Jobs-to-be-Done

Jobs-to-be-done is a framework for describing why customers buy your product or service.

The old adage is that your customers don't want a drill, they want a hole. Jobs-to-be-done goes one step further and says what your customer really wants is to hang a picture to decorate their home, or to hang a shelf to organise their workshop.

Jobs-to-be-done is about identifying what your customer really wants/needs; what problem they are trying to solve.

In addition to the job itself, jobs-to-be-done considers the gains they want to achieve and the pains they want to avoid when satisfying their need/solving their problem.

For example, in our drill example, for hanging a picture, the gains could include impressing their friends or remembering important moments/people in their life. The pains to be avoided could include the mess made when drilling, or the risk of drilling in the wrong place.

Jobs-to-be-done helps organisations to make sure their offering really satisfies the customer's need as completely as it can. It can be used to identify additional product or service features or new products and services that can be sold to existing customers. And it can be used to promote products and services more effectively.

In StratNavApp.com you can capture Jobs-to-be-done in Value Proposition Canvases in the Customer Segment pages. These can be accessed from the Business Model Canvas.