The Jobs To Be Done (JTBD) framework helps companies shift their focus away from products and demographics, and toward understanding what progress customers are trying to make in their lives. It’s about identifying the "job" a customer is hiring a product or service to do. While JTBD might seem philosophical at first, it’s increasingly used in innovation research, market research, and product development to create solutions that truly align with customer needs.

That’s where job statements come in. They are the building blocks of the JTBD framework – clear, concise descriptions of what a customer wants to accomplish and why. A well-crafted job statement articulates the outcome a customer is pursuing, not just what they buy or use.

What is a Job Statement in JTBD?

A job statement captures the core task a customer is trying to complete, typically starting with a verb to describe the desired action or improvement. It avoids naming specific products, features, or solutions. Instead, it focuses on the customer’s goals and struggles in context – helping your team clarify what real progress looks like from the user's point of view.

For example: "Get a child to fall asleep quickly at night." This is a functional job statement – it’s not about nightlights or lullabies; it’s about the progress a parent wants to make.

Why Job Statements Matter

Job statements refocus your innovation and marketing efforts around jobs customers actually care about. This helps to:

• Clarify customer needs in plain terms
• Uncover unmet needs in emotional or social contexts
• Guide product development with purpose and precision
• Avoid “feature creep” by focusing on outcomes, not inputs

How Job Statements Support Innovation

In practice, job statements are used in both qualitative and quantitative research. For example, consumer interviews often reveal common goals or frustrations that can be translated into job statements. Understanding these statements helps research teams prioritize which problems to solve and identify customer segments with shared jobs.

In growth frameworks or innovation roadmaps, job statements also serve as anchor points – driving brainstorming, prototyping, and design thinking initiatives that truly align with customer intent. Many customer-focused organizations today use job statements in partnership with personas, journey maps, and other tools to ensure every touchpoint supports the right job.

The takeaway? Job statements translate customer intent into focus areas for innovation. They’re a simple tool, but a powerful one when used well – and they’re essential for applying JTBD effectively in market research.

Not all customer jobs are created equal. In the Jobs To Be Done framework, job statements are typically grouped into three main categories: functional, emotional, and social. Each represents a different dimension of what your customer is trying to achieve with the help of your product or service.

1. Functional Jobs: What Customers Are Trying to Do

Functional jobs are the tasks customers need to complete. These are usually practical, objective, and directly measurable. They form the foundation of most JTBD thinking because they are easy to observe and quantify in research.

For example:

• “Keep food fresh longer without using plastic wrap”
• “Schedule doctor appointments easily without calling”

In market research, identifying functional jobs often starts with asking customers what they’re trying to get done during a given task or context – not just with your product, but in life more broadly.

2. Emotional Jobs: How Customers Want to Feel

Emotional jobs go deeper. They reflect the feelings or internal states a person desires while completing a task. Often, these jobs are less vocalized but strongly influence behavior.

Examples include:

• “Feel confident about managing my finances”
• “Feel reassured that my baby is safe at night”

Emotional jobs highlight why customers behave a certain way even when logic might suggest otherwise. They’re especially useful when creating products or messaging that resonate on a human level.

3. Social Jobs: How Customers Want to Be Perceived

Social jobs involve how people want others to see them. These statements uncover the impact of societal expectations or peer influence on customer choices.

Consider statements like:

• “Be seen as environmentally responsible by my peers”
• “Be admired for making healthy food choices for my family”

Social jobs often emerge in community-oriented moments, such as parenting, leadership, or lifestyle branding. They help businesses connect with broader identity goals that go beyond function.

Why These Categories Matter

Each category gives you a richer understanding of customer motivation. While a functional job may explain what a customer wants to do, emotional and social jobs reveal deeper dimensions of behavior and preference. In innovation or product development initiatives, looking at all three types ensures your solution is not just usable – but desirable and meaningful, too.

Strong JTBD job statements often weave these elements together. For example, a complete job statement might look like: "Help me serve healthy dinners quickly (functional) so I feel like a good parent (emotional) and appear committed to my family’s well-being (social)."

The better you are at recognizing all three types of customer jobs, the more effective your innovation research will be – shaping products and services that truly meet real people’s needs.

In the context of consumer research, clear and well-articulated job statements are essential. They act as a bridge between what your customers want to accomplish and how your business can help them succeed. Without a precise understanding of these "customer jobs," it's easy to misalign product features, marketing messages, and even innovation strategies.

At its core, the Jobs To Be Done (JTBD) framework encourages organizations to look beyond traditional demographics and ask a fundamental question: What is the customer trying to get done? This insight leads to more human-centered solutions, backed by real-world motivations.

Helping Organizations Understand True Customer Needs

Job statements crystallize what drives behavior. Instead of guessing at preferences or relying solely on past purchases, businesses use job statements to reveal why customers make certain choices. This reduces assumptions and centers decision-making on purposeful actions.

For example, a customer isn’t just buying a noise-canceling headset—they may be hiring it to reduce stress while working from home. That shift in perspective opens the door to more thoughtful product design and messaging.

Clarity Leads to Better Research and Better Outcomes

Clear job statements guide research in the right direction. They help you:

• Frame interview or survey questions that uncover deeper motivations
• Identify language and outcomes that truly resonate with target audiences
• Prioritize innovations that align with actual job needs, not just trends

When built into your market research strategy, job statements make your insights more actionable. They serve as a translation layer between raw data and strategic decisions.

Whether you're designing a new offering or refining an existing one, functional and emotional job statements bring the customer’s intent to light. This shared understanding can align cross-functional teams around a common direction, accelerate product roadmaps, and ultimately, better serve customer needs.

Writing an effective job statement in the Jobs To Be Done (JTBD) framework involves more than naming a customer task. It requires understanding the context, motivations, and desired outcome behind that task. A well-crafted job statement becomes a powerful tool that informs innovation, fuels research, and sparks real customer empathy.

The Basic JTBD Job Statement Template

Many use this simple yet effective job statement formula:

“When [situation], I want to [motivation], so I can [expected outcome].”

This structure helps you pinpoint not just the action, but also the emotion and context around it. It reflects both functional and emotional jobs in a clear, actionable way.

Examples of Job Statements in JTBD

Here are beginner-friendly JTBD examples across different industries:

• Tech Product: “When logging into a new app, I want to get started quickly, so I can feel confident using the service without confusion.”
• Healthcare: “When I feel unwell, I want access to trusted advice, so I can decide whether I need to see a doctor.”
• Retail: “When shopping for clothes online, I want to see models that look like me, so I can trust how the product will fit.”

Tips for Writing Better JTBD Job Statements

To write job statements that align with your market research and innovation goals, keep these practices in mind:

1. Focus on the job, not the product. It's not about your solution – it's about what the customer is trying to get done, regardless of brand or industry.

2. Use real words from your audience. Drawing from qualitative interviews, reviews, or support conversations adds authenticity to your statements and taps into emotional and social jobs.

3. Keep it human and simple. Avoid technical jargon. Your job statements should be understandable by anyone on your team, across sales, design, or strategy.

4. Test and iterate. Your initial job statements are hypotheses. Revisit and refine them as you gather more data through market research or product feedback.

Clear JTBD job statements not only clarify what matters to your customer – they also enable better alignment across your organization and sharper insights from your research initiatives.

Once you’ve developed clear, effective job statements, the next step is to put them to work. In the Jobs To Be Done (JTBD) framework, job statements aren’t just research artifacts – they’re strategic tools that support innovation, product development, and long-term planning. They help businesses stay focused on delivering real value, not just features.

How Job Statements Guide Innovation

Innovation starts with understanding. When your team knows what customers are trying to achieve – functionally, emotionally, and socially – it becomes much easier to generate meaningful ideas and avoid wasteful development.

Well-articulated customer jobs provide a clear benchmark for evaluating new concepts. If a proposed feature, service, or campaign doesn’t help customers get their job done faster, easier, or with more confidence, it’s probably not worth pursuing.

Turning Job Statements Into Strategy

JTBD job statements inform more than product innovation – they also shape strategies across departments:

• Marketing: Craft messaging that speaks directly to outcomes customers care about.
• Customer Experience: Identify journey friction points and moments of delight tied to specific customer jobs.
• Product Roadmaps: Prioritize features based on customer success rather than internal ideas alone.
• Sales Enablement: Equip teams with insights about customer motivations, not just technical specs.

A JTBD approach ensures that strategic choices reflect real needs, not assumptions. It’s a safeguard against shiny-object syndrome – where teams chase trends instead of serving core value.

From Insight to Action – The Role of Market Research

Research plays a critical role in validating and evolving your job statements. Customer interviews, ethnographies, survey data – all contribute to a deeper understanding of how real people define success. When paired with frameworks like JTBD, market research becomes more than a diagnostic tool – it becomes a driver of future opportunities.

Whether you're in the early stages of an idea or assessing an existing offer, clear job statements help teams align, innovate with purpose, and stay closer to what real people are trying to achieve.