Identifying Jobs to Be Done
Identifying Jobs to Be Done (JTBD) involves understanding the fundamental tasks that users hire a product or service to accomplish. It focuses on the users' underlying needs rather than the product features, emphasising the outcome users seek to achieve.
Goal
The goal is to uncover the real reasons customers use a product, enabling teams to develop solutions that truly address user needs and motivations, thereby improving product value and customer satisfaction.
Context
People "hire" products to help them accomplish specific tasks or achieve certain outcomes. Understanding these jobs is essential for creating products that are truly valuable to users. Jobs to Be Done analysis provides a clear framework for understanding user needs and motivations, guiding product development efforts.
Types of Job
| Type | Description |
|---|---|
| Functional Jobs | The core tasks that users need to accomplish, such as sending an email, tracking expenses, or booking a flight. |
| Emotional Jobs | The feelings and emotions users seek to experience, such as feeling secure, confident, or entertained. |
| Social Jobs | The social roles and relationships users want to maintain or enhance, such as being a good parent, a respected professional, or a valued friend. |
Inputs
| Artifact | Description |
|---|---|
| Research Repository | A centralised database or repository of all the outputs of the primary and secondary research. |
Outputs
| Artifact | Description | Benefits | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Jobs to be Done (JTBD) | A list of job stories that represent the core tasks, emotional needs, and social roles that users seek to fulfill. |
| |
| Feature Focus Over JTBD: Prioritising product features without understanding the underlying jobs, leading to misalignment with user needs. | Ignoring Emotional and Social Jobs: Overlooking the emotional and social dimensions of jobs, which can be as important as functional tasks. | Static JTBD Analysis: Failing to revisit and revise the JTBD framework as user needs and market conditions evolve. | Underutilising User Insights: Not leveraging the full range of available user feedback and data to inform the JTBD analysis. |