Jobs to Be Done
Framing user needs as the progress someone is trying to make, which separates the need from any particular solution.
Definition
Jobs to Be Done frames demand around the progress a person is trying to make in a circumstance, rather than around demographics or features. It is a framing device with several competing formalisations rather than a single defined method.
Craft convention. True because the industry converged on it. Breaking it costs familiarity, not correctness.
What the framing is good for
- Separating the underlying need from the current solution, which opens the design space.
- Identifying real competitors, which are often not products in your category at all.
- Writing job stories: when [situation], I want to [motivation], so I can [expected outcome].
- Understanding switching triggers through interviews about a recent purchase or adoption.
Sources
Where a source establishes something narrower than the popular reading of it, the note says so.
Competing Against Luck
C. Christensen, T. Hall, K. Dillon and D. Duncan, HarperBusiness, 2016
Jobs to be Done: Theory to Practice
A. Ulwick, Idea Bite Press, 2016
Continue from here
Each link says what the connection is, so you can tell a principle from an alternative from a thing people mix this up with.
Principles behind this
The reasoning this solution is an application of.
- Mental ModelsMental model
- Product ThinkingMental model
Often used with
These usually appear in the same screen or the same decision.
- Design BriefTemplate
- Interview GuideTemplate
- PersonaTemplate
- Product SpecificationTemplate
Short definition
The one-paragraph version, for when that is all you need.
- Double DiamondTerm
- Jobs to Be DoneTerm
- PersonaTerm
Related concept
Connected closely enough to change how you apply this.
- Research SynthesisResearch method
- User InterviewsResearch method
- DiscoveryWorkflow
- Problem FramingWorkflow