The concept of jobs to be done (JTBD) provides a lens for understanding value creation. It’s straightforward principle: people “hire” products to fulfill a need. For instance, you might hire a new suit to make you look good at a job interview. Or, you hire Facebook to stay in touch with friends. You could also hire a chocolate bar to relieve stress. Viewing customers in this way – as goal-driven actors in a given context – shifts focus from psycho-demographic aspects to needs and motivations. Although the theory of JTBD is rich and has a long history, practical approaches to applying the approach are largely missing. In this presentation, Jim will highlight concrete ways to apply JTBD in your work. This will not only help you design better solutions, but also enable you to contribute to broader strategic conversations.

1. Practical Jobs To Be Done:
A Way of Seeing

2. @JimKalbach

3. Disruption
Sustaining
WHAT IS “DISRUPTION“?
PERFORMANCE
TIME
MARKET
DEMAND
LOW
HIGH

4. Encyclopedias Wikipedia
Book stores Amazon
CDs MP3
Film photography
Digital
photography
Premium airlines Budget airlines
Rental cars Car sharing
Telephone VOIP

5. GoToMeeting gets high-definition
video conferencing
chamilton Aug 2, 2011 - 5:00 AM CDT

8. Skype for business

10. JOBS TO BE DONE (JTBD)
Progress toward a goal
•Not demographics
•Not solutions
•Show causality
•Why people “hire“

11. At the core of disruption is a
realization that opportunity
comes from of understanding the
jobs people want to get done.1

12. PRACTICAL MODEL FOR JTBDs
DIMENSIONS
CIRCUMSTANCE

13. DIMENSIONS: “HIRING“ A KEYLESS LOCK
• FUNCTIONAL -
Control access to my
home
• EMOTIONAL - Feel
secure and safe
• SOCIAL - Let visitors
in, keep strangers out

14. • SITUATION – Private home-
owners need to let people in and
out when they are at work during
the day
• MOTIVATION – Solve the
problem of selective access and
of scheduling visit
• DESIRED OUTCOMES
- Maximize options for entry/exit
- Reduce chance of intruders
- Increase sense of security
CIRCUMSTANCES: “HIRING“ A KEYLESS LOCK

15. JTBDs give designers a way of
capturing insight that leverages
our skills for finding real
business opportunities2

16. 1. Discover
2. Define
3. Design
4. Deliver
Develop

17. APPLYING JTBDs
1. Discover value
2. Design value
3. Deliver value
4. (Re)define value

18. #1 – DISCOVER VALUE

20. „Indi Young, Mental Models. Rosenfeld Media, 2008.
Mental models give a deep
understanding of people’s motivations
and thought-processes, along with the
emotional and philosophical landscape
in which they are operating.
MENTAL MODELS

22. #2 DEFINE VALUE
Minimize the time it takes to summarize notes from
an event
Minimize
Reduce
Lower
Maximize
Increase
Raise
Time
Ability
Effort
Chances
Likelihood
DIRECTION UNIT QUALIFIER
DESIRED OUTCOMES

23. 1. Maximize the ability to allow visitors in during
the day 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
Very low Very high
A. How important is this to you?
B. How well is this currently being satisfied?
DESIRED OUTCOMES SURVEY
2. Reduce the chance of intruders getting in
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
Very low Very high

24. 9
Importance
3
Satisfaction
Satisfaction Gap
6
Importance + Satisfaction Gap = Opportunity score
9 + 6 = 15

25. FIND OPPORTUNITIES
Satisfaction
Importance
TONY ULWICK

26. #3 – DESIGN VALUE
Job Stories
Alan Klement, “Replacing The User Story With The Job Story”

27. #3 – DESIGN VALUE

28. #4 – DELIVER VALUE
Shift language to reflect JTBD
BEFORE
Our conference software features high-
definition video with the best resolution
AFTER
Connect with remote colleagues on a more
personal level with true-to-life video

29. Functional job
(1)
Desired
outcome Situation
&
Motivatio
nFunctional job
(2)
Emotional
job Social job

30. #5 – (RE)DEFINE VALUE
“The greatest competitor [in tax
software] … was not in the
industry. It was the pencil. The
pencil is a tough and resilient
substitute. Yet the entire
industry had overlooked it.”
SCOTT COOK, Founder of Intuit

31. #5 – (RE)DEFINE VALUE
“Customers struggle when
they try to make their life
better but don’t know how.
We call this struggle a Job
to be Done.”

32. JTBD offers a practical ‘lens’ to
view various aspects our your
organization and shift the view
from inside-out to outside-in3

33. Surviving disruption requires a focus on
JTBDs, something relevant to designers
when applied in practical ways
1
2
3

34. “People don’t want a
quarter-inch drill,
they want a quarter-
inch hole.”
THEODORE LEVITT

35. Danke schön!
@JimKalbach
Jim.Kalbach@Gmail.com
www.experiencinginformation.com