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The Jobs to Be Done (JTBD) framework offers a customer-centric approach that delves into the underlying tasks, problems, or outcomes driving a customer’s decision to “hire” a product.
Understanding why customers choose certain products or services is essential for many roles within a company.
Why? At the heart of all successful companies is a relentless focus on the customer, whether it is a B2B or B2C customer; how firms create value is critical for long-term success.
At its core, the Jobs To Be Done theory focuses on how and why customers “hire” products to fulfill functional, emotional, and social needs. A “job” represents a task or goal a customer wants to accomplish, encompassing different dimensions:
For example, purchasing a sports car isn’t just about transportation. It also satisfies emotional desires like excitement and social desires like gaining admiration.
A key principle of Jobs To Be Done is that the core job remains stable even as solutions and technologies change.
Consider the job of “listening to music“: this need has stayed the same for decades, while the solutions have evolved from vinyl records to streaming services.
This stability allows you to focus on long-term customer needs without getting sidetracked by changing trends.
Jobs To Be Done also adopts a solution-agnostic approach. It focuses on the outcome the customer wants, regardless of the means.
This mindset frees you to consider various solutions. For example, the job “find a convenient way to exercise regularly” could be addressed by gym memberships, home equipment, or fitness apps.
Product managers, marketers, designers, and executives all should understand adopt and understand the Jobs To Be Done approach – it should be a common way of understanding, discussing and focusing on the customer.
The Jobs to Be Done (JTBD) framework provides a way to examine customer motivations by focusing on the specific tasks or problems that customers aim to solve.
By identifying these “jobs,” you can develop solutions that more effectively meet real customer needs.
Product managers want to develop successful products that sell well and outperform the competition. By applying the JTBD framework, they can create offerings that align closely with customers’ goals, increasing the product’s appeal and competitive advantage.
Marketers need to position the product in a way that differentiates it in the market and so it resonates with the goals (needs) of the customer. JTBD frames how to think and craft messages that connect with the jobs customers need to accomplish. This connection leads to more effective and engaging marketing campaigns.
Designers need to create frictionless user experiences and match the flow of tasks and the overall goal of the customer. By understanding the jobs, they can design interfaces and interactions that make these tasks easier and more intuitive. This approach results in products that are more user-friendly and satisfying.
Executives focus on improving innovation outcomes of new products or services while reducing the risks associated with new product development. The Jobs To Be Done framework provides insights that help them to make strategic decisions grounded in customer needs. This strategy leads to more successful product launches and better allocation of resources.
Adopting the Jobs To Be Done framework fosters a common mindset and helps internal teams collaborate on product development projects.
The Jobs To Be Done framework includes the follwoing components to understand customer motivations:
Tony Ulwick emphasises that the key to successful job mapping is to adopt an outcome-driven approach.
Each step of the job should be seen as an opportunity to deliver measurable outcomes that the customer values.
Ulwick suggests that you should aim to identify desired outcomes that are stable over time and use these insights to guide product development.
By using outcome statements, Ulwick’s approach helps to specify how customers measure success in each stage of the job.
An outcome statement typically includes a direction (increase, decrease, minimise), a metric (time, cost, effort), and an object of control (the specific aspect being addressed).
For example, a statement like “minimise the time to gather information for financial planning” pinpoints exactly how a customer would like to see their job improved.
A job statement is a concise expression of what a customer aims to achieve and provides a clear direction for product development and innovation.
To craft a detailed job statement incorporate these five components to gain a full understanding from the customer’s perspective. The formula is as follows:
Identifier + Action + Focus + Object + Context
To develop a job statement, begin with the Identifier, which defines the person or group for whom the job applies.
Then, identify the Action, describing the improvement or change the customer seeks.
The next step is to determine the Focus, which is the aspect of life or experience needing improvement.
After that, specify the Object that the action will directly affect.
Finally, outline the Context in which this job occurs, providing insight into the circumstances or situations relevant to achieving the desired outcome.
Ten Examples of Job Statements
Job mapping is a systematic approach within the JTBD framework to break down a job into discrete steps, helping to understand the full process a customer undertakes to achieve a specific outcome.
It provides a view of each action, decision, and thought the customer experiences. This method shifts the focus from the product to the job itself, revealing unmet needs and pain points throughout the customer journey.
Unlike typical process mapping, job mapping outlines a customer’s journey in a solution-agnostic way.
It focuses on what the customer wants to achieve, regardless of any particular solution or product in use.
Tony Ulwick, a key proponent of the JTBD framework, emphasises this approach as critical to outcome-driven innovation. By identifying and addressing the steps customers take, you can design offerings that help customers achieve their desired outcomes more efficiently and effectively.
A comprehensive job map consists of ten steps, offering a detailed look at each phase of the customer journey.
Each step represents an opportunity for businesses to understand, support, and enhance the customer experience as they progress towards completing their job.
The Jobs to Be Done (JTBD) Navigator is a strategic tool designed to guide organisations in understanding the complete journey a customer goes through to accomplish a particular job.
It provides a structured way to explore customer needs, motivations, pain points, and opportunities for innovation.
The JTBD Navigator aims to give a comprehensive view of how a customer experiences a specific job, going beyond just the functional aspects to include emotional and social dimensions.
It helps to delve into not only what customers want to achieve but also how they feel throughout the process, what obstacles they face, and what criteria they use to judge success.
The Navigator breaks down a customer’s journey into key components, typically aligning with a job map. These components may include:
To use the Navigator effectively, businesses typically start by conducting customer interviews or research to gather qualitative data about how the job is currently being done. The aim is to uncover not only the functional requirements of the job but also the emotional and social needs of the customer.
The insights from this research are then organised into the different stages of the job, aligning them with the components of the Navigator. This allows businesses to:
The JTBD Navigator is beneficial for businesses in several ways:
Consider a customer job like “preparing healthy meals quickly.” Using the JTBD Navigator, you would map out:
The Navigator helps teams design solutions, like a meal kit service or an app with quick, healthy recipes, that aligns with the customer’s needs and experiences throughout the job.
Job mapping identifies the steps a customer takes to achieve a specific goal, highlighting their pain points and needs at each stage.
Once these steps are clear, it is important to understand the criteria customers use to evaluate potential solutions for their job.
This insight helps refine product development by ensuring that the solution not only fits the job but also meets the customers’ standards for value, quality, and convenience.
Innovation is fraught with risks so any methods that can reduce that risk are worth investing in. Often I find companies dismissive of the time and effort needed to align teams, train them and develop the right mix of people.
But here’s the dilemna – do you want to face the risk of failure and the cost of that is far greater than the cost of investing in Jobs To Be Done.
A staggering 95% of newly launched products face failure. Source MIT
Implementing JTBD can present challenges, especially when it comes to moving away from a feature-led mindset.
A common pitfall is focusing too narrowly on product features without considering the full context of the customer’s job, which includes emotional and social dimensions.
It’s easy to assume that adding more features will satisfy customers, but without understanding the job, these features may not address the underlying need.
Ensuring that research and development teams have a deep understanding of the job is vital to avoid this.
A best practice for implementing JTBD is to involve diverse stakeholders from across the business in the research process.
Cross-functional teams, including product managers, designers, marketers, and customer support, provide varied perspectives that help form a comprehensive understanding of the customer job.
Regularly iterating on job statements and re-evaluating the customer journey are also important, as this means you stay in touch with changing customer needs and adjust strategies accordingly.
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