Jobs to Be Done

“What job are your customers hiring your product to do?” This singular question shifts the focus from the product itself to the deeper needs of the customer, unlocking growth and innovation.

1. Focus on the Customer's Jobs, Not Just the Product

Innovative companies succeed when they address the jobs customers need done rather than solely upgrading product features. This approach goes beyond analyzing purchasing behavior and digs into why people buy certain things. Understanding this why allows businesses to solve meaningful issues.

When customers buy a drill, they aren’t focusing on the drill itself, but rather on the hole they need in their wall. Businesses that succeed understand the functional and emotional needs tied to these jobs. For instance, Beats Electronics thrived not by delivering the best sound quality but by creating headphones that appealed to customers’ desire for style and social identity.

Products don’t exist in isolation. They act as tools for completing jobs in customers' lives. By investigating and addressing the emotional, practical, and psychological factors behind these jobs, companies can produce solutions with a deeper impact.

Examples

• Beats headphones satisfied emotional needs for cool branding, aiding their success over higher-quality alternatives.
• A car buyer may not only seek transportation but also value status or environmental consciousness.
• A coffee shop doesn’t just sell coffee; it provides a space for relaxation or productivity.

2. Job Drivers Set the Context

The circumstances and context in which customers pursue a job play a large role in their decisions. These "job drivers" influence whether a product or service aligns with their needs. By understanding these drivers, businesses can better target their audience.

Planet Fitness achieved success by recognizing that many people felt intimidated by traditional gyms. They tailored their offerings, such as non-intimidating spaces and free pizza events, to match the needs of casual gym-goers. Beyond price, this showed sensitivity toward emotional and social needs.

These drivers can include attitudes, backgrounds, and situational aspects. Companies that tap into these unseen factors can deliver solutions that resonate more powerfully with their audience and differentiate themselves.

Examples

• Planet Fitness appealed to casual gym users by fostering a no-intimidation environment.
• Travelers often choose Airbnb for home-like accommodations tailored to unique trips.
• Ride-hailing services like Uber offer pricing variations that consider situational needs.

3. Pain Points Drive Innovation

Identifying and addressing where customers feel frustration or inefficiency provides a rich space for innovation. Pain points aren't always obvious but can represent the biggest hurdles consumers face while completing their jobs.

For instance, laptop users need long-lasting batteries, but increasing capacity often leads to bulkier devices. Addressing pain points requires careful trade-offs to improve one area without creating new problems. Human behavior also plays a role: changes must align with habits or be easy to adapt.

Mapping out a customer's journey helps identify these frustrations. It's crucial to focus on solutions that alleviate the largest sources of dissatisfaction without overwhelming users with major behavioral adjustments.

Examples

• Surveying customers can help prioritize pain points, such as battery life versus device weight.
• Spotify reduced boredom by offering personalized music recommendations.
• Dishwashers with quieter operation addressed complaints of noisy appliances.

4. Assess Success Through the Customer's Eyes

Success isn’t just creating a product—it’s satisfying the right job, in the right way, for the right customer. Many failed products misinterpret customer goals or add unwanted complexity. Businesses need to assess how well their solutions align with customer desires.

Take email: While plenty of apps try to replace it, people stick to email because it's functional for certain tasks. However, Slack succeeded because it identified areas email struggled with, like team collaboration, and focused on balancing support without creating disruption.

Evaluating what customers seek to maximize, minimize, or balance provides better alignment with their needs. Continuous feedback helps define value as customer expectations shift over time.

Examples

• Slack focused on internal communication, complementing instead of replacing email.
• LinkedIn emphasizes career networking over casual social updates, filling a specific gap.
• Streaming services gained ground by reprioritizing affordability and convenience.

5. Recognize the Stakeholders

Jobs don’t always affect the buyer alone. Many decisions are influenced by other stakeholders, ranging from family members to pets. Understanding these additional players can open new doors for innovation.

Parents buying for children, roommates sharing costs, or even pets indirectly influence purchases (e.g., pet-friendly furniture). Stakeholders shape the criteria for value and satisfaction, and ignoring them can limit the scope of solutions.

Process maps provide clarity on how customer jobs unfold and who else is involved. This broader understanding allows for more inclusive, effective products.

Examples

• Kid-friendly packaging influences parents’ snack purchases in retail stores.
• Teen preferences impact smartphone choices their parents pay for.
• Pet-related purchases often prioritize safety or comfort, driven by owner preferences.

6. Price Based on Value, Not Cost

Pricing should reflect the value customers perceive in getting their job done—not the cost of production. Carefully understanding the emotional and functional dimensions of a job allows businesses to implement smarter pricing strategies.

Hershey, for example, pivoted in the 1980s by designing products for adults, realizing they were the true target audience. Similarly, Uber uses dynamic pricing, aligning costs with situational demand, such as charging more during inclement weather to satisfy urgency.

Setting value-based pricing can signal higher quality while ensuring affordability where needed. Businesses still need to gauge tolerance and meet customer expectations without overstepping.

Examples

• Uber’s variable pricing caters to the conditions of each ride.
• Hershey regained ground by targeting emotional connections with adult consumers.
• Premium coffee houses charge higher prices, emphasizing experience over mere caffeine.

7. Effective Brainstorming Drives Better Ideas

Brainstorming sessions are the breeding ground for innovation—but only if done right. Poorly managed meetings or a dominance of leadership can stifle creativity, producing unoriginal ideas.

Setting clear boundaries helps teams focus their thinking without feeling stifled. Once ideas have been explored as a group, separating into individual tasks for reflection and reconvening enhances thinking. Including diverse participants increases out-of-the-box thinking.

Diversity, structure, and clarity drive productivity. Strong ideas are those that meet customer needs while being achievable, scalable, and open to refinement.

Examples

• Diverse teams combine perspectives, avoiding groupthink in idea generation.
• Structured brainstorming limits distractions and ensures progress.
• Prototypes tested by real users validate good ideas early.

8. Test Ideas Through Collaboration

Good ideas take shape when customers are part of the process. Let them participate in crafting packaging, designing features, or voting on options. These collaboration tools guide innovation and reduce risks.

Feedback also uncovers flaws companies might overlook. Customers’ unexpected requests or preferences reveal untapped opportunities, giving businesses better direction. Paying attention is paramount before finalizing a product.

Listening builds a sense of ownership and encourages brand loyalty. Products designed through active collaboration outperform those developed in a vacuum.

Examples

• Kickstarter campaigns engage supporters early in product development.
• Car companies involve customers in selecting design elements.
• Beta testing invites early adopters into the innovation process.

9. The Jobs Approach is Continuous

Market demands constantly evolve, and so do customer jobs. Businesses should re-examine jobs and adapt products frequently, ensuring ongoing relevance. What worked yesterday might not work tomorrow.

Variables such as technology or economic changes shift priorities. Successful companies evolve alongside these changes. Just as customers refine their expectations, businesses must refine their role.

Growth comes from sustained attention to the everyday lives of customers, ensuring solutions evolve along with circumstances.

Examples

• Nokia’s failure hinged on ignoring shifts in mobile-use behaviors.
• Netflix pioneered streaming services to meet new entertainment preferences.
• Car manufacturers now explore electric vehicles as energy demands rise.

Takeaways

1. Always ask, "What job is my customer hiring my product to do?" and center every decision around this question.
2. Use process maps to uncover hidden stakeholders and identify pain points that could present opportunities for solutions.
3. Regularly test and iterate ideas through customer feedback, and keep adjusting to align with evolving needs.