The core idea behind the Jobs to Be Done (JTBD) framework is simple: customers “hire” products and services to help them complete specific jobs in their lives. Whether it’s commuting to work, preparing dinner, or managing finances, every action is motivated by an underlying goal. By shifting focus from the product to the task customers are trying to accomplish, businesses can uncover unmet or underserved needs that traditional research might miss.

One of the most powerful outcomes of using JTBD for product innovation is the ability to identify gaps in the market. These gaps may not show up in typical demographic-based segmentation or even in standard surveys. JTBD works by diving deeper into why people choose a product and what outcome they’re seeking – not just how they use it.

Why traditional approaches may miss the full picture

When companies rely solely on personas, categories, or simple feature-based feedback, they often overlook larger trends in human behavior. A JTBD approach uses market research to uncover functional, emotional, and social drivers that influence decision-making. This brings forward richer consumer insights that are tied directly to action.

Using JTBD to uncover customer pain points

Here’s how identifying unmet customer needs with JTBD works in practice:

• Talk to people about their problems, not products. Ask how they currently solve a specific task, what frustrates them, and what they wish existed.
• Look for workaround behavior. Are they combining products? Creating DIY hacks? That’s a strong signal of an unmet need.
• Map the entire customer journey. Understanding what happens before, during, and after a product is used helps spot friction points that are often overlooked.

For example, a grocery delivery platform might think their job is “deliver groceries fast.” But a JTBD lens might reveal the true job customers are hiring them for is “help me meal plan without stress.” That insight opens the door to innovations like auto-generated meal kits or nutrition suggestions.

Turning jobs into actionable opportunities

Once customer jobs are identified, companies can prioritize opportunities using several criteria:

• Importance – How critical is the job for the customer?
• Satisfaction – Are current options effective? If not, that signals whitespace.
• Frequency – How often do people encounter that job or task?

When a job is both important and underserved, it signals a high-potential opportunity for new product development. JTBD research methods help you validate these insights with real consumers, ensuring they lead to viable, market-ready ideas.

Ultimately, JTBD gives businesses a reliable way to connect customer needs with innovation strategy. It offers a way to uncover hidden demand and move beyond assumptions, reinforcing SIVO’s mission to make the complex feel clear and actionable through custom market research.

One of the most powerful – and often overlooked – uses of the Jobs to Be Done framework is in identifying alternative, substitute, or adjacent jobs that customers already perform. These jobs may not relate directly to your current product line, but understanding them can unlock new areas for product innovation and market expansion.

Let’s break this down simply:

Substitute jobs: What customers are using instead

Often, customers have already “hired” something to help them complete a job – and it might not even be a traditional product. Instead, they may be cobbling together tools or repurposing something in an unintended way. These signal areas of opportunity.

For instance, a parent might use YouTube videos and a whiteboard to help their child with math homework. They’re using these tools to complete the job of making learning engaging at home – even though there’s no clear product that solves it completely. That insight may inspire a new, interactive digital education tool tailored to parental needs.

Adjacent jobs: Nearby needs hiding in plain sight

Adjacent jobs aren’t your customer’s current pain point, but they’re closely related to what your brand already solves. Identifying adjacent jobs through market research allows companies to meaningfully extend their offerings.

Let’s say your product helps people track fitness goals. An adjacent job might be meal planning or tracking sleep – both essential to overall health. Creating new solutions that help customers solve these related tasks can strengthen your ecosystem and deepen loyalty.

Discovering these hidden opportunities

To identify substitute and adjacent jobs:

• Observe behavior patterns – Look for areas where customers are making do with something imperfect or unrelated to the core category.
• Analyze before-and-after scenarios – What happens before people use your product? What happens afterward? Those transitional moments can contain valuable clues.
• Talk about trade-offs – Ask customers what they wish they didn’t have to do. The 'jobs they tolerate' often generate the best innovation ideas.

These small signals, when collected strategically through JTBD research methods, surface pockets of demand that may be ignored by your competitors – or not measured by traditional survey tools. This approach expands the horizon of what’s possible in product development.

Real example: From rideshare to logistics

Consider how rideshare apps started by addressing the core job: get a ride quickly. But over time, they spotted adjacent jobs – like moving packages or delivering food – which led to separate services like Uber Eats and package drop-off features. These insights came not from guessing, but from watching how customers adapted existing tools to meet other needs.

At SIVO Insights, we often partner with clients to uncover unexpected product opportunities like these. By spotting substitute and adjacent jobs early, teams can proactively shape their innovation strategy rather than simply reacting to competitors. It also makes it easier to test and validate new ideas in adjacent markets before committing to full-scale development.

In the next sections of this guide, we’ll go deeper into how to prioritize these jobs, conduct effective JTBD research, and turn insight into action. But first, recognizing that your product’s 'real job' may already be happening elsewhere is a crucial first step in finding new growth.

Steps to Turn JTBD Insights Into Actionable Product Ideas

Once you've uncovered the core jobs your customers are trying to accomplish, the next step is translating that understanding into real-world product opportunities. Here’s a simple and effective roadmap to move from customer insights to innovation.

1. Organize Jobs by Type and Priority

Start by grouping the jobs your research uncovered into categories: functional (e.g., “get somewhere on time”), emotional (e.g., “feel confident when presenting”), and social (e.g., “be seen as a great host”). Then, evaluate which jobs are underserved or have friction points. These are your strongest opportunities.

2. Identify Existing Workarounds and Substitutes

Pay close attention to how people are currently solving the job, even if imperfectly. Are they using multiple tools? Creating DIY solutions? These improvised behaviors often point to a clear need for a more streamlined product or service.

3. Generate Ideas That Match the Job, Not Just the Product Category

Instead of starting with product features, brainstorm solutions that help a customer complete their job more easily or more completely. Ask questions like:

• What barriers get in their way?
• What would make them feel more successful in the moment?
• What solutions from other industries might solve a similar job?

By focusing on the outcome the customer wants, you open up room for disruptive innovation – not just incremental tweaks.

4. Prioritize Ideas Based on Desirability, Feasibility, and Fit

Use a simple filter to evaluate which ideas are worth developing:

• Desirability: Does this solve a meaningful job? Will people care?
• Feasibility: Can your team deliver this with current capabilities or partners?
• Strategic Fit: Does it align with your brand’s strengths and goals?

This balances customer needs with your organization’s ability to execute effectively.

5. Turn High-Potential Jobs into Product Concepts

Create clear concept statements based on the job, the current struggle, and your unique value. For example:

“For busy parents who want to keep their kids engaged during meal prep, our toolkit provides fun, hands-on recipes that make cooking interactive and educational – without adding extra time or effort.”

By framing your concepts around real customer jobs, you strengthen product-market fit from the start and increase the likelihood of successful product innovation.

Validating New Product Concepts Through JTBD Research

Having a strong idea based on a customer job is a great start – but before launching any product, validation is critical. JTBD research methods can help confirm whether your concept truly meets the need, before investing resources into development.

Why Validation Is Important

Even the best ideas can miss the mark if they misunderstand the job, overestimate demand, or overlook competing solutions. By testing your product concept through the lens of JTBD, you ensure it supports your customer’s desired outcome and fits into their real-life context.

Ways to Validate with Jobs to Be Done

• Customer Interviews: Revisit your audience and present the product concept in plain language. Ask, “Would this help you accomplish your job more easily or effectively?” Dig into their reactions, hesitations, and potential objections.
• Prototypes or Simulations: Where possible, build low-fidelity versions of your product (e.g., mock-ups, digital demos) to observe how users interact with it when trying to fulfill the job.
• Quantitative Surveys: Use surveys to measure desirability and perceived effectiveness of your concept. Ask respondents how well it fulfills the job-to-be-done compared to existing options.

Look for These Signals

JTBD research focuses on outcomes. To confidently move forward, your validation should confirm:

• The job is important and underserved
• Your concept significantly reduces friction or improves outcomes
• Customers are willing to replace or supplement existing solutions
• The idea fits naturally into their current behavior flow

Use Insights to Refine and Iterate

Validation is not just a pass/fail step – it’s a way to improve your concept. Look at feedback to identify tweaks that bring you closer to solving the job. Sometimes small adjustments to messaging, packaging, or delivery can make a big difference in perceived value.

Combine JTBD with Broader Product Research

Jobs to Be Done doesn’t replace other forms of market research – it complements them. Combining JTBD insights with traditional product testing, segmentation analysis, or customer journey mapping provides a fuller picture before launch.

Ultimately, JTBD provides a powerful strategy for derisking new product development, ensuring that your ideas are aligned with actual human needs – not just assumptions.