product based on real-world data.24
Technical Quality Constraints Technical:Using contracts as a strategic tool to bind partners not only on features but also on performance with quantitative Core Web Vitals indicators, ensuring the website meets Google's optimal standards.20
Only by applying this approach, businesses can turn their website from a pain point into a powerful digital asset, creating a competitive advantage and promoting sustainable growth. With in-depth experience, Tan Phat Digital is proud to be a strategic partner to help businesses overcome barriers and achieve sustainable digitalization goals.
Don't let your website become a cost burden and a productivity pain.
Take action today:
Redefine strategy: Clearly define business goals and convert them into functional requirements specific capabilities before looking for a partner.6
Request mandatory technical standards: Include Core Web Vitals indicators in the contract as an uncompromising delivery condition.20
TCO planning: Budget for recurring costs (license, hosting) and performance maintenance strategy (SEO) from the beginning to avoid hidden costs incurred.16
Tan Phat Digital is ready to accompany you to build a strong digital asset that not only works but also converts successfully.
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