Jobs-To-Be-Done (JTBD)

What is Jobs-To-Be-Done?

Jobs-To-Be-Done (JTBD) is a framework that helps you understand why people "hire" (use or purchase) products or services to accomplish specific goals or solve particular problems in their lives. Instead of focusing on who your customers are (demographics) or what features they want, JTBD focuses on what they're trying to accomplish and why.

Think of it this way: people don't buy products just to have them - they "hire" products to help them get a job done. This job might be functional (accomplish a task), emotional (feel a certain way), or social (be perceived in a certain manner).

The classic example is the milkshake study: researchers discovered that many commuters bought milkshakes in the morning not because they wanted a milkshake specifically, but because they needed something that could be consumed easily while driving and would keep them full until lunch. The job wasn't "I want a milkshake" - it was "I need something to occupy me during my commute and stave off hunger until lunchtime."

Why Jobs-To-Be-Done Matters

JTBD helps you:

Understand real user needs by focusing on what people are trying to accomplish, not just what they say they want.

Create better solutions that address the actual problems users face in their specific circumstances.

Avoid feature bloat by focusing on what actually helps users get their jobs done.

Identify innovation opportunities by understanding the gaps between what users need and what current solutions provide.

Build more relevant products that users will actually want to use and pay for.

Compete more effectively by understanding the real competition (other ways users solve the same job).

Core Concepts

What Makes a "Job"

A "job" in JTBD has several key characteristics:

Solution-agnostic - Describes what the user is trying to accomplish, not how

Contextual - Occurs in specific circumstances or situations

Stable over time - While solutions change, jobs tend to remain consistent

Multi-dimensional - Includes functional, emotional, and social aspects

Three Types of Jobs

Functional jobs - Practical tasks users need to accomplish

• "Track my monthly expenses"
• "Edit and share photos quickly"
• "Find a nearby restaurant with availability tonight"

Emotional jobs - How users want to feel (or avoid feeling)

• "Feel confident when making financial decisions"
• "Avoid feeling overwhelmed by too many options"
• "Feel accomplished after completing a workout"

Social jobs - How users want to be perceived by others

• "Be seen as knowledgeable about current events"
• "Appear professional and prepared in meetings"
• "Be recognized as a thoughtful gift-giver"

Job Stories Format

Job stories are structured statements that capture the context, motivation, and desired outcome:

"When [situation/context], I want to [motivation/goal], so I can [expected outcome]."

Examples:

• "When I'm rushing to work in the morning, I want to have breakfast without stopping, so I can save time while still feeling energized until lunch."
• "When I notice unexpected charges on my credit card, I want to quickly determine if they're fraudulent, so I can take action before more charges occur."
• "When I'm planning a vacation, I want to find accommodations that match my budget and preferences, so I can feel confident in my booking decision."

How JTBD Compares to Other Approaches

vs. Personas - JTBD focuses on the circumstances that create needs, while personas focus on user attributes and characteristics. JTBD is solution-agnostic and relatively stable over time, while personas may change as demographics shift.

vs. User Stories - JTBD uses the format "When [situation], I want to [motivation], so I can [outcome]" and starts with context, while user stories use "As a [user type], I want [capability], so that [benefit]" and start with user identity.

vs. Feature Lists - JTBD focuses on what users are trying to accomplish and why, while feature lists focus on what the product can do. JTBD helps you understand the real competition and user needs.

How to Implement JTBD

Research Methods

Switch interviews - Investigate why users switched from one solution to another by focusing on the timeline of events, identifying what pushed them away from old solutions, and understanding what pulled them toward new solutions.

Forces of progress diagram - Map the four forces influencing purchase decisions: push of the current situation (what's frustrating), pull of the new solution (what's attractive), anxiety about change (fears, uncertainties), and habit of the present (comfort with status quo).

Job mapping - Break down complex jobs into discrete steps, define job steps chronologically, identify pain points at each step, and prioritize steps with greatest friction.

Outcome expectation analysis - Understand how users measure success by identifying desired outcomes for each job step, metrics users employ to evaluate solutions, and importance and satisfaction ratings for each outcome.

Application in Your Design Process

Discovery phase - Identify key jobs customers are trying to accomplish, understand current solutions and their limitations, and map the emotional and social dimensions of jobs.

Definition phase - Prioritize jobs based on frequency, importance, and dissatisfaction, create job stories to guide design, and develop job-based user journeys.

Development phase - Design features specifically addressing job requirements, evaluate prototypes against job completion metrics, and use jobs as criteria for feature prioritization.

Delivery phase - Test how effectively the solution fulfills the job, communicate product benefits in job-centered terms, and measure success by job completion efficiency.

Real-World Examples

Spotify's Discover Weekly:

• Traditional view: Users want more music like what they already listen to
• JTBD view: "When I'm tired of my current playlist, I want to discover new music that matches my taste without spending time searching, so I can enjoy fresh music while still liking what I hear"
• Solution: Algorithm-generated personalized playlists delivered weekly

Airbnb Experiences:

• Traditional view: Travelers want things to do while visiting new places
• JTBD view: "When I'm visiting a new city, I want to experience it like a local would, so I can create unique memories and feel a deeper connection to the place"
• Solution: Local-hosted activities and tours beyond typical tourist attractions

Netflix:

• Traditional view: Users want to rent DVDs
• JTBD view: "When I'm at home, I want to be entertained without effort, so I can relax and enjoy my evening"
• Solution: Shifted from DVD rentals to streaming

Common Challenges and Solutions

Identifying true jobs vs. solutions - Users often describe solutions rather than underlying jobs. Use the "Five Whys" technique to dig deeper into motivations.

Balancing breadth and specificity - Jobs can be defined too broadly or too narrowly. Create hierarchies of jobs (main jobs and sub-jobs).

Determining which jobs to prioritize - Multiple competing jobs create feature prioritization challenges. Evaluate jobs based on frequency, importance, and current satisfaction.

Measuring success - Success metrics may not align with traditional product metrics. Develop job-specific success metrics and leading indicators.

Getting Started

If you want to try Jobs-To-Be-Done:

Start with user interviews to understand what people are trying to accomplish and why.

Look for switching behavior by asking users why they changed from one solution to another.

Use the job story format to capture context, motivation, and desired outcomes.

Focus on the job, not the solution by asking "what" and "why" questions rather than "how" questions.

Include emotional and social dimensions in addition to functional requirements.

Test your job formulations with users to ensure accuracy.

Use jobs to guide feature prioritization by focusing on what helps users accomplish their jobs most effectively.

Remember, JTBD shifts your perspective from "What features should we build?" to "What jobs are our users trying to accomplish?" This change often reveals opportunities for innovation that feature-centered approaches might miss.