Strategy
Jobs To Be Done (JTBD)
A practical UX and product strategy method for understanding user motivation and desired outcomes beyond demographics.
How to apply Jobs To Be Done (JTBD) to uncover functional, emotional, and social needs and translate them into better product and UX decisions.
What it is
Jobs To Be Done (JTBD) is a UX and glossaryProduct StrategyProduct strategy defines how a product will achieve business goals by solving user problems in a focused and sustainable way. It sets direction, priorities, and trade-offs to guide decision-making.Open glossary term method used to understand the underlying tasks, goals, or problems that users are trying to solve with a product or glossaryServiceA service is a component or function that performs a specific task within a system.Open glossary term.
It focuses on the job users need completed, rather than demographics or surface-level glossaryBehaviourBehaviour refers to how users interact with a system, including actions, patterns, and responses.Open glossary term.
JTBD analysis captures functional, social, and emotional dimensions of user needs, identifying what drives decision-making and glossaryProduct AdoptionProduct adoption refers to how users start using and integrating a product into their behaviour or workflows. It measures how successfully a product moves from awareness to regular use.Open glossary term.
Key takeaway
The goal is to design features, content, and experiences that directly address the user’s desired outcomes.
When to use it
Use this method when you want to understand glossaryUser MotivationUser motivation is the underlying reason or drive that causes a user to take action.Open glossary term at a deeper level.
It is most useful when:
It is less useful when:
JTBD is often used alongside personas, scenario mapping, and journey mapping.
How to run it
Set up properly
Be clear on the glossaryContextContext is the set of surrounding conditions that shape how someone behaves and decides, including their goal, their environment, their time pressure, and what happened immediately before. The same action can mean different things in different contexts.Open glossary term, the serviceUser ResearchUnderstand user behaviour, validate ideas, and make clearer product decisions with evidence you can act on.Open service you are drawing on, and what you need to understand. Jobs to be done is a lens rather than a procedure, so it needs a specific question.
Gather real accounts of decisions rather than opinions about preferences. The glossaryFrameworkA framework is a structured set of tools and conventions used to build applications more efficiently.Open glossary term depends on actual switching glossaryBehaviourBehaviour refers to how users interact with a system, including actions, patterns, and responses.Open glossary term.
Run the method
Jobs to be done reframes users as people hiring a solution to make progress in a particular circumstance. It shifts attention from who somebody is to what they are trying to accomplish.
- Interview or observe people about the problem they were solving, anchored to real occasions.
- Ask why they chose their current solution, including whatever they used before and why they stopped.
- Identify desired outcomes, glossaryConstraintsConstraints are limitations or restrictions that impact how a product or solution can be designed or built.Open glossary term and glossaryTrade-offsTrade-offs are decisions where improving one thing requires giving up another, such as speed against quality or scope against cost. Every product decision involves them, whether or not they are made explicit.Open glossary term, expressed in terms of progress rather than glossaryFeatureA feature is a specific piece of functionality within a product that delivers value to users. It represents something users can do or experience as part of the overall product.Open glossary term.
- Categorise findings as functional, social and emotional jobs. Products that lose usually lost on the last two.
- Synthesise into job statements of the form "when [situation], I want to [motivation], so I can [outcome]".
Keep the job separate from the solution. The value of the framing is that it survives changes in technology and competition, and a solution-shaped job does not.
Capture and make sense of it
The value comes from understanding progress. After the work, document:
- Job statements in situation, motivation and outcome form
- Functional, social and emotional dimensions of each
- What people currently hire, including non-consumption and manual workarounds
- Outcomes expressed as progress, not as glossaryFeatureA feature is a specific piece of functionality within a product that delivers value to users. It represents something users can do or experience as part of the overall product.Open glossary term people asked for
Use this to define what you are really competing with. The answer is frequently a spreadsheet, a phone call, or doing nothing.
Key takeaway
Use this to align solutions with real user goals.
What to look for
Focus on:
Where it goes wrong
Most issues come from:
If the job isn’t understood, the product won’t solve the right problem.
What you get from it
Done properly, this method gives you:
Key takeaway
It helps you design products that users actually hire to get a job done.
Get in touch
If this sounds like something you need, we can help you uncover your users’ Jobs To Be Done and design solutions that truly meet their goals.
No guesswork. No assumptions. Just user-centred design that delivers results.
FAQ
Common questions
A few practical answers to the questions that usually come up around this method.
What is Jobs To Be Done (JTBD) in UX?
It is a method for understanding the tasks, goals, or problems users aim to solve with a product or service.
When should you use JTBD?
During product definition, redesign, or innovation planning.
What can you analyse?
Functional, emotional, and social jobs, desired outcomes, and friction points.
What does the jobs lens reveal that personas do not?
It reveals why users make choices and what outcomes they care about.
Does JTBD improve UX?
Yes. It ensures products and features address the real needs users are trying to satisfy.
Quick take
If you know what job users are hiring your product to do, you can design solutions that actually work.
