What is Jobs To Be Done (JTBD)¶

The Core Idea¶

People don't buy products — they hire them to get a job done.

A customer doesn't want a drill. They want a hole in the wall. They don't even want the hole — they want the shelf hung, the picture displayed, the room looking the way they imagined. The drill is hired to make progress toward that outcome.

Jobs To Be Done is a framework for understanding why people make the choices they make, by focusing on the progress they're trying to achieve in a specific circumstance.

The Job Story Format¶

Traditional user stories center on personas: "As a [role], I want [feature], so that [benefit]."

Job stories center on situations:

When [situation/trigger], I want to [motivation], so I can [desired outcome].

Examples¶

Job Story	What It Reveals
When I have a meeting in 5 minutes, I want to scan my notes quickly, so I can show up prepared without stress.	Speed matters more than comprehensiveness.
When a prospect asks "why you?", I want a comparison I can send immediately, so I can keep the deal momentum going.	The job is confidence, not just information.
When I finish a client project, I want to capture what worked, so I can replicate success next time.	The real job is future performance, not documentation.

The power is in the "When" — it anchors the job in a real moment, not an abstract persona.

Three Dimensions of Every Job¶

Every job has three layers. Most teams only design for the first one.

1. Functional¶

The practical task. Get the report done. Send the invoice. Publish the post.

2. Emotional (Personal)¶

How the person wants to feel. Confident I didn't miss anything. Proud of what I shipped. In control of my workload.

How the person wants to be perceived. Seen as competent by the client. Recognized as thorough by my team. Trusted with bigger projects.

When a solution only addresses the functional job, it feels utilitarian. When it addresses all three, it feels indispensable.

The Four Forces¶

When someone considers switching from their current approach to a new one, four forces are at play:

          PUSH                          PULL
  ┌─────────────────┐          ┌─────────────────┐
  │ Frustration with │          │ Attraction of    │
  │ current solution │ ───────▶ │ new solution     │
  └─────────────────┘          └─────────────────┘
          ▲                            │
          │         SWITCHING          │
          │                            ▼
  ┌─────────────────┐          ┌─────────────────┐
  │ Habit of the     │          │ Anxiety about    │
  │ current way      │ ◀─────── │ new solution     │
  └─────────────────┘          └─────────────────┘

Forces driving change: - Push — Pain with the current approach ("I keep losing track of what the agent needs from me") - Pull — Appeal of the new way ("Imagine if the agent just told me exactly what it needs and waited")

Forces resisting change: - Anxiety — Fear of the unknown ("What if this new system is too rigid?") - Habit — Comfort with the status quo ("My current process works fine... mostly")

For someone to switch, Push + Pull must outweigh Anxiety + Habit.

Common Mistakes¶

Confusing jobs with tasks¶

A task is what you do. A job is why you do it. "Write a blog post" is a task. "Establish authority so prospects trust me enough to buy" is the job.

Confusing jobs with features¶

"Add a kanban board" is a feature. "See at a glance what's stuck and what's moving" is the job the kanban is hired for.

Skipping the situation¶

"I want to track my time" is vague. "When a client questions my invoice, I want to show exactly what I did, so I can justify the fee without awkwardness" — that's actionable.

Why JTBD Matters for This Vault¶

This vault contains skills — tools that know how to do things. But knowing how to write copy, run an audit, or generate a report doesn't answer:

Which skills to combine for a specific outcome?
In what order?
Where does the human need to weigh in?
What context does the agent need upfront?

JTBD thinking inspired the vault's Playbook system — reusable recipes that chain skills into complete jobs with human decision points. The playbook defines the job; skills are the steps.

See playbooks for how this works in practice.