Jobs-To-Be-Performed: Uncover Your Clients’ Hidden Wants In 4 Steps | by Sara Landi Tortoli | Dec, 2023

The JTBD framework is an strategy that shifts the main target from merchandise to the client’s wants. It facilities round understanding the ‘job’ or process {that a} buyer wants to perform utilizing a services or products. In essence, the client ‘hires’ the services or products to finish this job.

The JTBD framework’s benefit lies in its means to focus on addressing issues slightly than specializing in any particular options.

For example this idea, listed here are two easy examples:

1. Journey-Sharing Providers (e.g., Uber or Lyft):

• Conventional View: A buyer makes use of a ride-sharing app to e book a automobile.
• JTBD View: The client’s job is to achieve a vacation spot rapidly and comfortably, avoiding the hassles of driving or parking. The ride-sharing service is employed not only for transport however for comfort and effectivity.

2. Espresso Retailers (e.g., Starbucks):

• Conventional View: Clients go to espresso retailers to buy espresso.
• JTBD View: Whereas shopping for espresso is one side, clients additionally ‘rent’ the espresso store as a spot to fulfill mates, work, or calm down. The job extends to looking for a nice expertise and surroundings.

In every instance, JTBD shifts the main target from the product itself (automobile rides, espresso) to what the client is actually looking for to realize with these services or products of their day by day life.

To totally grasp JTBD, we have to outline three key ideas:

Market = Tony Ulwick redefines a market not as a vertical, geography, or expertise however as a bunch of individuals and the job they’re making an attempt to get performed. It’s about discerning what clients really search to perform with a services or products.

Jobs = In JTBD, a ‘job’ is a process or purpose a buyer goals to realize in a selected scenario through the use of a services or products. It’s action-oriented, encompassing practical, emotional, and social dimensions.

Jobs are sometimes phrased as action-oriented duties. They need to begin with a verb and clearly describe what the client is making an attempt to perform. For instance:

• “Keep private well being and health.”
• “Plan and revel in a trip.”
• “Improve skilled expertise.”

Outcomes = These are the specified end-states or targets clients goal for when hiring a services or products for a job. Outcomes are particular, measurable, and outline what success appears like for the client.

Phrasing outcomes ought to embody metrics or requirements utilized by clients to guage success. For instance:

• “Decrease the time required to plan a trip itinerary.”
• “Maximize the reliability of sustaining an everyday train routine.”
• “Guarantee the newest business information is integrated into talent enhancement.”

Start by exploring potential markets based mostly on preliminary insights or hypotheses about buyer wants. This will contain exploratory analysis, similar to interviews with potential customers, market evaluation, and finding out current information.

From this exploratory analysis, establish a variety of jobs that potential clients could be making an attempt to get performed. These jobs don’t should be detailed at this stage however ought to give a broad sense of the duties or targets your potential clients try to realize.

Based mostly on these recognized jobs, slender right down to a particular market that appears most viable or underserved. That is the place you outline your market by way of a particular group of individuals and the core practical job they’re making an attempt to get performed.

💡 For instance, think about that you’re a product supervisor at Airbnb. By wanting on the information and market traits, you discover {that a} sizable a part of your consumer base is reserving stays for longer intervals of time (e.g. 1 month or longer) and are touring solo. You determine due to this fact to discover this potential market.

So as a substitute of claiming “we’re concentrating on the journey business” (a vertical), say “we’re concentrating on solo vacationers seeking to join with native cultures” (a bunch of individuals and their emotional job) or “we’re concentrating on solo vacationers on the lookout for long run short-term lodging” (a practical job).

The second step in making use of the JTBD framework is to gather all the roles clients try to get performed when interacting together with your product and the outcomes they need to obtain for every job. The tip consequence needs to be two intensive lists, one for jobs and one for outcomes, phrased as we’ve seen within the examples above.

One of the best ways to gather jobs and outcomes at this stage is thru qualitative consumer interviews, to grasp what your customers’ targets are and what they’re making an attempt to perform.

However slightly than spending numerous hours in consumer interviews, here’s a hack Tony Ulwick suggests to hurry issues up and make the method extra environment friendly:

Take the highest 2–3 consultants in your market and manage an interview with them on the similar time, both nearly or in particular person. Divide the session into 2 slots (both the identical day or completely different days) — one for jobs and one for outcomes. For every session, attempt to get the consultants to agree on:

• A listing of the roles they’re making an attempt to get performed
• Methods to formulate the job statements
• A listing of outcomes they need to obtain for every job
• Methods to formulate the end result statements

💡 Right here is how I might apply the framework following our instance of a product supervisor at Airbnb exploring the market of solo vacationers/digital nomads on the lookout for lodging:

1. Determine high contributors in digital nomad on-line teams and communities (e.g. Fb, Reddit, NomadList)
2. Invite 3 of them for two rounds of interviews on separate days, with all of them collectively
3. Within the first spherical, concentrate on capturing jobs they attempt to get performed when reserving lodging. Ask questions like:

“Are you able to stroll me by way of discovering lodging as a digital nomad?”

“What elements do you take into account when selecting the place to remain?”

4. Flip job findings into job statements (see desk under)

5. Within the second spherical with the identical consultants, concentrate on outcomes needed for every job. Ask questions like:

“Let’s focus on discovering budget-friendly locations with good connectivity. What does success appear like right here?”

“How have you learnt if an lodging meets your wants?”

“What elements decide a profitable keep?”

6. Flip consequence findings into consequence statements (see desk under)

7. Interview extra individuals to substantiate findings or get further insights if wanted.

By the top, I ought to have correctly acknowledged jobs and outcomes lists like:

Facet observe 1: Throughout this course of, it’s possible you’ll uncover that your product addresses solely a part of the job. That is widespread and highlights potential market alternatives.

Facet observe 2: I can present extra specifics on consumer interviews for JTBD if useful. Depart me a remark. You may also need to examine this article that illustrates how I construction consumer interviews.

After compiling your jobs and outcomes statements, the following step is to establish your clients’ unmet wants. The target right here is to find out which jobs are of the utmost significance to most of your viewers.

To perform this, design a survey that lists every job together with its related outcomes, asking members to price them for significance and satisfaction. Right here’s a prompt format:

a. When making an attempt to [job], how essential is it so that you can [outcome statement]?

• Choices vary from ‘Not necessary in any respect’ to ‘Extraordinarily necessary.’

b. How glad are you together with your means to [outcome]?

• Choices vary from ‘Not glad in any respect’ to ‘Extraordinarily glad.’

Instance:

💡 Job: Discover lodging appropriate for long-term stays.

Query a: When looking for lodging appropriate for long-term stays, how necessary is it to you that you reduce the time required to establish lodging providing long-term keep reductions for prolonged travels?

• Not necessary in any respect
• Not necessary
• Considerably necessary
• Vital
• Crucial
• Extraordinarily necessary

Query b: How glad are you together with your means to reduce the time required to establish lodging providing long-term keep reductions for prolonged travels?

• Not glad in any respect
• Not glad
• Considerably glad
• Glad
• Very glad
• Extraordinarily glad

Survey Pattern Dimension and Circumstances:

• B2B: 120–180 purchasers
• B2C: Round 600 for a single product; 1200 for a portfolio
• Survey Length: Roughly 20 minutes, with participant compensation beneficial.

Upon receiving the survey outcomes, concentrate on prioritizing the unmet wants. Search for wants rated as very or extraordinarily necessary however not very or extraordinarily glad.

💡 Utilizing our Airbnb instance, let’s visualize the survey outcomes on a graph. Every level represents a job, plotted in line with its significance and satisfaction scores. The purple dashed strains at 75% assist categorize jobs based mostly on their ranges of significance and satisfaction.

Subsequent, calculate the Alternative Rating for every job utilizing the method:

Alternative Rating = Significance+(Significance−Satisfaction)

In our instance from the graph, the next jobs stand out:

• Lengthy-term Keep Reductions (significance 70% satisfaction 40%)
• Dependable Web Connection: (significance 85% satisfaction 50%)
• Social Interplay Alternatives: (significance 65% satisfaction 45%)
• Reasonably priced Consolation (significance 55% satisfaction 40%)

Once we calculate the chance rating, listed here are our high priorities:

1. Dependable Web Connection (Alternative Rating: 120)
2. Lengthy-term Keep Reductions (Alternative Rating: 100)
3. Social Interplay Alternatives (Alternative Rating: 85)
4. Reasonably priced Consolation (Alternative Rating: 70)

Along with your priorities established, it’s time to shift from drawback identification to resolution creation. Give attention to creating options for the top-priority jobs beginning with “Dependable Web Connection,” then shifting to “Lengthy-term Keep Reductions” and so forth. The end result assertion of every job shall be your measure of success or noth star metric.

For jobs with extra complicated wants, like ‘Social Interplay Alternatives,’ examine in higher element to grasp the particular nuances and contexts during which they’re carried out.

• Entry to the JTBD customized GPT + the JTBD checklist (Notion Template): a information that can assist you step-by-step in making use of JTBD particularly to your wants (requires a subscription to ChatGPT Plus)
• Watch my interview with Tony for sensible functions of JTBD (together with his expertise making use of the framework at Twitter)
• Discover Tony Ulwick’s JTBD e book for an in-depth deep dive

👉 Want customized help on your workforce? Guide a discovery name to work with me.