---
user-invocable: true
name: jobs-to-be-done
description: Christensen's framework - understand what job customers hire your product to do
tokens: ~300
cloud-ok: true
---

# Jobs to Be Done
#claudeai

## The Framework

Customers don't buy products. They **hire** products to do a **job**.

The job is the progress they're trying to make in a specific circumstance.

**Classic example:** People don't buy a drill because they want a drill. They hire a drill to make a hole. Actually, they hire a hole to hang a picture. Actually, they hire a picture to make their home feel like theirs.

## How to Use

### Step 1: Identify the job
What progress is the customer trying to make?
Not what they're buying—what they're trying to accomplish.

### Step 2: Understand the circumstance
When and where does this job arise?
What triggers the need?

### Step 3: Find competing solutions
What else do they "hire" for this job?
(Often surprising—competition isn't who you think)

### Step 4: Design for the job
Build the thing that does the job better, not just a "better product."

## The Job Statement

**Format:**
"When [circumstance], I want to [motivation], so I can [outcome]."

**Examples:**
- "When I'm rushing to work, I want something filling that's easy to eat, so I can not be hungry until lunch." (Milkshake competes with bananas, bagels, and nothing)
- "When I'm anxious about a meeting, I want to feel prepared, so I can be confident." (Competes with research, practice, meditation)

## Output Format

```
## Jobs to Be Done: [Product/Feature]

**The job:**
When [circumstance],
I want to [motivation],
so I can [outcome].

**Circumstance details:**
- When does this arise? [Trigger]
- How often? [Frequency]
- How urgent? [Urgency]

**Current solutions hired:**
| Solution | Pros | Cons |
|----------|------|------|
| [Solution 1] | [Why hired] | [Why fired] |
| [Solution 2] | [Why hired] | [Why fired] |
| [Do nothing] | [Why hired] | [Why fired] |

**Functional dimensions:**
- [What it needs to do practically]

**Emotional dimensions:**
- [How it needs to make them feel]

**Social dimensions:**
- [How it affects how others see them]

**Your product does the job better because:**
[Why you win on the dimensions that matter]
```

## Finding Jobs (Interview Questions)

- "Tell me about the last time you [used this/solved this problem]"
- "What were you trying to accomplish?"
- "What else did you consider?"
- "Why did you choose this over alternatives?"
- "What would you do if this didn't exist?"
- "When did you first realize you needed something?"

## Common Mistakes

| Mistake | Reality |
|---------|---------|
| Define job as product use | Job is the progress, not the activity |
| Miss emotional/social jobs | Often more important than functional |
| Think competition is similar products | Competition is anything hired for same job |
| Focus on customer demographics | Jobs matter, not personas |

## The Milkshake Story

McDonald's wanted to sell more milkshakes. Research said: make them tastier, cheaper.

JTBD research found: 40% of milkshakes were bought before 8am by commuters. The job: "Make my commute less boring and keep me full until lunch."

Competition wasn't other shakes—it was bananas, bagels, donuts, boredom.

Solution: Make shakes thicker (last longer), add texture (less boring). Sales up 7x.

---

*"People don't want a quarter-inch drill. They want a quarter-inch hole."* — Theodore Levitt