What is the Jobs-To-Be-Done framework in Product Management?
How do you know the product your team is building actually solves real customer problems? Enter the Jobs-To-Be-Done framework. Use this to better understand your customers and focus your product development.
The Jobs-To-Be-Done framework for Product Managers
What is the Jobs-To-Be-Done framework?
The Jobs-To-Be-Done (JTBD) framework is a customer-centric approach to Product Development that was popularized by Clayton Christensen of Harvard Business School. JTBP emphasizes understanding the problems that customers use your product to solve and the needs they use it to fulfill. JTBD suggests that customers "hire" products or services to help them get a “job” done. If your product doesn’t do the job, it’ll get “fired,” i.e, your customer will switch to a competing product or service that better satisfies their needs. For example, if getting to work is a job that needs to be done, a customer will satisfy this job with a product like a bicycle, a personal vehicle, or public transport.
Why Implement the Jobs-To-Be-Done framework
As a Product Leader, the Jobs-To-Be-Done framework can help you build a product that performs a useful, even necessary, role in your customers’ lives. Use the JTBP framework better to understand the needs and problems of your customers, and create products that solve these real-world problems. This can ensure that your Product Development efforts are aligned with customer needs, leading to higher customer satisfaction and loyalty.
How to implement the Jobs-To-Be-Done (JTBD) framework
To implement the Jobs-To-Be-Done framework as a Product Manager or Product Leader:
Identify target users
Conduct user research to understand the pain points that would lead customers to use your product
Make a list of these pain points, in order of importance/frequency
Align the features of your product to these pain points
When to use Jobs-To-Be-Done in Product Management
The Jobs-To-Be-Done Framework can be applied throughout the Product Development process. You can use it to identify the Jobs-To-Be-Done for your target customers, prioritize features based on the importance of each job, and evaluate the success of the product by measuring how well it satisfies each job.
Consider using the JTBP framework to:
Better understand the needs and problems of your customers
Develop products that better address customer needs
Prioritize product features based on the importance of each job
Evaluate the success of your products/features based on how well they satisfy each job
Create new product ideas that solve unsatisfied customer needs
Jobs-To-Be-Done in action
“By using the Jobs-To-Be-Done Framework, we were able to identify the key jobs our customers were trying to accomplish and create a product that better solved their problems. This led to a significant increase in customer satisfaction and loyalty.”
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