Jobs-to-be-done

What is jobs-to-be-done (JTBD)?

Jobs-to-be-done (JTBD) is a new lens to look at products. This famous quote from Theodore Levitt, in his book from 1983, shows this way of thinking:

”They don’t want quarter-inch [drill] bits. They want quarter-inch holes.”

People don’t buy products; they ‘hire’ products to do jobs, such as solving a problem or fulfilling a desire.

With JTBD, you can align an organisation on the users and their ‘jobs’ (goals & tasks they want to achieve in their life):

• Higher level jobs (bigger, aspirational goals): e.g., leading a fulfilled life
• Core jobs (necessary to do to reach aspirational goals): e.g., getting active in the local community
• Lower level jobs (detailed tasks to accomplish goal): e.g., finding a suitable initiative they can support with their skills

JTBD and job metrics (which describe how well a job is done from the user’s point of view) illustrate the needs of users throughout their user journey. With JTBD, you can identify opportunities for product development and improvement. JTBD are solution-agnostic; therefore, they have long-term validity. JTBD is an excellent framework for ensuring user focus within an organisation.

Resources JTBD