A Briefing on Traditional JTBD Interviews
If you insist on doing it the hard way, this is for you
Jobs-to-be-Done Interviewing: A Deep Dive into Customer Needs
This briefing document synthesizes key themes and insights from "A Framework of JTBD Questions" and "How To Get Results From Jobs-to-be-Done Interviews" by Mike Boysen. It delves into the principles and practices of conducting effective Jobs-to-be-Done (JTBD) interviews, emphasizing their role in unearthing customer needs and driving product innovation through Outcome-Driven Innovation (ODI). I wrote the latter while working at Strategyn.
Core Themes
Jobs as Units of Analysis: JTBD places the "job" a customer is trying to get done at the heart of innovation. It moves beyond product features to understand the fundamental customer need driving product use.
“People buy products and services to get a core ‘job’ done…This job becomes the focal point around which all customer needs are defined, and around which value creation should be centered.” - Boysen, "How to Get Results"
Stability and Predictability: Unlike fleeting customer preferences, jobs are relatively stable over time. This stability provides a reliable foundation for long-term product strategy and market analysis.
"A job-to-be-done is stable and does not change quickly or substantially over time." - Boysen, "How to Get Results"
Solution-Agnostic Approach: JTBD avoids fixating on existing solutions. Instead, it encourages a broader perspective, exploring the complete job and uncovering opportunities for novel solutions.
"A job statement is solution agnostic." - Boysen, "How to Get Results"
Structured Interviewing: Both resources emphasize the importance of structured JTBD interviews. They advocate for specific questioning techniques, job mapping, and meticulous documentation of customer needs, or "desired outcomes."
Key Steps in JTBD Interviewing
Identify the Job Executor: Pinpoint the primary user who interacts directly with the product or service to accomplish the core job.
Define the Job: Clearly articulate the core functional job the customer aims to achieve. Use action verbs and a customer-centric perspective, avoiding solution-oriented language.
Create a Job Map: Deconstruct the core job into a logical sequence of steps the customer undertakes from start to finish.
Uncover Desired Outcomes: For each job step, identify the metrics customers use to measure success. These "desired outcomes" should be:
Stable over time: Representing enduring customer needs.
Measurable and Controllable: Providing concrete targets for improvement.
Solution-Agnostic: Focusing on the desired result, not the means to achieve it.
Analyze Complexity and Circumstance: Probe for contextual factors that influence how customers experience the job, leading to a deeper understanding of unmet needs.
Tools and Techniques
Universal Job Maps: Provide a starting point for structuring interviews and ensure a comprehensive exploration of the job.
Outcome-Driven Questioning: Focuses on eliciting specific metrics customers use to gauge success.
Dynamic Question Building: Adapts questions on-the-fly, prompting respondents to think critically and reveal deeper insights.
Benefits of Effective JTBD Interviewing
Predictable Innovation: Develop products and services guaranteed to address unmet customer needs.
Competitive Advantage: Uncover hidden opportunities and differentiate from competitors solely focused on existing solutions.
Long-Term Strategy: Build a stable roadmap for product development based on enduring customer needs.
Organizational Alignment: Unify teams around a shared understanding of customer value.
Conclusion
Employing a structured JTBD interview process provides a powerful framework for unearthing and understanding customer needs. By focusing on the "job" and uncovering desired outcomes, organizations can move beyond incremental improvements towards developing truly innovative products and services that resonate with customers and drive sustainable growth.
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Mike Boysen
Why fail fast when you can succeed the first time?
www.pjtbd.com
JTBD & Zero Pivot Enthusiasts: https://jtbd.one/community