Everything You Need to Know About Jobs to Be Done (JTBD)

Stop taking users at face value 🛑 Survive creative destruction.

It’s Tuesday conscious designers. Today our subject is Jobs to be Done. I have scoured expert knowledge and books to bring you this comprehensive guide with my own twist (complete with an FAQ at the end). ⚡️

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Have you heard of JTBD? I did a video on The Craft’s YouTube channel here a while back. 🎥

Competitive Innovation is Killing Companies Quicker

Technological innovation is increasing but companies are dying quicker. ⚔️

In 1960, companies spent a 55 yrs average on the S&P 500. In 2015, it dropped to only 20 years. 😭

What happened? Creative destruction.

Companies are not innovating. And then they die. ☠️

Chart of S&P, When Coffee & Kale Compete, Alan Klement

“People don't want to buy a quarter-inch drill, they want a quarter-inch hole.”

— Theodore Levitt

You need to know about JTBD

This is not going to be your average JTBD article. I posted on Linkedin about why you should not listen to your customer. And while you’re wondering, no I haven’t lost it. 😂 Thanks for your concern. Keep reading and I’ll explain that you should be talking to your customer but not necessarily taking them literally.👇🏽

First, we’ll talk about creative destruction, and then we’ll talk about JTBD theory components and practical application. 💥 Next week, I’ll share a step-by-step guide.

Why Focus on Customer Jobs?

I like JTBD because it holds space for how to innovate, not:

1. take orders from customers like a chef or

2. equally bad, force your solution onto customers.

I find too many startups neglect competitive research, talking to churned customers, understanding why potential customers are not interested, and asking customers about what other options they explored to solve the problem. You never know…your competition may be google sheets.😂

“Somewhere between 75 to 85% of all new products launched into the market don't succeed financially."

— Clayton Christensen

Therefore we need to ask ourselves,

"Why would anyone purchase my product over any other market option?"

When we create products, we often focus on features, functionality, and UI. Let's shift our perspective for a moment. Ask, "What job is this product meant to do?" and "Why does the user use this product?" It boils down to the assumption that all people are trying to progress in life. Nobody cares about the nuts and bolts, they care about how it will improve their life.

Alan Klement

Innovate to Survive Creative Destruction

The process of creative destruction happens when new innovations disrupt the sales of incumbent ones and eventually replace them. JTBD helps us understand creative destruction. Customers can only use one product at a time. For example, in When Coffee and Kale compete, Alan Klement uses the example of Kodak’s disruption. In 1975, one of the engineers made a digital camera but management shelved it claiming they made billions from photographic film; selling digital would cannibalize sales. The result? In 2012, Kodak filed for bankruptcy. What’s the lesson here? If you don’t disrupt yourself, someone else will.

Always keep an eye towards the future vision. 👁️🔮 Don’t just help customers progress on today’s need. Create solutions that help them make progress tomorrow. Your customer probably can’t tell you what that is, but with your birds eye view, you can ascertain it using JTBD. You also shouldn’t rely on your customer for direction, because if you haven’t realized yet, customers will often (inadvertently) lie. I have encountered my own share of customers saying one thing when the data tells a different story. 📊

JTBD Theory & Practice