Jobs to be done (jtbd) framework

Jobs to Be Done is a framework for understanding what motivates customers to adopt products. Rather than focusing on who customers are (demographics) or what they say they want (stated preferences), JTBD focuses on what customers are trying to accomplish-the "jobs" they're hiring products to do. This shift in perspective reveals opportunities that traditional market research often misses.

The core concept

The central insight of JTBD is that people don't buy products; they hire them to make progress in specific circumstances. A customer doesn't buy a drill because they want a drill-they hire it to make a hole. They don't even want the hole; they want the shelf the hole enables.

This reframing matters because:

Job structure

A complete job description typically includes:

Functional dimension. The practical task to accomplish. "Help me track my expenses."

Emotional dimension. How the customer wants to feel. "Help me feel in control of my finances."

Social dimension. How the customer wants to be perceived. "Help me appear responsible to my spouse."

All three dimensions influence hiring decisions. Products that address only functional needs may lose to competitors that also satisfy emotional and social needs.

Job statements

Jobs are articulated in a specific format:

When [situation], I want to [motivation], so I can [expected outcome].

Example: "When I'm at the grocery store, I want to remember everything my family needs, so I can avoid extra trips later this week."

This format captures:

Discovering jobs

Jobs emerge from research focused on behavior and motivation:

Customer interviews. Deep conversations about what customers were doing before, during, and after making purchase decisions. Focus on the story, not opinions.

Switch interviews. Talking to people who recently switched to or from your product. What triggered the change? What progress were they seeking?

Observation. Watching customers in context reveals jobs they might not articulate.

Timeline creation. Mapping the journey from first thought to purchase to use reveals the forces at play.

The four forces

JTBD describes four forces that influence adoption decisions:

Push of the current situation. Dissatisfaction with how things are now creates motivation for change.

Pull of the new solution. The attraction of what the new product promises.

Anxiety of the new solution. Fears about adopting something unfamiliar.

Habit of the present. Comfort with existing approaches, even imperfect ones.

For adoption to occur, push + pull must exceed anxiety + habit. Understanding these forces helps product teams strengthen pull, reduce anxiety, and address the situations where push is strongest.

Jtbd and competition

JTBD redefines competition. Competitors aren't just products in the same category-they're anything customers might hire for the same job.

For a coffee shop, competitors include:

This broader view reveals competitive threats and opportunities traditional analysis misses.

Jtbd vs. personas

JTBD and personas aren't mutually exclusive. Jobs help identify what to build; personas help communicate with those who have the job.

Applying jtbd

Product positioning. Position against the job, not the competition. "We help you [job]" resonates more than "We're better than X."

Feature prioritization. Prioritize features that help customers make progress on important jobs.

Innovation. Look for underserved jobs or jobs where current solutions create significant friction.

Marketing. Message around the progress customers seek, not product attributes.

Sales. Qualify prospects based on whether they have the job, not just demographic fit.

Jtbd challenges

Jobs are hard to discover. Customers don't naturally articulate jobs. Research skill is required.

Multiple jobs exist. Products often serve multiple jobs for different customers or contexts. Clarity about which jobs to prioritize matters.

Jobs feel obvious in hindsight. Good job statements seem simple, but arriving at them requires work.

Over-abstraction. Jobs can be stated at different levels. "Get my work done" is too broad; "click the submit button" is too narrow.

Tools like Klero help connect customer feedback to jobs. When users describe why they want features and what they're trying to accomplish, they're often articulating jobs-even without using JTBD language. Organizing feedback around jobs reveals patterns about what progress customers are seeking.