Jobs to be done
Also known as JTBD, Jobs theory
Jobs to be done (JTBD) is a framework that describes products in terms of the progress a customer is trying to make in a given situation, rather than the customer's attributes or the product's features.
What is a job in jobs-to-be-done?
A job is the underlying goal a customer is trying to accomplish, framed independently of any solution. The classic example: people do not want a quarter-inch drill, they want a quarter-inch hole, and really they want to hang a shelf.
A well-written job statement usually captures a situation, a motivation and a desired outcome.
Why use jobs-to-be-done instead of personas?
They answer different questions. Personas describe who the customer is; jobs describe what they are trying to achieve and why they would switch. Many teams use both, mapping the key jobs each persona is hiring the product to do.
Where do you find the jobs?
In the customer's own words. Support tickets, sales calls, reviews and interviews are full of the situations and motivations that reveal the real job, especially the moments where someone switched from an old way of doing things.
Jobs to be done, in brief
- What is jobs-to-be-done?
- Jobs to be done is a framework that describes products in terms of the progress a customer is trying to make in a situation, rather than the customer's demographics or the product's feature list.
- What is an example of a job to be done?
- Hiring a ride-share app to get to the airport on time without the stress of parking is a job. The situation, motivation and desired outcome matter more than the customer's age or the app's features.
Put the theory to work.
Corha turns your calls, tickets and surveys into living personas and evidence-backed insights, so these ideas become part of how your team works, not just definitions.