Together with free entry to a personalized JTBD GPT and printable guidelines, that is the one information you’ll ever want to your product discovery.
Over the previous few months, I’ve been on a deep dive into the world of buyer discovery and the Jobs to Be Achieved (JTBD) framework. This complete, step-by-step information is the results of in depth analysis, a number of experiments, and even a customized GPT designed for JTBD.
🎙️ What makes this information further particular? It contains insights from my interview with Tony Ulwick, one of many JTBD framework’s creators, on my podcast.
📋 As a bonus, I’m providing a downloadable guidelines for straightforward reference and entry to my customized GPT.
This isn’t only a software; it’s your private coach for tailoring the JTBD framework to satisfy your distinctive wants. Curious to see it in motion? Examine the sneak peek video beneath and scroll to the 📚 useful resource part to get entry!
Notice: This information represents a streamlined adaptation of the framework, to which I’ve added my very own spin. The intention is to take away redundancies and distill it all the way down to solely essentially the most important steps with out compromising effectiveness.
The JTBD framework is an method that shifts the main focus from merchandise to the client’s wants. It facilities round understanding the ‘job’ or job {that a} buyer wants to perform utilizing a services or products. In essence, the client ‘hires’ the services or products to finish this job.
The JTBD framework’s benefit lies in its skill to focus on addressing issues moderately than specializing in any particular options.
For instance this idea, listed here are two easy examples:
- Journey-Sharing Providers (e.g., Uber or Lyft):
- Conventional View: A buyer makes use of a ride-sharing app to guide a automobile.
- JTBD View: The shopper’s job is to succeed in a vacation spot rapidly and comfortably, avoiding the hassles of driving or parking. The ride-sharing service is employed not only for transport however for comfort and effectivity.
2. Espresso Retailers (e.g., Starbucks):
- Conventional View: Prospects go to espresso retailers to buy espresso.
- JTBD View: Whereas shopping for espresso is one side, prospects additionally ‘rent’ the espresso store as a spot to satisfy mates, work, or loosen up. The job extends to searching for a nice expertise and atmosphere.
In every instance, JTBD shifts the main focus from the product itself (automobile rides, espresso) to what the client is admittedly searching for to attain with these services or products of their every day life.
To totally grasp JTBD, we have to outline three key ideas:
Market = Tony Ulwick redefines a market not as a vertical, geography, or expertise however as a bunch of individuals and the job they’re attempting to get performed. It’s about discerning what prospects actually search to perform with a services or products.
Jobs = In JTBD, a ‘job’ is a job or aim a buyer goals to attain in a selected scenario through the use of a services or products. It’s action-oriented, encompassing useful, emotional, and social dimensions.
Jobs are sometimes phrased as action-oriented duties. They need to begin with a verb and clearly describe what the client is attempting to perform. For instance:
- “Preserve private well being and health.”
- “Plan and revel in a trip.”
- “Improve skilled expertise.”
Outcomes = These are the specified end-states or targets prospects intention for when hiring a services or products for a job. Outcomes are particular, measurable, and outline what success seems like for the client.
Phrasing outcomes ought to embrace metrics or requirements utilized by prospects to guage success. For instance:
- “Reduce the time required to plan a trip itinerary.”
- “Maximize the reliability of sustaining an everyday train routine.”
- “Guarantee the most recent business data is included into talent enhancement.”
Start by exploring potential markets primarily based on preliminary insights or hypotheses about buyer wants. This may contain exploratory analysis, akin to interviews with potential customers, market evaluation, and finding out present information.
From this exploratory analysis, determine a variety of jobs that potential prospects is likely to be attempting to get performed. These jobs don’t have to be detailed at this stage however ought to give a broad sense of the duties or targets your potential prospects are attempting to attain.
Primarily based on these recognized jobs, slender all the way down to a selected market that appears most viable or underserved. That is the place you outline your market when it comes to a selected group of individuals and the core useful job they’re attempting to get performed.
💡 For instance, think about that you’re a product supervisor at Airbnb. By trying on the information and market traits, you discover {that a} sizable a part of your person base is reserving stays for longer intervals of time (e.g. 1 month or longer) and are touring solo. You determine due to this fact to discover this potential market.
So as a substitute of claiming “we’re concentrating on the journey business” (a vertical), say “we’re concentrating on solo vacationers trying to join with native cultures” (a bunch of individuals and their emotional job) or “we’re concentrating on solo vacationers on the lookout for long run non permanent lodging” (a useful job).
The second step in making use of the JTBD framework is to acquire all the roles prospects are attempting to get performed when interacting along with your product and the outcomes they wish to obtain for every job. The top end result needs to be two in depth lists, one for jobs and one for outcomes, phrased as now we have seen within the examples above.
The easiest way to gather jobs and outcomes at this stage is thru qualitative person interviews, to grasp what your customers’ targets are and what they’re attempting to perform.
However moderately than spending numerous hours in person interviews, here’s a hack Tony Ulwick suggests to hurry issues up and make the method extra environment friendly:
Take the highest 2–3 consultants in your market and manage an interview with them on the identical time, both nearly or in particular person. Divide the session into 2 slots (both the identical day or completely different days) — one for jobs and one for outcomes. For every session, attempt to get the consultants to agree on:
- An inventory of the roles they’re attempting to get performed
- How you can formulate the job statements
- An inventory of outcomes they wish to obtain for every job
- How you can formulate the result statements
💡 Right here is how I might apply the framework following our instance of a product supervisor at Airbnb exploring the market of solo vacationers/digital nomads on the lookout for lodging:
- Determine prime contributors in digital nomad on-line teams and communities (e.g. Fb, Reddit, NomadList)
- Invite 3 of them for two rounds of interviews on separate days, with all of them collectively
- Within the first spherical, concentrate on capturing jobs they attempt to get performed when reserving lodging. Ask questions like:
“Are you able to stroll me by discovering lodging as a digital nomad?”
“What components do you think about when selecting the place to remain?”
4. Flip job findings into job statements (see desk beneath)
5. Within the second spherical with the identical consultants, concentrate on outcomes needed for every job. Ask questions like:
“Let’s focus on discovering budget-friendly locations with good connectivity. What does success seem like right here?”
“How are you aware if an lodging meets your wants?”
“What components decide a profitable keep?”
6. Flip final result findings into final result statements (see desk beneath)
7. Interview extra folks to verify findings or get extra insights if wanted.
By the tip, I ought to have correctly said jobs and outcomes lists like:
Aspect word 1: Throughout this course of, you could uncover that your product addresses solely a part of the job. That is widespread and highlights potential market alternatives.
Aspect word 2: I can present extra specifics on person interviews for JTBD if useful. Go away me a remark. You may also wish to verify this article that illustrates how I construction person interviews.
After compiling your jobs and outcomes statements, the subsequent step is to determine your prospects’ unmet wants. The target right here is to find out which jobs are of the utmost significance to most of your viewers.
To perform this, design a survey that lists every job together with its related outcomes, asking members to fee them for significance and satisfaction. Right here’s a urged format:
a. When trying to [job], how essential is it so that you can [outcome statement]?
- Choices vary from ‘Not vital in any respect’ to ‘Extraordinarily vital.’
b. How glad are you along with your skill to [outcome]?
- Choices vary from ‘Not glad in any respect’ to ‘Extraordinarily glad.’
Instance:
💡 Job: Discover lodging appropriate for long-term stays.
Query a: When looking for lodging appropriate for long-term stays, how vital is it to you that you decrease the time required to determine lodging providing long-term keep reductions for prolonged travels?
- Not vital in any respect
- Not vital
- Considerably vital
- Essential
- Essential
- Extraordinarily vital
Query b: How glad are you along with your skill to decrease the time required to determine lodging providing long-term keep reductions for prolonged travels?
- Not glad in any respect
- Not glad
- Considerably glad
- Glad
- Very glad
- Extraordinarily glad
Survey Pattern Dimension and Situations:
- B2B: 120–180 shoppers
- B2C: Round 600 for a single product; 1200 for a portfolio
- Survey Length: Roughly 20 minutes, with participant compensation really helpful.
Upon receiving the survey outcomes, concentrate on prioritizing the unmet wants. Search for wants rated as very or extraordinarily vital however not very or extraordinarily glad.
💡 Utilizing our Airbnb instance, let’s visualize the survey outcomes on a graph. Every level represents a job, plotted in response to its significance and satisfaction rankings. The purple dashed traces at 75% assist categorize jobs primarily based on their ranges of significance and satisfaction.
Subsequent, calculate the Alternative Rating for every job utilizing the method:
Alternative Rating = Significance+(Significance−Satisfaction)
In our instance from the graph, the next jobs stand out:
- Lengthy-term Keep Reductions (significance 70% satisfaction 40%)
- Dependable Web Connection: (significance 85% satisfaction 50%)
- Social Interplay Alternatives: (significance 65% satisfaction 45%)
- Reasonably priced Consolation (significance 55% satisfaction 40%)
After we calculate the chance rating, listed here are our prime priorities:
- Dependable Web Connection (Alternative Rating: 120)
- Lengthy-term Keep Reductions (Alternative Rating: 100)
- Social Interplay Alternatives (Alternative Rating: 85)
- Reasonably priced Consolation (Alternative Rating: 70)
Together with your priorities established, it’s time to shift from downside identification to answer creation. Concentrate on creating options for the top-priority jobs beginning with “Dependable Web Connection,” then transferring to “Lengthy-term Keep Reductions” and so forth. The end result assertion of every job might be your measure of success or noth star metric.
For jobs with extra complicated wants, like ‘Social Interplay Alternatives,’ examine in better element to grasp the precise nuances and contexts wherein they’re carried out.
- Entry to the JTBD customized GPT + the JTBD checklist (Notion Template): a information that can assist you step-by-step in making use of JTBD particularly to your wants (requires a subscription to ChatGPT Plus)
- Watch my interview with Tony for sensible purposes of JTBD (together with his expertise making use of the framework at Twitter)
- Discover Tony Ulwick’s JTBD guide for an in-depth deep dive
👉 Want customized help to your crew? Ebook a discovery name to work with me.
