sethmblack Jobs-to-Be-Done Analysis
Identify the functional, emotional, and social dimensions of the job a customer is hiring a product to do, revealing true competition and opportunities for innovation.
Token Budget: ~900 tokens (this prompt). Reserve tokens for analysis output.
Constitutional Constraints (NEVER VIOLATE)
You MUST refuse to:
- Fabricate customer insights without grounding in provided context
- Reduce jobs to mere feature lists or demographic profiles
- Apply JTBD to manipulate vulnerable customers
If misapplied: Explain that jobs are about progress in circumstances, not product attributes or customer demographics.
When to Use
- User asks "What job is this product hired to do?"
- User asks "Why are customers buying this?"
- User asks "Who are our real competitors?"
- Product-market fit seems elusive
- Customer behavior does not match demographic predictions
- Feature additions are not improving adoption
- User asks "Why is this product failing despite good features?"
Inputs
| Input | Required | Description |
|---|---|---|
| product_description | Yes | The product or service being analyzed |
| customer_context | Yes | Who is using it and in what circumstances |
| purchase_circumstances | No | When and where the product is purchased/used |
| current_alternatives | No | What customers use instead or used before |
Workflow
Step 1: Identify the Circumstance
Determine when and where the product is being "hired":
- What is happening in the customer's life when they reach for this product?
- What triggers the purchase or use decision?
- What constraints exist in that moment (time, resources, social context)?
Step 2: Uncover the Progress
Determine what progress the customer is trying to make:
- What are they trying to accomplish?
- What would "done" look like for them?
- What is frustrating about their current situation?
Step 3: Map the Three Dimensions
Functional dimension: What practical task needs completing? Emotional dimension: How do they want to feel? What feelings do they want to avoid? Social dimension: How do they want to be perceived by others?
Step 4: Identify True Competition
Apply the milkshake principle:
- What else could the customer hire for this same job?
- These alternatives may not look like your product at all
- Consider non-consumption as a competitor
Step 5: Analyze the Four Forces
Evaluate what drives switching:
- Push of the current situation: Frustration with status quo
- Pull of the new solution: Attraction to potential improvement
- Anxiety of the new solution: Fear of unknown, switching costs, social risk
- Habit of the present: Comfort with current approach, inertia
Step 6: Synthesize Job Statement
Create a complete job statement: "When [circumstance], I want to [progress], so I can [outcome]."
Outputs
Jobs-to-Be-Done Analysis Report
## Jobs-to-Be-Done Analysis: [Product/Service Name]
### The Job Statement
**Primary Job:** "When [circumstance], I want to [progress], so I can [outcome]."
### Circumstance Analysis
**Trigger moment:** [What prompts the need]
**Context constraints:** [Time, location, resources, social setting]
**Frequency:** [How often this circumstance arises]
### The Three Dimensions
| Dimension | Customer Need | Evidence |
|-----------|---------------|----------|
| Functional | [What practical task?] | [How we know] |
| Emotional | [How they want to feel?] | [How we know] |
| Social | [How they want to be seen?] | [How we know] |
### True Competition Map
The product is NOT competing against [obvious category competitors].
It IS competing against:
1. **[Alternative 1]** - [Why it does the same job]
2. **[Alternative 2]** - [Why it does the same job]
3. **[Alternative 3]** - [Why it does the same job]
4. **Non-consumption** - [What people do when they hire nothing]
### Four Forces Assessment
| Force | Strength | Details |
|-------|----------|---------|
| Push (frustration with current) | [High/Med/Low] | [What's frustrating them] |
| Pull (attraction to new) | [High/Med/Low] | [What's appealing] |
| Anxiety (fear of new) | [High/Med/Low] | [What concerns them] |
| Habit (comfort with current) | [High/Med/Low] | [What keeps them] |
**Net switching likelihood:** [Assessment based on force balance]
### Innovation Opportunities
Based on this job analysis:
1. **Better serve the functional dimension by:** [specific suggestion]
2. **Better serve the emotional dimension by:** [specific suggestion]
3. **Better serve the social dimension by:** [specific suggestion]
4. **Reduce anxiety by:** [specific suggestion]
5. **Break habit by:** [specific suggestion]
### Common Mistakes to Avoid
- Do not [specific mistake for this product/job]
- Do not [specific mistake for this product/job]
Error Handling
| Situation | Response |
|---|---|
| Job defined too narrowly | Expand scope - jobs are about progress, not product features |
| Job defined too broadly | Narrow scope - "convenience" is not a job, specify the progress |
| Multiple jobs detected | Separate analysis for each; identify if they conflict or complement |
| Insufficient customer context | Request more information about when/where/why product is used |
| Demographics provided instead of circumstances | Redirect to circumstances - same person hires different solutions at different times |
Constraints
- Do not use this analysis as the sole basis for critical decisions
- Do not apply this framework to situations outside its intended scope
- Acknowledge that analysis is based on available data, which may be incomplete
- Honor the complexity of real-world situations that resist simple categorization
- Present findings with appropriate confidence levels
- Recognize the limits of the methodology
Example
Input: "What job is Slack hired to do? Our company just adopted it."
Output:
Why this works:
This example demonstrates the key principles of the skill in action. The approach is effective because:
- It follows the systematic workflow outlined above
- It shows concrete application of the framework
- It produces actionable, specific outputs rather than vague generalizations
- The analysis is grounded in observable details
- The recommendations are prioritized and implementable
Alternative applications:
This same approach can be applied to:
- Different contexts within the same domain
- Related but distinct problem types
- Scaled up or down depending on scope
- Combined with complementary analytical frameworks
Jobs-to-Be-Done Analysis: Slack
The Job Statement
Primary Job: "When I need to coordinate with colleagues without the friction of email or meetings, I want to communicate quickly and informally, so I can maintain team awareness and get answers without interrupting deep work."
Circumstance Analysis
Trigger moment: Need quick answer, want to share update, feeling disconnected from team, avoiding email thread chaos Context constraints: Remote or distributed work, async schedules, multiple projects/contexts Frequency: Dozens of times daily for active users
The Three Dimensions
| Dimension | Customer Need | Evidence |
|---|---|---|
| Functional | Coordinate work, share information, get quick answers | Channel organization, threading, search |
| Emotional | Feel connected to team, reduce communication anxiety, sense of belonging | Presence indicators, emoji reactions, casual tone |
| Social | Be seen as responsive teammate, stay in the loop, not miss important context | Status updates, @mentions, activity signals |
True Competition Map
Slack is NOT primarily competing against Microsoft Teams or Discord.
It IS competing against:
- Email - Async communication with history, but higher friction and formality
- Walking over to someone's desk - Quick informal exchange (before remote work)
- Scheduling a meeting - Synchronous resolution of questions
- Doing nothing / figuring it out alone - Non-consumption when coordination seems too costly
- Text messages - Informal quick exchanges, but not organized by topic
Four Forces Assessment
| Force | Strength | Details |
|---|---|---|
| Push (frustration with current) | High | Email overload, meeting fatigue, remote isolation |
| Pull (attraction to new) | Medium-High | Promised efficiency, modern feel, team connection |
| Anxiety (fear of new) | Medium | Information overload, always-on pressure, learning curve |
| Habit (comfort with current) | Medium | Email is universal, meetings are known quantity |
Net switching likelihood: Moderate-high when org mandates adoption; lower for voluntary individual adoption
Innovation Opportunities
Based on this job analysis:
- Better serve the functional dimension by: Improving signal-to-noise ratio (notification intelligence, better search)
- Better serve the emotional dimension by: Making async feel connected without requiring real-time presence
- Better serve the social dimension by: Reducing fear of missing out while reducing pressure to respond instantly
- Reduce anxiety by: Clear norms and expectations setting, status modes that protect focus time
- Break email habit by: Integrations that pull email conversations into Slack, reducing need to check both
Common Mistakes to Avoid
- Do not treat Slack as "faster email" - the job is informal coordination, not formal communication
- Do not ignore the emotional job - teams use Slack for belonging, not just information transfer
Integration
This skill applies Clayton Christensen's jobs-to-be-done framework as developed in Competing Against Luck. Remember: demographics and psychographics do not cause purchases. The same person hires different solutions at different times depending on circumstance. Always ground analysis in specific circumstances, not customer attributes.