Jobs to Be Done
When making product decisions, think in terms of the job someone is trying to get done — not the feature they're asking for, not the persona they fit, not the solution they currently use.
A job is a goal someone has independent of any product. People have been "listening to music" for centuries — the solutions change, the job doesn't. Ground every product decision in the job.
How to Think About It
┌─────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│ ASPIRATIONS │ Who they want to become
│ ┌───────────────────────────────────────┐ │
│ │ BIG JOBS │ │ The main objective
│ │ ┌─────────────────────────────────┐ │ │
│ │ │ LITTLE JOBS │ │ │ Steps within the job
│ │ │ ┌───────────────────────────┐ │ │ │
│ │ │ │ MICRO-JOBS │ │ │ │ Individual activities
│ │ │ └───────────────────────────┘ │ │ │
│ │ └─────────────────────────────────┘ │ │
│ └───────────────────────────────────────┘ │
└─────────────────────────────────────────────┘Ask "why?" to move up. Ask "how?" to move down. The right altitude depends on what you're deciding — strategy lives at the top, feature design at the bottom.
Five Things to Separate
Always pull these apart. Mixing them leads to muddy thinking:
| Element | Ask | Keep it |
|---|---|---|
| Who — the performer | Who actually does this? | Separate from the buyer, the boss, the audience |
| What — the job | What are they trying to accomplish? | Functional. No solutions, no adjectives |
| How — the process | What stages do they move through? | Chronological. Beginning → done |
| Why — the needs | How do they measure success along the way? | Specific. Measurable. One need per statement |
| When/Where — circumstances | What context shapes how the job gets done? | Concrete. Time, place, constraints |
Writing Job Statements
Follow verb + object + clarifier. Think of an invisible "I want to..." in front.
- Good: plan family vacation, file annual taxes, attend a conference
- Bad: find cheap flights quickly (has needs baked in), use Expedia to book travel (has a solution in it), help me plan a trip the family will enjoy (starts wrong, includes a need)
Writing Need Statements
Follow direction of change + measure + object + clarifier.
- Minimize the time it takes to gather tax documents
- Maximize the likelihood of connecting with the right people at the event
- Reduce the effort required to share findings with the team
When to Reach for This
Deciding what to build → Map the job, find the stages where needs are most underserved, build there.
Prioritizing a backlog → Score each need by importance and satisfaction. Target the gap: important + unsatisfied = opportunity.
Positioning against competitors → Compare how well each option satisfies needs within the job. Find the cluster nobody serves well.
Figuring out why users churn → Map the four forces: what's pushing them away from you, pulling them toward alternatives, keeping them through habit, or making them anxious about switching.
Writing better user stories → Replace "As a [persona]" with "When [situation], I want to [job], so I can [need]."
→ Deep dives:
- Core Concepts — The five elements, hierarchy, how to write and scope jobs
- Discovering Value — How to interview, analyze switching decisions, map jobs
- Defining Value — Scoring unmet needs, building personas, competitive positioning
- Designing Value — Roadmaps, job stories, solution structure, testing bets
- Delivering Value — Onboarding, churn, support, the consumption journey