At the heart of Jobs to Be Done research lies a deceptively simple question: what is your customer really trying to accomplish? It’s not always about the product or feature – it’s about what the customer hopes to achieve by using it. In JTBD terms, this goal is called the “job.” Understanding these jobs is the first step in uncovering true customer motivation and building a product that fits seamlessly into their lives.

The difference between a product and a job

Customers don’t just buy products – they hire them to do a job. A task, an outcome, or a goal. For example:

• A parent doesn’t buy a minivan; they hire it to transport kids safely and efficiently to school and activities.
• A freelancer doesn’t download time-tracking software for fun; they use it to manage their income and work balance.
• A busy professional doesn’t subscribe to meal delivery because they love packaging – they do it to save time and reduce stress during the week.

In all of these cases, products are part of solving a deeper need. JTBD research helps you name and understand those deeper needs so you can innovate around them.

Types of customer jobs

Not all jobs are the same. Recognizing different job types can help focus your research:

• Functional jobs: The practical tasks the customer wants to complete (e.g., booking a flight, staying hydrated).
• Emotional jobs: The feelings a customer wants to experience or avoid (e.g., feeling secure, avoiding embarrassment).
• Social jobs: How customers want to be perceived by others (e.g., appearing knowledgeable, being seen as responsible).

By identifying both functional and emotional needs, you can better understand why a customer chooses your product – or someone else's.

Starting points for identifying customer jobs

Try beginning your JTBD research with the following methods:

• Walk through the customer journey: Where are customers hitting friction? What are they trying to get done at each step?
• Analyze switching behavior: When customers switch from one product to another, what job were they trying to do differently or better?
• Review customer feedback: Look at reviews, support tickets, and surveys to find clues about what people are trying to achieve.

Remember, identifying customer jobs is not about guessing – it’s about observing real behavior and listening to real people. These insights serve as the foundation for your JTBD interviews, where you’ll dig even deeper into their motivations.

Next, we’ll look at how to plan and structure those interviews in a way that reveals valuable, actionable insights.

Once you’ve begun identifying the core jobs your customers are trying to get done, it’s time to go deeper. JTBD interviews are a powerful research method for understanding moments when customers decide to switch products, choose a service, or solve a problem in a new way. Behind each choice is a story – and your job is to uncover it.

Why interviews are central to JTBD research

Jobs to Be Done interviews focus on real-life decisions, not hypotheticals. You’re not asking what customers might do – you’re asking what they already did, and why. These interviews are qualitative research tools that bring human needs, motivations, and triggers to the surface.

By planning interviews carefully, you can capture rich, detailed insights that go beyond surface-level opinions. These insights can reveal unmet user needs, friction points, and opportunities for growth – exactly the kind of information that fuels innovation.

Choosing the right participants

Look for people who have recently made a choice or change related to your product category – especially those who switched from another solution. These are your most valuable sources of insight. Consider:

• New customers who recently adopted your product or service
• Users who left a competitor
• Customers who stopped using your product entirely

Focusing on people who have made real decisions gives you concrete data tied to genuine user behavior—not just abstract preferences.

Tools to prepare for JTBD interviews

Many researchers use simple tools to ensure a smooth and focused interview process:

• A recording app or software to capture conversations for later analysis
• Digital or printable discussion guides to stay on track
• Customer timelines or storyboards to map decisions and touchpoints

Crafting strong JTBD interview questions

The key to strong JTBD interviews lies in asking the right kinds of questions. Think of yourself as a detective, piecing together a customer’s decision-making journey.

Start with:

• “Tell me about the moment you decided to look for a new solution…”
• “What triggered the change?”
• “What other options did you consider?”
• “What pushed you to decide on this specific product?”
• “What nearly stopped you from choosing it?”

The goal is to uncover not only what happened, but also what feelings, frustrations, and goals drove those actions. It’s this mix of emotional and functional triggers that defines the job they were hiring the product to do.

Tips for a successful interview

• Let them tell their story in detail – don’t rush.
• Stay open and curious – your best insights often come from unexpected places.
• Dig deeper wherever there’s emotion or hesitation – these points often reveal the true job.

With the right planning and a thoughtful approach, JTBD interviews can uncover layers of consumer behavior that traditional surveys or analytics can miss. You’ll walk away with clear, nuanced customer insights that inform better decisions across product, marketing, and strategy.

In the next section, we’ll explore how to extract themes and apply findings from your JTBD research to drive meaningful business innovation.

Once you've identified the customer jobs and planned your JTBD interviews, it's time to connect directly with your users. Conducting effective JTBD interviews is the heart of Jobs to Be Done research – it's where real stories, struggles, and motivations come to light. The goal isn’t to collect data points, but to uncover the underlying forces that drive consumer behavior.

Create a Comfortable Environment

Start by helping the participant feel at ease. JTBD interviews are rooted in qualitative research methods and are most effective when they feel like natural conversations rather than rigid surveys.

Use open-ended questions and warm-up prompts like:

• “Tell me about the last time you were trying to solve this problem…”
• “Walk me through what happened step-by-step.”
• “What made you look for a different option that time?”

Your tone should be curious and empathetic. Let them lead with their experience, and avoid interjecting your own assumptions.

The Four Forces of JTBD

To uncover the full story behind a customer decision, explore what’s known as the Four Forces Framework:

• Push of the Situation: What pain or challenge drove them to consider a new solution?
• Pull of the New Solution: What attracted them to this new option?
• Anxieties: What hesitations or doubts did they feel about switching?
• Inertia: What habits or past solutions made them hesitate to change?

By weaving your interview around these areas, you uncover not just what people do, but why. This helps you get to their actual motivations – the key to powerful customer insights.

Dive into Specifics

Generalities lead to assumptions. To generate clear, usable insights, encourage participants to be specific. If they say, “It was frustrating,” ask follow-ups like:

“What exactly made it frustrating?” or “Can you remember a moment when you felt that way?”

This kind of probing transforms vague impressions into vivid customer stories that reveal real user needs.

Record and Capture Moments

Whether you take notes or record with permission, prioritize capturing exact phrases. These words often hold emotional and functional cues that will surface when you analyze patterns later. JTBD interviews are not about volume – it's about depth.

By mastering the art of interviewing, you'll gather rich qualitative data that reflects genuine customer motivation and informs stronger decision-making across product development, marketing, and innovation.

Now that you’ve collected real customer stories, the next step is to make sense of what you've heard. Synthesizing JTBD interview data means translating personal experiences into meaningful patterns that reveal how and why your customers make choices. This part of the process is where the 'jobs' truly come to life.

Look for Key Moments Across Stories

Begin by reviewing all the interview transcripts or notes. Highlight pivotal moments – triggers, frustrations, changes in behavior, emotional phrases, and decision points.

Ask yourself:

• What situations prompted someone to start looking for a solution?
• What emotional or practical needs played a major role?
• What wording shows their motivation or hesitation?

These moments are clues to the underlying jobs your customers are trying to get done.

Group by Job Themes, Not Personas

Unlike traditional market research that often segments by demographics, Jobs to Be Done methodology focuses on context. Think in terms of the situation, not the person.

Group stories by shared patterns, such as:

• “When I just started working from home, I needed something to help me stay focused.”
• “I had trouble finding healthy meals when traveling for work.”

These patterns reveal consistent functional and emotional needs – signals of a recurring job to be done.

Create Clear Job Statements

Once you’ve spotted the patterns, distill what you’ve learned into clear Job Statements. A good Job Statement includes:

• The situation – a triggering context
• The motivation – what the customer hopes to achieve
• The desired outcome – how they define success

For example: “When I start a new fitness routine, I want a flexible plan that adapts to my schedule, so I can stay consistent without feeling overwhelmed.”

This approach puts customer insights at the center. Instead of guessing what people want, the data reveals exactly what they're trying to accomplish – and why.

Look Beyond Obvious Solutions

Importantly, JTBD data often shows that customers ‘hire’ unexpected things to get jobs done – including workarounds, third-party apps, or even behaviors outside your category. These provide gaps and opportunities for innovation you might not find through standard research methods.

Through careful synthesis, you'll clarify the hidden jobs behind buying behavior and turn qualitative research into concrete, actionable intelligence.

With your Jobs to Be Done insights in hand, you're equipped to drive value where it matters most – through smarter products, more relevant services, and better customer experiences. Knowing the 'why' behind customer choices can uncover new growth directions that align with real user needs.

Design with Jobs in Mind

Use your JTBD findings to build offerings that directly address the jobs your customers are trying to get done. These insights help prioritize features that solve functional needs while also speaking to emotional drivers.

For example, if customers “want to feel confident presenting ideas to their team,” your product could include quick design templates or sharing tools that accomplish that goal – even if your category is software or communication tools.

Improve Messaging and Positioning

JTBD insights are incredibly helpful when refining your marketing language. Instead of focusing on product specs, speak to the job your solution fulfills.

Rather than saying, “This app has X feature,” say, “Make your meetings run smoother so nothing falls through the cracks.” This messaging speaks to what people actually value – the job they want done – making it more relatable and compelling.

Spot New Market Opportunities

When you understand which jobs people are struggling to fulfill, you can innovate beyond your existing offerings. A recurring unmet job may point to a product gap, a new service model, or even a different customer segment. Jobs to Be Done research encourages businesses to think beyond category definitions and solve for cross-industry challenges.

For example, if your interviews reveal people “hire podcasts to stay informed during long commutes,” there may be room for a new format, platform, or feature tailored specifically to that experience.

Align Teams Around Customer Motivation

Perhaps most importantly, JTBD insights provide a unifying language across teams. Product, marketing, UX, sales, and leadership can all benefit from an understanding of core consumer behavior and motivation. When everyone shares a clear perspective on what customers truly want – and why – it builds alignment and drives more coherent innovation decisions.

From product design to go-to-market strategies, applying Jobs to Be Done insights fosters a deeper level of user understanding, one that fuels not only better solutions but also more meaningful relationships with your audience.