Understanding the Jobs-To-Be-Done Framework
A Product Manager's Guide to Unlocking Customer Needs
As a product manager, your primary goal is to create products that customers love and want to use. To achieve this, it's crucial to understand why customers make the choices they do. This is where the Jobs to Be Done (JTBD) framework, popularized by Professor Clayton Christensen, comes into play. Let's explore this powerful concept and how you can apply it in your day-to-day work.
The Core Concept
The Jobs to Be Done framework is based on the idea that customers don't simply buy products or services; they "hire" them to do a specific job in their lives. This job could be functional, emotional, or social. By understanding the job that customers are trying to accomplish, you can create products that better fulfill their needs.
Key Examples from Prof. Christensen
The Milkshake Study
One of the most famous examples used by Prof. Christensen is the milkshake study. A fast-food chain wanted to increase milkshake sales and initially focused on traditional market research methods. However, when they applied the JTBD framework, they discovered something surprising.
They found that many customers were "hiring" milkshakes for a specific job: to make their morning commute less boring and to keep them full until lunch. This insight led to product improvements that better suited this job, such as making the milkshakes thicker (to last longer) and adding fruit chunks (for variety and interest).
IKEA's Success
Another example Christensen often cites is IKEA's success. IKEA understood that customers weren't just looking for furniture; they were "hiring" furniture to help them furnish their homes quickly and affordably. By offering flat-pack furniture that customers could assemble themselves, IKEA fulfilled this job better than traditional furniture stores.
Applying JTBD in Your Day-to-Day Work
As a product manager, you can leverage the JTBD framework in several ways:
Customer Research: Instead of asking customers what features they want, focus on understanding the jobs they're trying to accomplish. Ask questions like:
What are you trying to achieve?
What are your biggest frustrations in accomplishing this task?
In what context are you using our product?
Product Development: Use JTBD insights to guide your product roadmap. Prioritize features that help customers accomplish their jobs more effectively.
Marketing and Positioning: Frame your product's value proposition around the job it does for customers, not just its features.
Competitive Analysis: Identify your true competitors by looking at alternative ways customers might accomplish the same job, not just similar products.
Innovation: Look for unmet or poorly met jobs in the market to identify opportunities for new products or services.
Practical Steps for Implementation
Conduct JTBD Interviews: Talk to your customers about their goals, challenges, and the context in which they use your product. Listen for the "job" they're trying to get done.
Create Job Stories: Similar to user stories, job stories focus on the situation, motivation, and expected outcome. For example: "When I'm commuting to work (situation), I want to have something that keeps me engaged and full (motivation), so that I can start my day productively (expected outcome)."
Map the Customer Journey: Identify all the steps a customer goes through to accomplish their job, including the pain points and moments of delight.
Prioritize Features: Use your JTBD insights to prioritize features that directly address the most important jobs your customers are trying to accomplish.
Test and Iterate: Continuously gather feedback on how well your product is performing the job it was hired to do, and iterate accordingly.
Conclusion
The Jobs to Be Done framework offers a powerful lens through which to view product development and customer needs. By focusing on the fundamental jobs customers are trying to accomplish, rather than just product features or demographic segments, you can create more innovative and successful products. As a product manager, incorporating this mindset into your daily work can lead to better decision-making, more effective product strategies, and ultimately, happier customers.
Remember, the key is to always ask: "What job is our customer hiring our product to do?" By answering this question, you'll be well on your way to creating products that truly resonate with your users.
Glossary of Key Terms
Jobs-To-Be-Done (JTBD): A framework that focuses on understanding the fundamental jobs customers are trying to accomplish with a product or service.
Functional Job: A practical task or problem that a customer needs to solve.
Emotional Job: A desired feeling or state of mind that a customer seeks to achieve.
Social Job: A way in which a customer wants to be perceived or interact with others.
Purpose Branding: Naming a product or service after the specific job it performs.
Struggling Moment: The point in the customer journey where they experience internal conflict between the desire to solve a problem and the anxieties holding them back.
Customer Journey: The series of steps a customer takes from recognizing a need to purchasing and using a product or service.
Segmentation: Dividing a market into distinct groups of customers with similar needs or characteristics.
Value Proposition: A clear statement of the benefits a product or service offers to customers, particularly in addressing their desired job.
Iteration: The process of continuously improving and refining a product or service based on feedback and insights.