What Is the JTBD (Jobs to Be Done) Approach and How It Works

Jobs to Be Done (JTBD) is an approach that focuses on the task a person is trying to solve when choosing a product. The same product can be used in different ways: for instance, some people need a smartphone only for making calls, some use it primarily for recording videos, and some use it mostly for browsing the Internet. The goal is to understand not "who the customer is", but "what they want to do and why they choose this particular solution".

Where the JTBD approach is used

The Jobs to Be Done concept is used in a wide range of industries, from IT and retail to education and manufacturing. The methodology originated in digital product development but quickly expanded beyond that: it is used by both tech companies and traditional businesses, including food and beverage manufacturers.

JTBD is useful for a variety of professionals: product managers may use it when planning features, designers may use it when creating interfaces, and marketers may use it when identifying value propositions. The approach is suitable for all stages, from researching ideas to further developing a product.

It is not a replacement for classic audience analysis, but rather an evolution of it. Instead of segmenting customers solely by age or status, it is more important to look at the tasks at hand. As an example, for a banking app, this could be balance management, transfers, or investments. Different groups can have similar goals, and JTBD helps identify these connections.

How to apply Jobs to Be Done in practice

1. Define the project's target audience and segments. First, it is important to understand whose problem you are solving exactly. Start by segmenting users by their goals and situations.

A product is almost always used by several distinct groups of clients with different motivations. For example, for a food delivery service, you might distinguish Segment A: people who order lunch to the office to save time, and Segment B: families looking for a hassle-free evening meal. Each of them uses the service to solve their own "task".

Understanding these differences makes it easier to focus on research and identify the most important use cases. While customer demographics and habits still need to be considered, the key question in JTBD is: "Whose problems can our product solve?".

2. Identify customer tasks, problems, and pain points. This step requires a deeper dive into each customer group and understanding the problems they solve and the challenges they face. This is accomplished through interviews, surveys, feedback analysis, and behavioral observation. In JTBD interviews, it is important to ask people to recall a specific situation: why they chose the product, what difficulties they experienced, what options they considered, and what changed after the purchase.

The task is to hear real stories and motivations rather than tailoring answers to your own assumptions. This is how pain points are identified: what feels inconvenient, what is missing, why current solutions are no longer satisfactory.

For example, a user might say, "I always ordered a taxi through this app, but when the cars started arriving late, I decided to switch to another service". Or, "I studied for a long time on free courses, but when I wanted to systematize my knowledge and get a diploma, I chose a paid platform".

Such stories reveal where exactly the customer's unmet need lies. Based on the collected data, a list of common problems that most significantly impact product selection is compiled. These pain points become the basis for identifying relevant Jobs to Be Done.

3. Analyze existing solutions and alternatives (competitive analysis). Once users' needs are clear, you need to understand what solutions they are already using. In a JTBD approach, the concept of competition is broader than just a list of companies in your niche. Any way to perform the same task can be viewed as a competition.

Your goal is to understand what customers are using, how these options accomplish the task, and what their weaknesses are. For example, if a streaming service competes with free sources, it may emphasize convenience, legality, and content quality.

4. Understand user motivations (choice factors). People react differently to new solutions: some are ready to try them right away, while others cling to the old, familiar one for years. JTBD identifies four main forces that influence choice:

Dissatisfaction with the current solution. The user encounters a problem and seeks a replacement. For example: "My fitness app does not offer enough workouts for a small apartment; I want something more diverse".
Appeal of a new option. The user sees value or convenience in a different solution. For example: "The competing service offers personalized plans and smartwatch integration, which makes it much more convenient".
Fear of change. The user doubts: "What if the new app is complicated or my workout data gets lost?". This risk prevents them from switching.
Habit and attachment. People are comfortable with what they got used to: "I have been using this service for three years and am familiar with it from A to Z, I do not want to start over with a new one".

To migrate a customer to a new solution, you need to consider the balance of these factors. If the fear of change is strong, it is worth offering a free trial period or an easy data migration. If the main motivator is dissatisfaction with the current service, it is important to clearly demonstrate how your offer is better.

5. Formulate a Job-to-be-Done and its solutions. After analyzing the tasks and problems, it is important to describe what the product should do for the customer. For this, use a Job Story: a short scenario that defines a situation, an action, and a desired outcome.

The template is simple: "When [situation], I want [action], so that [outcome] occurs". For example:

"When I suddenly run out of groceries in the evening, I want to order delivery through an app so I can have the food delivered within an hour and avoid wasting time going to the store".
"When I'm studying for an exam, I want access to an online course with practical exercises so I can understand the topic better and pass the test".

This formulation focuses on the task and outcome rather than product features. This helps the team develop solutions based on what the user actually wants to achieve. Unlike a User Story, which emphasizes the role ("as a student, I want…"), a Job Story focuses specifically on the context and motivation.

Instead of creating multiple "personas", JTBD suggests capturing key product use cases. This provides a common focus for the entire team: an understanding of why and in what situations the client will “hire” the product.

Priorities in the Jobs to Be Done approach

When a product has several "jobs to be done", it is necessary to decide which one is the most important. The JTBD approach suggests focusing on the task that is most important to users and provides the greatest value to the business.

In practice, priority is usually tied to key audience segments. Primary attention is given to the so-called A-segment, the core user group: these are the most active customers or those who generate the bulk of revenue. They are the ones who experience the problem most acutely, and they are the ones who most often "hire" the product to solve it. Therefore, it is important to ensure that the product effectively solves their problems. At the start, hypotheses and new features are tested on this group through prototypes, tests, and interviews.

When the primary task is completed and the A-segment is satisfied, you can move on to the next groups: B or C. Some are solving the same problem but use the product less frequently or actively, while others are currently using alternative solutions. For these groups, the JTBD cycle is repeated: research, problem identification, and solution formulation. It is important not to degrade the experience of the core audience. Sometimes companies launch separate products for different tasks to avoid mixing conflicting requirements.

There is always more work than resources, so priorities need to be supported by data. JTBD focuses on the frequency and scale of a problem: how often people encounter it and how many people actually experience it. If a task is rare or specific to a narrow group, the product has little chance of growing. Therefore, after interviews, it is worth moving on to quantitative data: surveys, statistics, and metric analysis. This data-driven approach reveals which "jobs" are truly important to many and which should be prioritized.

New successful markets emerge when a company creates a product for a specific problem for which there is no good solution yet. Therefore, it is crucial to choose the "job" that remains unsolved and is significant to a wide audience.

JTBD checklist

1. Understand your customer. Not by age or income, but by the problems they solve.

2. Collect stories. Ask people in what situations they chose your product or an alternative option.

3. Identify tasks and pain points. What is inconvenient now? What does not work as expected?

4. Take a broader look at your competitors. Your competitors might include not only similar services, but any other way to accomplish the same task.

5. Formulate a Job Story. "When [situation], I want [action] to [result]".

6. Prioritize. What are the most frequent and important tasks for users?

7. Test solutions in practice. Interviews, tests, metrics and anything else that will show whether the product is working to solve the primary problem.