Customer Discovery
Jobs to Be Done (JTBD)
Jobs to Be Done is a framework for understanding what customers actually want to accomplish. It focuses on the "jobs" customers are trying to do in their lives, rather than demographic segments or features.
When to Use This Framework
Understanding customer motivation
Discovering unmet needs
Breaking into new markets
How to Apply This Framework
- 1
Conduct customer interviews
- 2
Identify the job to be done
- 3
Map job stages (before/during/after)
- 4
Uncover competing solutions
- 5
Document causal mechanisms
- 6
Test hypothesis with new customers
Real-World Examples
Airbnb identifying job: travel locally
Netflix discovering job: entertainment without commitment
Slack capturing job: asynchronous communication
Strengths
- Reveals true customer motivations
- Identifies competitive threats beyond obvious competitors
- Creates more innovative products
Limitations
- Time-intensive interviews needed
- Can be abstract and hard to measure
- Requires skilled facilitation
Related Frameworks
Consider combining this framework with:
Jobs MapValue Stream MappingDesign Thinking
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