Jtbd Workshop

JTBD Workshop Expert

Overview

Run a Jobs-To-Be-Done (JTBD) workshop end-to-end. This skill is the workshop facilitation companion to the execution/job-stories/ skill (the writing format for backlog stories). Where job-stories/ produces When/Want/So statements for individual backlog items, this skill produces the upstream discovery output -- the job hierarchy, the forces driving switching behavior, and the desired-outcome statements that anchor product strategy.

The workshop synthesizes four JTBD schools: Christensen's milkshake hiring frame, Ulwick's Outcome-Driven Innovation (ODI) with importance/satisfaction scoring, Klement's situation-motivation-outcome canvas (the job story format), and Moesta's switch interview method surfacing the four forces of progress (push, pull, anxiety, habit). A well-run workshop produces three artifacts: a ranked job hierarchy with measurable outcome statements, a forces-of-progress map, and a prioritized opportunity list ready to feed PRDs, OKRs, or roadmap themes.

Core Capabilities

• Workshop facilitation -- 2hr / 4hr / 8hr agendas with time-blocked outcomes
• Switch interviews -- four-anchor timeline script (First Thought -> Passive -> Active -> Deciding -> First Use)
• Forces-of-progress mapping -- push, pull, anxiety, habit canvas and the switch equation
• ODI outcome scoring -- Ulwick outcome statements with Importance x Satisfaction opportunity scores
• Handoff -- opportunity statements into assumptions, experiments, PRDs, and roadmap themes

When to Use

• New product or new segment. Understand the underlying progress customers are trying to make before building.
• Pivot or strategy reset. Team is stuck debating features; re-ground in the customer's job.
• Pre-roadmap. Define the job hierarchy before committing to a quarterly or annual roadmap.
• Stalled adoption. Customers signed up but did not retain; switch interviews reveal which forces went wrong.
• Onboarding a new product team. Create a shared mental model of what the customer is hiring the product to do.

Clarify First

Before planning the workshop, confirm these inputs. If any is unknown or vague, ASK — do not assume:

• Format — 2h validation / 4h half-day / 8h full-day (sets the agenda depth; 2h is validation, not primary discovery)
• Target segment — JTBD is segment-by-job, not persona-by-demographic (defines who you study and which job hierarchy you build)
• Switch-interview access — can you recruit recent (90-day) switchers (without customer voice the forces canvas and ODI scores become team-aligned fiction)
• Trigger/purpose — new product / pivot / stalled adoption (shapes which of the four forces to emphasize)

Stop rule: ask only the 2-3 that most change the output. If the user says "just draft it," proceed and list your assumptions at the top of the artifact.

Quick Start

1. Pick a format (2h validation / 4h half-day / 8h full-day) by stakes and availability; define the segment.
2. Recruit 6-12 recent (90-day) switchers and run pre-work switch interviews.
3. Facilitate the agenda; build the job hierarchy, score outcomes (Importance x Satisfaction), fill the forces canvas.
4. Convert top-scored outcomes into opportunity statements (<verb> <object> <context>) with named owners.
5. Hand off to identify-assumptions/, brainstorm-experiments/, or create-prd/. Revisit quarterly.

References

Load the reference that matches the task -- keep this file lean and pull detail on demand:

• references/facilitation-playbook.md -- the full operational playbook: 2h/4h/8h agendas, switch interview script, forces canvas, ODI outcome format, common traps, the 10-step workflow, troubleshooting, and success criteria. Read this when planning or running a workshop.
• references/jtbd-method-guide.md -- full JTBD methodology (Christensen, Ulwick, Klement, Moesta) with worked examples. Read this when you need the theory behind the workshop activities.
• references/red-flags.md -- 12 JTBD anti-patterns (solution-coded jobs, missing forces, speculation without switch interviews) with symptoms and fixes. Read this when reviewing or QA-ing workshop output.

Workshop templates live in assets/: workshop_agenda_2hr.md, workshop_agenda_4hr.md, workshop_agenda_8hr.md, pre_work_email.md, switch_interview_script.md, forces_of_progress_canvas.md.

Scope & Limitations

In scope: 2h/4h/8h formats; switch interview script and four-anchor timeline; forces-of-progress mapping; Ulwick outcome statements with Importance x Satisfaction scoring; Klement situation-motivation-outcome decomposition (bridge to execution/job-stories/); pre-work email and participant brief.

Out of scope: writing individual backlog stories (execution/job-stories/); quantitative ODI surveying at scale; recording/transcription tooling; recruiting operations; personas (JTBD is segment-by-job, not persona-by-demographic).

Caveats: switch interviews require recent (90-day) switchers; the 2-hour format is for validation, not primary discovery; ODI scoring is sensitive to who is in the room (internal scores are hypotheses, customer-derived scores are truth); a workshop without customer voice produces team-aligned fiction.

Integration Points