At its core, the Jobs to Be Done (JTBD) framework is about understanding the role your product or service plays in your customer's life. It suggests that customers don't simply buy products – they “hire” them to get a job done. This means they're seeking solutions to specific problems, needs, or goals they face in daily life or work.

Think of it this way: no one really wants a 1/4-inch drill bit – they want a 1/4-inch hole. The drill bit is just a means to get the actual job done. JTBD helps businesses focus on that underlying objective: the job.

Why JTBD is a powerful tool for innovation

By shifting attention from what people buy to why they buy, JTBD gives clarity into customer motivations. This insight is incredibly useful for:

• Product development: Creating features and tools that align with what people actually need
• Business growth: Spotting gaps in the market where customer jobs are underserved
• Marketing efforts: Positioning offerings around real-life problems people are trying to solve
• User research: Building a deeper understanding of behavior patterns and decision triggers

What makes JTBD different from traditional market research?

Traditional market research often focuses on segments: age, income, lifestyle, or preferences. While these can be helpful, they don't always explain consumer behavior. People in different segments can still ‘hire’ the same solution to do the same job. Conversely, two people from a similar demographic may be doing completely different jobs.

For example, imagine two people using a meal kit service. One is a busy professional with limited time, and the other is a parent looking to involve kids in cooking. Same product, different reasons – and different 'jobs.'

Why business leaders should pay attention

Understanding Jobs to Be Done gives companies a growth tool that connects strategy, product decisions, and customer insights in a holistic way. If your model of success includes staying relevant to evolving customer needs, the JTBD framework offers structure to keep innovation focused and aligned with real-world use cases.

And the best part? JTBD isn’t about chasing trends – it’s about understanding people. That mindset leads to solutions that are not only creative, but impactful and lasting.

One of the biggest strengths of the Jobs to Be Done framework is its ability to uncover unmet customer needs. These hidden needs often drive true innovation, yet they can easily be missed if you’re only looking at surface-level preferences or traditional survey data.

JTBD goes deeper. It explores the circumstances, motivations, and struggles that influence decisions – essentially using customer insight to spotlight where existing solutions fall short.

What do consumers really want?

Consumers aren’t always looking for more features or flashier design – they want a product or service that effectively solves a specific problem in their life. Using JTBD for customer research helps clarify what customers are trying to do, what outcomes they expect, and where current options are letting them down.

For example (fictional scenario), a small appliance company conducting user research might notice buyers aren’t just purchasing a blender for smoothies – they’re looking for a way to make healthy eating easier despite a hectic schedule. That’s the job to be done. Understanding this deeper goal can spark ideas for built-in recipe suggestions, faster cleaning functions, or subscription support for weekly ingredients.

How JTBD surfaces unmet needs

Here’s how Jobs to Be Done helps you identify gaps in the market and user pain points more effectively:

• Context-driven interviews: JTBD-style conversations focus on the scenario behind the purchase – not just “what did you buy?” but “what was happening in your life that led to that choice?”
• Emphasis on progress: Instead of asking about satisfaction, JTBD explores what kind of progress the customer hoped for – and whether your offering delivered it
• Emotional and functional dimensions: Jobs often include emotional needs (like feeling in control, capable, or confident) as well as practical ones

From insight to product innovation

Once unmet needs are uncovered, businesses can use them to guide smarter product development. This includes:

Refining existing products: Are customers dropping off at a specific point or “hiring” alternatives to finish the job? That’s useful information for adjustments.

Exploring new opportunities: Are there jobs customers want to get done that no product is addressing yet? That’s potential for new offerings.

This kind of jobs to be done customer needs analysis leads to empathetic, informed decisions. You don’t just guess or react – you design based on real-world goals and frustrations.

Who benefits from this approach?

Whether you’re launching a new product, reevaluating a business strategy, or refining your understanding of your users, JTBD gives you a framework to connect the dots. It helps marketers create more relevant messages, UX teams build more intuitive experiences, and business leaders allocate resources toward real growth opportunities.

In short, understanding customer jobs isn’t about theory – it’s about listening closely and designing solutions that truly serve people. And when that happens, innovation tends to follow.

The Jobs to Be Done (JTBD) framework isn't just a research model – it's a tool for unlocking purposeful innovation. By focusing on what customers are trying to accomplish in their lives, businesses can develop solutions that align with real-world needs rather than assumptions. This shift in mindset can lead to smarter product decisions, clearer growth strategies, and more effective business planning.

Turning Customer Jobs into Product Ideas

In product development, it’s easy to get caught up in adding features or keeping up with competitors. JTBD redirects your focus back to the human experience. Instead of asking, “What product should we build?” the better question becomes: “What progress is our customer trying to make, and how can we help them do it better?”

Once you identify the core job your customer is trying to complete, you can:

• Identify pain points in current solutions
• Design products that directly support desired outcomes
• Avoid feature overload and stay focused on meaningful benefits

This approach works especially well when you're exploring a new market or updating an existing product. JTBD helps strip away surface-level desires and uncover the deeper customer motivations that drive behavior – a crucial step in meaningful product innovation.

Aligning Business Strategy with Customer Needs

Beyond product design, the JTBD framework informs broader business strategy. When you understand the “jobs” your audience needs help with, you can position your brand as an essential partner in your customers’ ongoing success. Leaders can use these insights to prioritize investments, adjust messaging, or even reimagine business models.

For example, if a financial tools company discovers that users don’t just want to “track spending,” but rather to “feel more in control of their financial future,” the strategy may shift from offering simple budgeting features to providing educational tools, guided planning, and peace-of-mind services.

Why Jobs to Be Done Accelerates Business Growth

Traditional product development often starts with internal brainstorming or tech-led innovation. JTBD flips the process by letting customer intent lead the way. When you use JTBD for business decision making, the final output – whether a feature, campaign, or strategy – is grounded in customer insight, not guesswork.

This customer-centered approach:

• Speeds up product-market fit validation
• Reduces waste from building poorly adopted solutions
• Supports long-term loyalty by solving meaningful problems

In short, JTBD drives innovation that sticks – because it's built on what people actually need and value.

Seeing the Jobs to Be Done framework used in real-world business scenarios brings the concept to life. While every business is different, these fictional examples demonstrate how JTBD can uncover hidden customer needs and spark innovation across industries.

Example 1: Coffee Shop Chain Reimagines Customer Experience

A national coffee chain assumed that customers came in to “buy a good cup of coffee.” But after conducting JTBD-based customer interviews, they uncovered a deeper job: customers were trying to “create a comforting morning routine before a stressful workday.”

Armed with this insight, the business improved comfort seating, added pre-order convenience for regular customers, and even launched a line of calming morning playlists. The result? Higher customer retention and increased frequency of morning visits.

Example 2: Health Tech Startup Focuses on Reassurance

A startup offering digital health monitoring tools believed users wanted to “track vital signs.” But through JTBD research, they discovered that what customers truly needed was to “feel reassured about their health between doctor visits.”

This insight led the startup to develop simple, visual dashboards that offered peace of mind, not just data. They also added optional check-ins from health coaches. The result was stronger engagement and a higher perceived value of their service.

Example 3: Educational Toy Company Solves Parents’ Jobs

A toy brand originally marketed its STEM toys around “helping kids learn science.” But JTBD research revealed that the actual customer – the parent – was trying to “feel they're nurturing their child's future success in a fun way.”

So instead of emphasizing pure education, the company shifted messaging toward empowerment, worked with educators to design activities that encouraged cooperative play, and bundled toys with parent guides. Sales increased, especially during holidays and back-to-school season.

Takeaway: JTBD Shows You the Opportunity Beneath the Surface

In all these examples, businesses moved past what customers said they wanted and discovered the job they were truly hiring the product to do. Whether it’s emotional reassurance, identity building, or time-saving – understanding customer jobs transforms your approach from surface-level adjustments to meaningful innovation.

Jobs to Be Done is a powerful framework, but it’s not a one-size-fits-all approach. Knowing when to use JTBD – and when other market research tools may be a better fit – can help you get clearer, more actionable insights.

Use JTBD when you want to understand motivation and purpose

JTBD is ideal when your goal is to uncover why customers behave the way they do. It focuses less on demographics and more on context and desired outcomes. It's especially helpful in:

• Product innovation projects
• Defining customer needs for new market entry
• Refining positioning or messaging strategies
• Exploring cross-category behavior (e.g., switching from one brand to another)

This method works well during earlier innovation phases when you're exploring how to create value, not just measuring preferences or behavior.

Pair JTBD with other research tools as needed

That said, JTBD is often most powerful when combined with other market research approaches. For example:

• Quantitative surveys can validate how widespread a job or pain point is across your audience.
• User testing can observe how well a solution helps customers complete their job in practice.
• Ethnography or diary studies can deepen understanding of the context in which jobs are carried out.

At SIVO Insights, we often blend qualitative JTBD interviews with quantitative tools to deliver a full view of both intent and scale.

Limitations of JTBD (and where other tools shine)

If you’re looking to track brand awareness, test ad creative, or measure detailed behavioral metrics, other research methodologies may be more direct fits. JTBD doesn’t aim to quantify trends or forecast outcomes – it explains the “why” that underpins decisions and unlocks inspiration.

The good news? You don’t have to choose just one. One of the strengths of our approach at SIVO is fitting the right research method – or combination – to each business question.

Whether you’re diving deep into customer insight for innovation or looking to support business growth in other ways, using JTBD in conjunction with other strategies ensures you’re seeing the full picture of consumer behavior.