Jobs to be done is a way of understanding customers through the progress they want to make in a given situation, rather than their demographic profile. A job is written as "When [situation], I want to [motivation], so I can [expected outcome]" and has functional, emotional and social dimensions. The forces of progress (push, pull, anxiety and habit) explain why someone switches solutions or not. The canvas brings all of it onto one page.
How to use
- Write the situation, the motivation and the expected outcome; the tool builds the job statement.
- List the functional, emotional and social dimensions of the job.
- Record current solutions, workarounds and the moments when they fail.
- Write desired outcomes as "minimise" or "increase" something measurable.
- Fill in the four forces of progress and read the balance between those driving and those holding back change.
What each field asks for
| Field | What to enter |
|---|---|
| Who (optional) | The role of the person with the job. You can import it from the persona generator. |
| When... (situation) | The moment that triggers the need, without naming a product. |
| I want to... (motivation) | What the person wants to do, starting with a verb. |
| So I can... (expected outcome) | The progress they expect to make. |
| Functional dimension | The practical task that needs doing. |
| Emotional dimension | How the person wants to feel. |
| Social dimension | How the person wants to be seen by others. |
| Current solutions and workarounds | What the person uses today to get the job done, workarounds included. |
| Struggling moments | When the current solution fails or takes effort. |
| Direction | |
| What | E.g. the time it takes to close the rota |
| In what situation (optional) | E.g. at peak hours |
| Push of the current situation | Problems that push the person to change. |
| Pull of the new solution | What is attractive about the new way of doing it. |
| Anxiety about the new solution | Fears and doubts that hold the change back. |
| Habit of the present | Attachment to the current way. |
Example
A retail store lead has this job: "When I close next week’s rota and someone asks to swap a shift, I want to rearrange shifts without redoing the whole rota, so I can keep the shop covered at peak times and let the team know their hours in advance." Today they use a spreadsheet and a messaging group, and struggle with swaps that never reach the spreadsheet. The desired outcomes include "Minimise the time it takes to close the weekly rota". In the forces matrix, push and pull add up to 4 items against 3 for anxiety and habit: the forces for change win, but only just.
When to use
- During discovery, to understand why customers hire or abandon a solution.
- After interviews about the last time someone switched solutions, to organise what you heard.
- Before defining the value proposition, to start from the desired progress rather than features.
- To understand the real competition, which includes spreadsheets, workarounds and doing nothing.
Frequently asked questions
What is jobs to be done?
It is an approach that explains customer behaviour through the progress they want to make in a situation. Instead of asking who the customer is, it asks what they are trying to achieve and why they switch solutions.
How do I write a job statement?
Use the format "When [situation], I want to [motivation], so I can [expected outcome]". The situation describes the moment that triggers the need; the motivation starts with a verb; the outcome is the expected progress. Do not name a product: the job exists before any solution.
What are the functional, emotional and social dimensions?
The functional dimension is the practical task; the emotional one is how the person wants to feel; the social one is how they want to be seen. Together they explain choices the functional part alone cannot.
What are the forces of progress?
There are four: the push of current problems and the pull of the new solution move the person towards change; anxiety about the new and the habit of the present hold them back. A switch only happens when the first pair outweighs the second.
How do I write desired outcomes?
Start with a direction (minimise or increase), say what is measured and, if needed, in which situation. Example: "Minimise the time it takes to close the weekly rota". This turns the job into criteria you can measure.
What is the difference between jobs to be done and a persona?
A persona describes who the customer is; a job describes the progress they want to make. Very different people can share the same job, and the same person has different jobs in different situations.
How do I validate the job?
Interview people who recently switched solutions and rebuild the timeline: what triggered the search, what they compared, what nearly made them give up. Their words should appear in the statement.