JTBD: day two - Advanced Jobs to Be Done

Key insights

  • jobs are more important than product of features because they help to find a product or features but not the other way around
  • head of the customer is the main source of truth, not the head of a product manager
  • analyze customer jobs and job graphs, not a product.

Sequential jobs

  • step-by-step
  • the value is received in the end of the entire job chain
  • because a next job depends on the results of a previous job
  • you need to know dependencies and possible branches
  • fix issues first because they affect the whole chain
  • the chain issues, or results affect high-level jobs

Frequent jobs

  • viral jobs - jobs which the user does for somebody or with somebody else like “prepare slides so they can present them in a meeting,” or “write a restaurant review”, “work together on slides”

Tax/Penalty jobs

When something goes wrong the user needs to adjust their plans those adjustments create “penalty” or “tax” jobs. For example, the user arrives to a gas station but they couldn’t pay because something was wrong with credit card payments and they had no cash. In this situation the user invested their resources (time, and effort) to get to the gas station, and now the user needs to invest more resources to get what they need. The brain does not like mis-calculations and the user will remember the pain associated with a situation or a product. Next time the brain may try to avoid the pain associated with your product

False jobs

It is a special category of jobs. People may think that they have a need for something when in fact they don’t. For example, a person may love to think that one day they will play piano and they even bought a book and a piano but they never started learning. So it is just how they like to think of themselves but not what they really need.

False jobs is one of the reason why in the user interview we focus on people have done and not on their speculations.

Graph

  1. solution of a higher level job is defined by the lower level graph
  2. one low-level job can be connected to may high-level jobs
  3. one solution can be hired for multiple jobs
  4. people naturally predict graphs and then compare their predictions with the reality.
  5. people can decline or cancel a job
  6. new knowledge and experience may activate new jobs. For example, a knowledge that a taxi can be scheduled can activate a job “schedule a taxi to the airport”.
  7. when the user hires a solution for a job that solution defines the lower level graph of jobs.

Job activation

A new job can be activate when the user receives activation knowledge through different channels:

  • experience
  • other people
  • marketing

A few more things

  • higher-level jobs usually associated with higher level needs (see more: Why people buy) we can use that knowledge in how we communicate the product value
  • lower-level jobs less connected to the basic needs and so we talk more about features in our communication.
  • you may face unusual competitors like the user can be your competitors due to their habits or other factors