# Jobs To Be Done

> When to activate: JTBD, jobs to be done, customer interviews, switch interview, job stories, customer motivation, outcome-based thinking

- Skill: `mattakushi432/jobs-to-be-done` (Agent Skill)
- Install (CLI): `npx skillmds@latest add mattakushi432/jobs-to-be-done`
- Raw SKILL.md: https://api.skillmd.com/api/skills/mattakushi432/jobs-to-be-done/raw
- Safety review: pending
- Works with: Claude Code, Claude.ai, OpenAI Codex
- Category: Coding & Dev Tools
- Author: Mattakushi432 (https://skillmd.com/u/mattakushi432)
- Updated: 2026-09-17
- Page: https://skillmd.com/skills/mattakushi432/jobs-to-be-done

---


# Jobs To Be Done

## Core Theory

Customers don't buy products — they hire them to make progress in their lives.

Three job dimensions:
- **Functional job**: The practical task (send a file, track expenses)
- **Social job**: How they want to be perceived (look organized, seem innovative)
- **Emotional job**: How they want to feel (confident, in control, less anxious)

Great products address all three dimensions. Features that address only functional jobs are easily commoditized.

## Switch Interview Format

The switch interview uncovers the full story of why a customer chose your product. Four phases:

### Phase 1: First Thought
"Think back to when you first realized you needed a solution like this. What was happening?"
- Goal: Identify the triggering event and context
- Probe: "What changed that made you start looking?"

### Phase 2: Passive Looking
"Before you actively searched, were there moments where you thought 'I should fix this'?"
- Goal: Understand the timeline of dissatisfaction
- Probe: "How long had this been a problem before you did anything about it?"

### Phase 3: Active Looking
"When you decided to find a solution, what did you do first?"
- Goal: Map the consideration set and evaluation criteria
- Probe: "What other options did you look at? Why did you rule them out?"

### Phase 4: Decision
"What ultimately made you choose [product]?"
- Goal: Identify the deciding factor (often emotional, not rational)
- Probe: "Was there a moment when you felt 'this is the one'?"

## Job Story Format

Job stories replace user stories with context and motivation.

```
When [situation],
I want to [motivation / desired progress],
So I can [expected outcome].
```

### Examples
```
When I'm preparing for a board meeting,
I want to pull all key metrics into one view without manual work,
So I can walk in confident I have the full picture.

When a new team member joins,
I want to share our workspace without reconfiguring permissions,
So I can onboard them without involving IT.
```

### Job Story vs User Story
| | User story | Job story |
|-|-----------|----------|
| Focus | Role + feature | Situation + motivation |
| Context | Who (persona) | When (trigger) |
| Value | What they want | Why they want it |
| Better for | Scoping tasks | Understanding demand |

## Competing Solutions Mapping

Customers always have alternatives — map them honestly.

| Alternative | What job it does | Why customers switch away |
|-------------|-----------------|--------------------------|
| Spreadsheet | Free, familiar | Manual, error-prone at scale |
| Competitor A | More features | Too complex, steep learning curve |
| Doing nothing | Zero cost | Pain grows until trigger event |
| Internal tool | Customized | Unmaintained, no support |

Insight: your real competition is often "doing nothing" or a spreadsheet, not direct competitors.

## Switching Triggers and Barriers

### Triggers (push from old solution)
- Accumulated frustration ("I've had it with this")
- Triggering event (new job, new team member, compliance audit)
- Social influence (colleague recommends something new)

### Pull Toward New Solution
- Promise of a better outcome
- Specific feature that solves the pain
- Social proof from trusted peer

### Anxieties (friction to switching)
- "Will it take too long to set up?"
- "Will my team adopt it?"
- "What if I lose my data?"
- "Will it work with our existing tools?"

### Habits (inertia)
- Familiarity with current workflow
- Sunk cost in existing solution
- Team muscle memory

Reduce anxiety by: offering migration help, social proof, free trials, easy cancellation.

## JTBD-Based Roadmap Prioritization

Instead of prioritizing by features, prioritize by jobs underserved.

### Job Importance-Satisfaction Matrix
| Job | Importance (1-10) | Satisfaction (1-10) | Opportunity score |
|-----|------------------|--------------------|--------------------|
| Report for stakeholders | 9 | 3 | 15 (= Imp + (Imp - Sat)) |
| Export data | 7 | 7 | 7 |
| Collaborate with team | 8 | 5 | 11 |
| Automate reminders | 6 | 4 | 8 |

**Opportunity score formula**: Importance + max(Importance − Satisfaction, 0)
Score > 10 → underserved, high opportunity

## Common JTBD Mistakes

| Mistake | Why it's wrong |
|---------|---------------|
| Defining jobs too narrowly | "Listen to music on a phone" → misses that people want access to music everywhere |
| Defining jobs too broadly | "Be entertained" → too vague to drive product decisions |
| Confusing features with jobs | "Use a dashboard" is not a job — what progress does it make? |
| Skipping emotional/social layers | Pure functional focus leads to feature parity with competitors |
| Assuming the buyer is the user | Different people may be paying vs. using — they have different jobs |

## Interview Guide Template

```
Opening (5 min):
"Tell me about the last time you used [product category]. 
Walk me through what happened from beginning to end."

Trigger (5 min):
"What prompted you to start looking for a solution at that point?"
"How long had this been a pain before you did something about it?"

Consideration (10 min):
"What other options did you consider?"
"Why did those not work for you?"
"What were the most important criteria?"

Decision (5 min):
"What ultimately made you choose [product]?"
"Was there a specific moment when you felt sure?"

Closing (5 min):
"If you could wave a magic wand and change one thing, what would it be?"
"Who else do you know who struggles with this?"
```

## Insight Synthesis

After 6-8 switch interviews, look for:
1. **Recurring triggering events** → These are your acquisition hooks
2. **Common anxieties** → Address in onboarding and marketing
3. **Shared emotional jobs** → Core of your positioning
4. **Underserved functional jobs** → Roadmap opportunities
5. **Competing solutions** → Where to steal switchers from