jobs-to-be-done

Jobs to Be Done - Customer Motivation Framework

Understand why customers really buy by uncovering the "job" they're hiring your product to do

When to Use This Skill

• Understanding customer motivation beyond demographics and feature requests
• Finding product-market fit by identifying the real progress customers seek
• Discovering why customers switch (or don't) between solutions
• Identifying true competition that isn't obvious from industry categories
• Creating marketing messages that resonate with real customer struggles
• Prioritizing features based on unmet customer needs
• Conducting customer research that reveals actionable insights

Methodology Foundation

| Aspect | Details | |--------|---------| | Source | Competing Against Luck (2016), The Innovator's Solution (2003) | | Expert | Clayton Christensen (Harvard Business School), Tony Ulwick (Strategyn) | | Core Principle | "People don't buy products; they hire them to get jobs done. Understanding the job—not the customer or the product—is the key to predictable innovation." |

What Claude Does vs What You Decide

| Claude Does | You Decide | |-------------|------------| | Structures production workflow | Final creative direction | | Suggests technical approaches | Equipment and tool choices | | Creates templates and checklists | Quality standards | | Identifies best practices | Brand/voice decisions | | Generates script outlines | Final script approval |

What This Skill Does

This skill helps you shift from asking "Who is my customer?" to asking "What job is my customer trying to get done?"

The result is a fundamentally different understanding of why people buy:

1. Uncover the real job - The progress customers are trying to make in their lives
2. See all three dimensions - Functional, emotional, and social needs
3. Understand the forces - What pushes people to change and what holds them back
4. Map the job - Break it down into steps where you can add value
5. Identify true competition - Everyone solving the same job, regardless of category

This transforms feature-driven product development into progress-driven innovation.

How to Use

Prompt Examples

Help me identify the Job to Be Done for customers who buy [product/service].
Use the Christensen JTBD framework. Consider functional, emotional, and social dimensions.

I'm seeing customers use my product for [unexpected purpose]. Help me understand
what job they might be hiring it for using JTBD analysis.

Create a Job Map for [specific customer goal]. Break it into the 8 universal steps
and identify where customers might struggle most.

Analyze the forces of progress for someone switching from [current solution] to [my product].
What's pushing them, pulling them, causing anxiety, and creating habit inertia?

Write Job Stories (not user stories) for my [product]. Focus on situation,
motivation, and expected outcome rather than user type and action.

Instructions

The Core Framework

┌─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│                  JOBS TO BE DONE                            │
├─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┤
│                                                             │
│  "When [CIRCUMSTANCE], I want to [JOB], so I can [OUTCOME]" │
│                                                             │
│  ┌───────────┐   ┌───────────┐   ┌───────────┐             │
│  │FUNCTIONAL │ + │ EMOTIONAL │ + │  SOCIAL   │             │
│  │    JOB    │   │    JOB    │   │    JOB    │             │
│  └───────────┘   └───────────┘   └───────────┘             │
│                                                             │
│  What they're    How they want   How they want              │
│  trying to DO    to FEEL         to be SEEN                 │
│                                                             │
└─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘

Step 1: Understand the Three Dimensions

Every job has three dimensions. Products that address all three are far more likely to be "hired."

| Dimension | Question | Example (Fitness App) | |-----------|----------|-----------------------| | Functional | What are they trying to accomplish? | Get exercise guidance and track workouts | | Emotional | How do they want to feel? | Feel confident, accomplished, in control of health | | Social | How do they want to be perceived? | Be seen as fit, disciplined, health-conscious |

Key Insight: Many products fail because they nail the functional job but ignore the emotional and social dimensions.

Exercise: For your product, fill in:

• "Customers hire us to DO _______________"
• "Customers hire us to FEEL _______________"
• "Customers hire us to BE SEEN AS _______________"

Step 2: Identify the Forces of Progress

Four forces determine whether a customer will "switch" to your solution:

                    ┌─────────────┐
                    │    PUSH     │
                    │ Problems    │
                    │ with status │
                    │    quo      │
                    └──────┬──────┘
                           ↓
┌─────────────┐     ┌──────────────┐     ┌─────────────┐
│   HABIT     │←────│   CUSTOMER   │────→│    PULL     │
│  Comfort    │     │   DECISION   │     │ Attraction  │
│  with old   │     └──────────────┘     │   of new    │
│   way       │                          │  solution   │
└─────────────┘            ↑              └─────────────┘
                    ┌──────┴──────┐
                    │   ANXIETY   │
                    │   Fear of   │
                    │   change    │
                    └─────────────┘

Switch happens when: Push + Pull > Habit + Anxiety

| Force | What to Ask | Example | |-------|-------------|---------| | Push | What's frustrating about their current situation? | "I keep losing track of my workouts in notebooks" | | Pull | What's appealing about the new solution? | "The app shows my progress visually" | | Anxiety | What fears do they have about changing? | "What if I can't figure out how to use it?" | | Habit | What's comfortable about the status quo? | "I've always used notebooks, it's familiar" |

Tactical Application:

• Increase Push: Help customers see the true cost of their current solution
• Increase Pull: Demonstrate the progress they can make
• Reduce Anxiety: Provide guarantees, trials, social proof
• Reduce Habit: Make switching easy, offer migration tools

Step 3: Map the Job

Break down any job into the universal 8-step Job Map:

| Step | Description | Questions to Ask | |------|-------------|------------------| | 1. Define | Determine goals and plan | "What are you trying to accomplish?" | | 2. Locate | Gather inputs needed | "What do you need to get started?" | | 3. Prepare | Set up and organize | "How do you get ready?" | | 4. Confirm | Verify readiness | "How do you know you're ready?" | | 5. Execute | Perform the core job | "What are the key steps?" | | 6. Monitor | Check progress | "How do you know it's working?" | | 7. Modify | Make adjustments | "What do you change if needed?" | | 8. Conclude | Wrap up and clean up | "How do you finish up?" |

Example: Job = "Prepare a nutritious dinner on a busy weeknight"

| Step | Activity | Struggle Points | |------|----------|-----------------| | Define | Decide what to make | Too many options, dietary restrictions | | Locate | Get ingredients | Missing items, trip to store | | Prepare | Prep ingredients | Takes too long, messy | | Confirm | Check recipe | Confusing instructions | | Execute | Cook the meal | Timing multiple dishes | | Monitor | Watch for doneness | Burning, undercooking | | Modify | Adjust seasoning | Unsure how to fix mistakes | | Conclude | Serve and clean | Pile of dishe