Innovation isn’t just about adding features, it’s about solving the right problems. The Jobs-to-Be-Done (JTBD) framework offers a powerful way to uncover the deeper motivations behind customer decisions. By focusing on the outcomes people are trying to achieve rather than who they are or what they buy, JTBD empowers businesses to create products, services, and experiences that align with real human needs that drive more meaningful innovation, marketing, and design.
What is the Jobs-to-Be-Done Framework?
At its core, the JTBD framework posits that customers don’t merely purchase products or services; they “hire” them to accomplish specific tasks or goals. This perspective shifts the focus from the product itself to the underlying needs and desired outcomes of the customer.
Tony Ulwick, a pioneer of this approach, emphasizes that JTBD provides a structured method for defining, categorizing, capturing, and organizing customer needs. This framework enables teams to align on what constitutes a “need” and identify unmet needs more efficiently.
Origins and Evolution
The JTBD theory was notably advanced by Harvard Business School professor Clayton Christensen. He illustrated the concept with the example of milkshake sales at a fast-food chain. The chain discovered that many customers purchased milkshakes in the morning to make their commutes more enjoyable. By understanding this “job,” the company could tailor its product to better meet customer needs.
Core Principles of JTBD
- Focus on the Job, Not the Product: Understand the task the customer aims to accomplish, rather than the product they use.
- Uncover Functional, Emotional, and Social Dimensions: Recognize that jobs have multiple facets, including practical tasks, emotional drivers, and social considerations.
- Jobs are Stable Over Time: While products and technologies evolve, the fundamental jobs customers need to complete remain relatively constant.
- Customers Hire Products to Get Jobs Done: View products as tools customers use to achieve specific outcomes.
Benefits of the JTBD Approach
The Jobs-to-Be-Done framework provides more than just a way to categorize customer needs, it offers a strategic foundation for innovation, product development, and long-term growth. By reframing the customer’s role from a passive consumer to an active problem-solver, JTBD enables organizations to design with purpose and precision.
- Enhanced Customer Understanding
Traditional segmentation models often focus on demographics or usage patterns, which can obscure the true reasons behind customer behavior. JTBD shifts the focus to why customers make decisions by identifying the jobs they are trying to get done in a specific context. This leads to a deeper and more empathetic understanding of their goals, frustrations, and desired outcomes.
Example: A company selling fitness equipment may learn that one segment of customers isn’t just buying a treadmill to exercise—they’re “hiring” it to manage stress after work or to feel productive at home. This insight can drive changes in design, marketing, and messaging.
- Improved Product-Market Fit
Because JTBD pinpoints the actual progress customers want to make, it helps teams build products that solve the right problems, resulting in more targeted, resonant solutions. Rather than relying on assumptions or feature wish lists, JTBD centers product development on fulfilling high-value jobs that truly matter to users.
Example: A fintech startup that learns users want to “feel in control of their money without thinking too hard about it” may develop simple, automated budgeting tools instead of complex financial dashboards.
- Informed Innovation
JTBD reveals unmet or underserved needs, what Clayton Christensen referred to as “non-consumption.” These are opportunities to innovate by offering better ways to accomplish important jobs that people currently struggle to complete or don’t attempt at all due to a lack of viable solutions.
Example: Airbnb’s success wasn’t just about providing lodging, it was about helping travelers “experience a city like a local.” That reframed job opened a new category of travel accommodation that traditional hotels had overlooked.
- Competitive Advantage
When companies understand the job better than competitors, they can design and position offerings more effectively. This differentiation isn’t based on more features or lower prices, but on a deeper connection with customer intent and purpose, making your product harder to replicate and easier to champion.
Example: Spotify didn’t win just because of its music library, it succeeded because it understood people “hire” music to motivate workouts, concentrate while working, or relax in the evening. Personalized playlists like Discover Weekly directly address these jobs, creating loyalty and emotional stickiness.
Leveraging JTBD for Product Development
To effectively apply the JTBD framework:
- Conduct In-Depth Interviews or Mobile Ethnography: Engage with customers to explore their experiences, challenges, and goals. Combining interviews with mobile ethnography is a great way to gain a clearer picture of customer needs.
- Identify and Define Jobs: Clearly articulate the jobs customers are trying to accomplish.
- Develop Job Statements: Create concise statements that encapsulate the job, such as “Transfer money immediately” or “Eat takeout food without leaving the house” .
- Prioritize Jobs Based on Importance and Satisfaction: Determine which jobs are most critical to customers and where current solutions fall short.
Applying Mobile Ethnography to JTBD
While traditional interviews are foundational to Jobs-to-Be-Done research, mobile ethnography has emerged as one of the most effective methodologies for uncovering the real-world context in which jobs arise. Mobile ethnography enables participants to document their behaviors, challenges, and decision-making processes in real time using their smartphones, offering researchers a window into the when, where, and why of customer needs as they naturally occur.
Why Mobile Ethnography is Ideal for JTBD
- Captures In-the-Moment Context:
JTBD is fundamentally about understanding the circumstances that trigger a need. Mobile ethnography excels at this by allowing participants to share video, audio, and text entries as they’re experiencing the problem or engaging with a solution. This reduces recall bias and provides rich, contextual data. - Uncovers the Emotional and Social Dimensions of Jobs:
Beyond functional needs, jobs often have emotional and social elements. Mobile ethnography reveals these subtle dimensions through participant expressions, tones, and surroundings—insights that are difficult to surface in retrospective interviews. - Follows the Customer Journey Over Time:
Mobile ethnographic studies can span several days or weeks, allowing researchers to observe how customer needs evolve and how different solutions are evaluated, tried, and adopted (or rejected). This aligns perfectly with the JTBD emphasis on understanding decision-making processes and switching behavior. - Enables Unfiltered, Natural Behavior:
Unlike lab-based studies or scripted interviews, mobile ethnography places the participant in their own environment, leading to more authentic and spontaneous insights. It reveals workarounds, frustrations, and delight in real time, crucial for identifying unmet or underserved jobs.
Integrating Mobile Ethnography into JTBD Research
When implementing JTBD studies with mobile ethnography, researchers can:
- Prompt participants to capture moments when a need arises or a decision is made
- Ask users to reflect on why they chose a particular product or workaround
- Document use cases of products in varied environments
- Explore instances of abandonment or dissatisfaction with current solutions
By layering these real-life observations with job statements and outcome expectations, teams can form a holistic view of the customer’s experience and uncover white space opportunities for innovation.
Real-World Applications
Several companies have successfully utilized the JTBD framework:
- Zoom: Recognized the need for remote workers to connect seamlessly, leading to a user-friendly video conferencing solution.
- PayPal: Addressed the job of making secure online payments, enhancing trust and convenience for users .
- Spotify: Catered to the desire for personalized music experiences, allowing users to “hire” the platform for entertainment during various activities .
Conclusion
The Jobs-to-Be-Done framework provides a powerful tool for businesses seeking to innovate and meet customer needs more effectively. By focusing on the tasks customers aim to accomplish, companies can design products and services that truly resonate, leading to greater satisfaction and loyalty.