The Jobs to Be Done (JTBD) framework gives product teams a powerful lens for understanding user behavior. Instead of focusing solely on who the user is or what tool they’re using, JTBD asks: what job is this person trying to get done in their life?

For example, someone using a budgeting app doesn’t just want charts – their real objective might be “I want to make sure I don’t overspend before payday.” This becomes their job-to-be-done. When product teams reframe their work around these objectives, UX design becomes much more focused, relevant, and user-driven.

JTBD shifts the design thinking approach

Traditional UX efforts often start with features, then build a flow around them. JTBD flips the script: start with the user’s job and build a digital experience that supports it step by step. This approach leads to better interface design that aligns deeply with user needs rather than assumptions.

JTBD is especially useful for:

• Prioritizing features – what helps users complete their job comes first
• Clarifying user intent – replacing vague personas with actionable goals
• Focusing content – choosing layout elements that match user motivations

Making JTBD actionable in product design

Product managers and designers can align on key user jobs during early research. These insights often come from interviews, user tests, or market research like SIVO’s qualitative studies. Once the job statements are clear – for example, "I want to reorder supplies quickly so I don’t run out" – product teams can make strategic decisions about what needs to show up in the interface.

Let’s look at how JTBD influences UX decisions:

Navigation

If a user’s job is time-sensitive, navigation must support fast access to key tasks. That might mean placing re-order buttons front and center or streamlining clicks to completion.

Calls to action (CTAs)

Effective CTAs align with the job language. Rather than generic “Submit” buttons, a JTBD-driven CTA might say “Save My Progress” or “Repeat Last Order” – directly helping the user achieve their goal.

Content hierarchy

When the job is the organizing principle, content bubbles up that has utility. Background info and inspiration become secondary. Important features or messages get prioritized in the visual layout so the user can quickly complete their job.

Ultimately, JTBD helps teams stay anchored. It ensures that UX strategy and product design align with what really matters to your users – and makes every design choice more purposeful.

Once you’ve captured the JTBD insights, it’s time to bring them to life in your interface. This is where wireframes come in – early-stage layouts that visually map where content, navigation, and actions will appear. Wireframes act as a blueprint before the design is finalized. Using JTBD in this process ensures wireframes aren’t just placeholders, but tools shaped directly by customer needs.

So how do you go from a job statement to layout details? Let’s break it down.

Start with the job statement

Say a customer insight reveals the following job: “I want to compare subscription options so I can choose the best value for my family.”

This job guides design choices in layout and flow. The experience must support comparison – so a wireframe might include:

• Side-by-side pricing tables for fast scanning
• Visual indicators (like checkmarks or color-coded features) for easy comparison
• A clear CTA such as “Choose Plan” next to each column

From JTBD to layout strategy

Mapping the job’s motivations to interface design requires translating needs into structure. Here’s how JTBD can influence specific wireframe elements:

Page structure and flow

If the job revolves around completing a task quickly (e.g., "I want to reserve a table before I leave work"), then your wireframe might focus on a short, clear path: minimal steps, top-of-page CTA, saved preferences, and auto-complete fields.

Content prioritization

Let JTBD guide what information is most important. Users who want to “explore healthy meal ideas for busy nights” don’t need long onboarding. Your wireframe for a recipe section might highlight quick-prep options or filters like “20 minutes or less” right upfront.

Functional components

Does the job require regular repetition? Consider placing recurring features – like a “Reorder” or “Repeat Last Task” button – in a prominent location. Your layout should anticipate the user’s next move based on the job they’re repeatedly hiring the product to do.

Mobile-first perspective

Because many jobs are performed on the go, designing mobile-responsive wireframes using JTBD is especially smart. Think larger buttons, simplified interfaces, and fewer scrolls – all centered around helping the user get the job done easily from any device.

This approach leads to wireframes that serve as more than placeholders. They become decision tools: every section of the page answers the question "Does this help the user get their job done?" Through this method, product teams can prototype experiences that are useful, usable, and rooted in real customer insight.

At SIVO Insights, we’ve seen how wireframing based on real user jobs drives stronger user adoption and satisfaction. It's not only about aesthetic design – it's about providing value by making things easier, clearer, and more helpful based on what users truly need.

When you understand what a user is really trying to accomplish, it becomes much easier to design a product interface that helps them get there. That’s the power of leveraging Jobs to Be Done (JTBD) when laying out your product or UX design. By focusing on a user’s core tasks, you can create wireframes that put the most important features front and center – and deprioritize the rest.

At its core, JTBD offers a lens to prioritize features and layout based on actual customer needs, not assumptions. Instead of starting with a list of technical capabilities or business goals, design teams begin with the user's desired outcome.

Prioritizing Layout with JTBD in Mind

Let’s say a user’s job statement is: “When I’m planning a trip, I want to compare hotel prices quickly so I can make a smart decision.” This tells us key layout priorities for a travel booking site:

• Clear, prominent search bar at the top
• Side-by-side pricing comparison table
• Filters to customize search by location, date, and rating

These layout decisions aren’t just design preferences – they directly tie back to the job your customer is trying to get done. This is how JTBD layout strategy helps guide what needs to be accessible first in the user interface versus what elements can be secondary.

Which Features Truly Solve the Job?

JTBD forces product design teams to ask: Does this feature solve a real customer pain point? For example, if a feature doesn’t support any functional, emotional, or social job you've uncovered in interviews, it may be worth reconsidering its placement – or its inclusion altogether.

The result is a cleaner, more focused layout that saves users time and cognitive load. This approach helps reduce “feature creep” and supports more intuitive user navigation across the product experience.

Using JTBD to Support UX Strategy

Whether you're tackling mobile UX or a complex dashboard interface, using customer insights in product design helps teams align on what matters most. Wireframes reflect that prioritization – giving users faster access to what they came looking for.

Jobs to Be Done isn’t just about what actions users want to take – it's also about how they want to feel and be perceived while taking those actions. This is where you can bring JTBD insights directly into interface design through clear, relevant calls to action (CTAs).

To design CTAs that truly resonate, consider the three types of jobs:

1. Functional Jobs

These are the most straightforward: what the customer is trying to do. For example, “I want to track my daily expenses” translates easily into interface CTAs like:

• “Add Expense”
• “View Spending Summary”
• “Export Budget Report”

Your CTA language should reflect the task, making it obvious and friction-free to complete the functional job.

2. Emotional Jobs

Emotional needs are often overlooked in product design, but they’re essential to user experience. For instance, a user might say, “I want to feel confident that I didn’t miss anything important.” How might that show up in your wireframe?

Consider CTAs like:

• “Review Before Submitting”
• “Save Progress”
• “Secure Checkout”

These phrases acknowledge the user’s emotional state and build trust. Pairing these CTAs with interface cues like checkmarks or progress bars can amplify reassurance.

3. Social Jobs

Social JTBD reflect how users want to be seen by others. A user might want to “appear informed among colleagues” when using a data visualization product. Interface design can support this with CTAs like:

• “Present This Report”
• “Share with Team”
• “Generate Slide Deck”

In these examples, you’re not just enabling a task – you’re helping the user achieve their identity goals through your product interface.

When designing wireframes, mapping each job category (functional, emotional, social) to specific CTAs creates a fuller, more intuitive experience. It’s a clear example of how turning jobs to be done into wireframes can result in better alignment between the user’s goals and your product design choices.

The leap from raw customer interviews to wireframes might feel daunting at first – but with a few simple steps, you can apply JTBD principles directly to your UX process. By structuring your analysis and building step-by-step toward interaction design, JTBD becomes a practical tool anyone on your team can use.

Step 1: Capture Complete Job Stories

Start by organizing interview notes into job story format: “When I [situation], I want to [motivation], so I can [expected outcome].” This framework grounds your product thinking in real-world triggers and goals, helping you structure your design accordingly.

Step 2: Group Jobs by Journey Stage

Map each job according to where it falls in the user journey – awareness, consideration, action, or support. This lets you pair jobs with the appropriate interface state, helping teams design better user flows with JTBD as their guide.

Step 3: Identify Functional Requirements

Break each job into what needs to be visible on the screen (UI elements), what actions the user should be able to take (interactions), and what information is needed for decision-making (content).

Step 4: Translate into Wireframe Concepts

This is where design thinking enters the process. Use sketches or low-fidelity wireframes to mock up layout, navigation, and calls to action. Keep referring back to the original jobs to ensure alignment with user intent.

For example, if a user’s job is to “decide which plan works best for my small business,” your wireframe should compare features, show pricing tiers side by side, and highlight a CTA like “Start Free Trial.”

Step 5: Validate with Real Users

Before moving into high-fidelity design, check your wireframes with real users or stakeholders. Ask, “Does this wireframe make it easier to do the job you described?” This step ensures your UX strategy remains grounded in actual user needs, avoiding cognitive biases or internal assumptions.

By following this step-by-step path, even beginners can move from qualitative customer insights to actionable UX design decisions. It's the perfect bridge between research and design, all through the lens of JTBD.