What is JTBD?

JTBD describes a customer's want to make progress in their life.

Jobs to be Done (JTBD) is a theory of consumer behaviour. But often constraints stop them from making progress.

• JTBD is why people adopt innovation
• A Job is progress an individual is trying to make, ****in a given context
• It's about talking to customers and understanding their motivations
• Struggles the customer goes through

Other ways to describe JTBD:

• Attempts to explain "what causes a customer to buy and use a product or service"
• It's a way to quickly invalidate ideas for new features
• A way to position your product for your customers' desire for progress
• Understanding how customers tried to solve/solved their problem
• A study of a system that helps the customer make progress
• Framework for everyone from sales to marketing to design to engineering to work together

What isn't a JTBD?

If I had asked people what they wanted, they would have said faster horses — Henry Ford

When Coffee Meets Kale (book) — Alan Klement

Ok, so customers have a job. That much is clear! But it's a common misconception that the job is purely functional (e.g. grilling a burger). It's about making progress in one's life (e.g. hosting a birthday party).

JTBD is about a customer making progress in their lives. It's not about any one attribute of your product.