The Jobs to be Done theory has been around for a while, but it can still confuse people. Many people don't understand how it could help them design and build products.
What is Jobs to be Done?
The Jobs to be Done (JTBD) theory is an approach to product design and development that looks at the goals a person sets when they perform a job, such as being an architect, and how a product or service can help them achieve their job better. It's a framework for understanding why people buy certain products and services and can be used to design products that meet people where they are, not where someone else wants them to be. This is often referred to as designing for the person, not the product. The JTBD theory has been used by various people and companies, including design firms, product companies, and governments.
It is a way of understanding why certain products or services are more successful than others. The idea is that products or services meet a need in the market in a way that satisfies a job or set of jobs. This is sometimes referred to as the ‘customer job description' approach to product design.
Difference between Jobs to be Done and traditional market and UX research methods
The JTBD approach is different from traditional market and user experience research methods. It focuses on the customer's job when using a product or service rather than the person. This means the JTBD researcher will often be observed performing the job rather than sitting alone in a room and interviewing the researcher about their experience. This approach can uncover a lot more about the job a customer is trying to perform and the steps they take to try and accomplish it. The JTBD approach is also a form of ethnographic research involving conducting research from the perspective of the person being researched.
The JTBD approach allows you to identify a set of jobs or jobs that a product or service addresses and then design a product or service to meet that job as closely as possible. This is often referred to as ‘designing for the person, not the product'. The JTBD approach can be used in conjunction with traditional research methods and can help identify where people are trying to go, but also on its own identity where people are and where their jobs are in the context of a product or service.
This gives designers and developers a new lens through which to design products and services for the market and understand why people buy them. It also opens up a range of further questions to ask when doing research, such as: Is the job the person performed better or worse when they used the product or service? Or What would happen if the person stopped using it?
Why are Jobs to be Done in the future of product delivery?
Over the next few years, the Jobs to be Done approach will likely become the dominant way products are designed and delivered. This is because it offers a new way of understanding the market and user needs, allowing for a new way of designing and building products and services. The result is a better understanding of the market's and the user's needs, which in turn allows for better design and product delivery. This also means that the jobs that are being performed by the market and user are being better addressed, which has the potential to create new and exciting products and services.
The JTBD theory is concerned with examining the ever-evolving needs of the consumer rather than just focusing on historical data and product performance, which makes it a very effective way of predicting the market need for new products and features.
Understanding that Jobs-to-be-done needs that constantly change and often evolve into new needs is critical. This is because when a consumer has a new Job-to-be-done (need), a new product or feature is born. Jobs are most accurately described as the progress the user is trying to make.
The JTBD approach to innovation makes it more predictable because it focuses on what customers are trying to achieve. This means that instead of simply trying to offer a better solution for an existing problem, JTBD is proactively looking for new products and market opportunities. This makes predicting future trends and needs easier and helps companies stay ahead of the competition.
Conclusion
Jobs-to-be-done theory is a powerful tool that can help guide your future. It looks at where customers struggle to get the job done today, which can help indicate what a product needs to do in the future to succeed. This theory can help you decide better what products to develop and bring to market.
