Q:What is jobs to be done and how do I use it?

Jobs-to-be-Done is a framing where customers "hire" a product to do a job for them, so you focus on the underlying need rather than the product's features²⁵. Lenny Rachitsky explains the basic premise that users hire products to do jobs, with Google for finding things online and Domino's for satisfying hunger². Teresa Torres asks what job a customer hires your product to do, and how to make sure your product meets that need⁵.

01How to apply it

• Identify the job by asking what users are hiring your product for, then match the users' needs to how you pitch the product².
• Use it early in discovery, before building, to check whether you are solving a problem customers care about⁵.
• Pair it with story-based customer interviews, since opportunities emerge from specific stories of past behavior⁴.
• Use it to check your pitch: Apple's iPod framing focused on listening to favorite songs on the go, not on a better music player².

02Where it fits in discovery

Torres lists Jobs-to-be-Done among the discovery tactics alongside customer interviews and opportunity solution trees¹. PM Atlas doesn't cover the step-by-step method for running a Jobs-to-be-Done study.