Ever since big data boomed, companies have started to collect a vast variety and unprecedented volume of customer information, in real-time, and perform sophisticated analyses of it. The fundamental problem is, most of this customer data is structured to show correlations: This customer is similar to that one, or 72% of customers say they prefer version A to version B.
Collecting demographic or psychographic information and looking for correlations to create buyer segments without looking at motivation is not going to capture palpable reasons why customers choose one product over another. Focusing on volume and correlation without causation results in a quick dip in the perceived benefits users gain from sharing data, as pseudo-personalization is often worse than no personalization.
What users really need is for companies and products to leverage their data in ways that show an understanding of the progress that they are trying to make in a given circumstance—what they hope to accomplish. This is what we call a job-to-be-done.
The jobs-to-be-done framework is an approach to developing products based on understanding both the customer’s specific goal, or “job,” and the thought processes that would lead that customer to “hire” a product to complete the job.
When buying a product, we essentially “hire” it to help us do a job. If it performs well, the next time we’re confronted with the same job, we tend to hire the same product again. And if it falls short, we “fire” it and look for an alternative.
A jobs-to-be-done is neither a product nor a solution. Rather, it is a higher purpose for which a customer would buy a product and solution. Jobs to be done allow users to stay in System 1 thinking and quickly determine if a product fits their needs by focusing on outcomes.
When using this framework, a product team attempts to discover what its users are actually trying to accomplish or achieve when they buy a product or service.
The jobs-to-be-done (JTBD) approach removes the focus from the product itself, and places it on the customer.
It then proceeds to explore customers’ true motivations for buying. In the often-used example, the surface-level explanation is, “I need a drill.” Probing a little deeper, we discover the customer actually needs a well-drilled hole.
Underlying theories and research
Chunking is a term used in cognitive psychology when individual pieces of an information set are broken down and grouped in a meaningful whole. These chunks are meant to bypass the limited working memory capacity described by Miller's Law and allow this memory to be more efficient.
Chunks are easier to retrieve because our brains create higher-order cognitive representations of the items within each chunk. A phenomena very similar to mental accounting, chunking enables faster thinking through system 1 processing, preventing any cognitive load from reaching system 2.
Mental accounting is our tendency to create separate mental "accounts" for different categories of spending, often allowing for savings in certain categories while overspending in others.
Constructing jobs to be done
Jobs-to-be-done are all about framing your offer not in terms of the products or solutions you currently provide, but rather as outcomes that resonate with your audience.
Help me do ________.
Help me to avoid ________.
I need to _______.
Key things to consider for choosing the right outcomes
What does a customer want to achieve in a particular circumstance?
What could help the customer achieve this, such as resources, tools, or information?
What constraints keep the customer from achieving the desired outcome, such as not having access to needed resources or doubting their abilities?
What social or emotional factors correspond to a customer’s objective, including how they want to feel and be perceived by others?
Jobs to be done in action
McDonald’s kiosks do a great job implementing the jobs-to-be-done framework - they group their offerings to trigger action and availability bias while enabling easy navigation by capturing key reasons why people visit:
🍔 "I want a burger..."
👯♀️ "I’m in a group..."
🥗 "I want something lighter..."
🥤 "I just need a drink..."
By knowing your customers’ wants and needs, you can design shortcuts to quickly guide them toward their goals and avoid the friction that would result from landing directly into a large menu.
This provides just enough information and juicy photos to prime your brain into System 1 thinking, for quick and instinctive choices. With their new kiosks, McDonald’s increased their revenue by 15%.
The jobs-to-be-done framework is a powerful tool for aligning product design with the real needs and motivations of users. By focusing on customer outcomes and leveraging behavioral science principles, companies can create experiences that feel intuitive, personalized, and genuinely helpful.
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