Jobs To Be Done reframes product thinking around progress, not features. Instead of asking 'who is our user?', JTBD asks 'what job is the customer hiring this product to do?' A job is functional, emotional, and social — understanding all three dimensions reveals what a product must truly deliver.
Early discovery, before defining any solution. Most powerful when users aren't engaging as expected, or when entering a new market.
- Conduct switch interviews — talk to people who recently switched TO or FROM your product
- Identify the trigger: what situation caused them to look for a solution?
- Uncover the functional job (what they need to do), emotional job (how they want to feel), and social job (how they want to be perceived)
- Write the job statement: 'When [situation], I want to [motivation], so I can [outcome]'
- Evaluate your product: does it actually help users make the progress they're seeking?
People don't 'use a music app' — they hire Spotify to manage their mood. On a Monday commute, the job is 'shift me into work mode without having to think.' Discover Weekly succeeded not because it surfaced good songs, but because it eliminated the effort of choosing — it did the job of being a great DJ.
Compliance teams don't 'buy surveillance software' — they hire it to protect themselves from regulatory action and demonstrate due diligence. The real job is 'give me confidence I won't be caught off-guard by a regulator.' Features that don't serve this job will be ignored regardless of technical sophistication.
- Confusing demographics with jobs — the same person hires different products for different jobs at different times
- Focusing only on the functional job and ignoring emotional and social dimensions
- Interviewing people about hypothetical behaviour instead of actual past decisions
- Competing Against Luck — Clayton Christensen
- When Coffee and Kale Compete — Alan Klement