Not all insights are created equal. Even within a sound framework like Jobs to Be Done, certain insights naturally lead to decision-making, while others leave teams scratching their heads. The biggest differentiator is *actionability* – the degree to which an insight can guide a specific, strategic response.

In JTBD research, you’re exploring the functional, emotional, and social reasons behind customer behavior. But identifying a ‘job’ is only valuable if it relates to a problem your team can solve – and has enough detail to inform meaningful changes. That’s where the gap appears between interesting and actionable.

Common Reasons JTBD Insights Fall Short

Even well-intentioned research can generate JTBD insights that don’t move the needle. Here’s why that happens:

• Too vague or high-level: “Customers want a more efficient experience” sounds good, but without specifics it’s hard to execute.
• Lack of relevance to business goals: An insight might reflect a real user need but not connect to your brand’s current priorities or capabilities.
• No clear unmet need: Some jobs are already well-served by existing solutions, so insights about them don’t warrant action.
• Fragmented or inconsistent data: If similar users describe jobs in very different ways, it may signal unclear segmentation or flawed interviews, diminishing trust in the insight.

The Difference Between Curiosity and Clarity

It’s helpful to think of all JTBD learnings as existing on a spectrum. On one end, you have observations: interesting facts about consumer behavior or user preferences. These can spark curiosity – which is important – but they don’t offer clear direction.

Actionable JTBD insights go further by tying user behavior to specific unmet customer needs and showing how addressing them could lead to measurable business impact. They also tend to align with a company’s product strategy, innovation goals, or growth metrics.

In short, an actionable insight makes you say: “Now we know what to do next.”

How to Avoid the 'So What?' Trap

Teams taking a JTBD approach often find great information through interviews or surveys – but if all they generate is a list of jobs, they’re stopping short. The power comes when those jobs connect to market opportunities or operational decisions.

To avoid falling into the ‘so what?’ trap, consider pairing JTBD insights with:

• Quantitative validation: How broadly is this job felt across your target audience?
• Competitive analysis: Are there gaps in how current providers meet this job?
• Prioritization frameworks: Which unmet needs align with your strategic focus?

When framed with clarity and next-step relevance, Jobs to Be Done insights can become powerful tools for driving product development, customer experience design, and overall business strategy.

So, what makes a Jobs to Be Done insight truly actionable? While the JTBD framework itself helps uncover valuable patterns in user behavior and decision-making, the real impact comes when those insights lead to strategic moves – whether in product development, marketing messaging, or broader business growth.

Here are three essential traits to look for when evaluating the quality and actionability of a JTBD insight:

1. Clarity: The Job Is Specific and Well-Articulated

An actionable insight clearly defines the job the customer is trying to accomplish. It leaves little room for interpretation and gives teams a focused target to design around.

For example, rather than saying “Parents want help with meal planning,” a clearer version might be “Single parents need a way to quickly plan healthy dinners during busy weekday evenings without extra trips to the grocery store.” The second version spells out a context and constraint that fosters problem-solving.

Clarity matters because it allows cross-functional teams – from design to marketing – to center around the same goal.

2. Relevance: It Ties Directly to Business Objectives

Not every customer need is worth pursuing right now. Actionable JTBD insights align with current business strategy, making them immediately usable by decision-makers.

Ask: Does this insight help us improve a core product? Expand into a new audience? Strengthen CX? If the answer is yes, it’s worth further investment.

Relevance ensures that insights are not just interesting – they’re influential. They fit into your company’s broader roadmap and help justify budget, headcount, or innovation initiatives.

3. Action Orientation: There’s a Clear Problem to Solve

Actionable insights reveal unmet needs – pain points or gaps in the current experience. Ideally, they also include a sense of urgency or consequences, helping product teams prioritize quickly.

Look for signals like:

• “Customers are hacking together their own workarounds.”
• “Users delay purchases because X step creates friction.”
• “Buyers abandon the journey when Y job remains unfilled.”

These signs show real user frustration your business can play a role in solving – and that’s where action begins.

Putting It All Together

A useful way to test the actionability of a JTBD insight is to apply a simple filter before moving forward:

• Is it clearly understood by your team?
• Does it connect to business priorities?
• Can it guide a tangible next step – like a prototype, message test, or roadmap feature?

Insights that check all three boxes don’t just inform – they inspire. That’s the real power of pairing the JTBD framework with disciplined consumer insight work: translating real-world human needs into real business results.

At the heart of the Jobs to Be Done (JTBD) framework is a deep understanding of customer needs — especially the ones that aren't fully addressed by current solutions. Actionable JTBD insights uncover these unmet needs and help businesses design better products, services, and experiences that align with real user behavior and motivations.

Why Unmet Needs Matter in Market Research

Customers often have “jobs” they’re trying to complete in their lives — like preparing a healthy meal quickly, staying connected on the go, or entertaining kids while working. When they struggle to complete these tasks efficiently, those struggles reveal unmet needs. These are prime opportunities for innovation and business growth.

Market research that uncovers these pain points creates clarity about what truly matters to users. Actionable insights highlight not just what people say they want, but what they’re trying to achieve. This distinction turns assumptions into strategy.

How JTBD Insights Identify Gaps in the Market

The best JTBD insights link product or service features directly to the outcomes customers are hiring those solutions for. If a feature isn’t helping customers achieve their desired outcome faster, easier, or better — that’s a red flag. On the flip side, identifying where current solutions fall short can spark ideas for product development or customer experience improvements.

For instance, a ride-sharing service might learn that customers aren’t just hiring it for transportation, but for the peace of mind that they’ll arrive on time. If delays happen often, that unmet need becomes an opportunity to adjust operations, messaging, or features.

What Makes These Insights Actionable?

• They are specific: Identifying exact pain points or desired outcomes (not vague preferences)
• They align with business goals: Clear connections between customer needs and what the organization aims to achieve
• They suggest direction: They point toward immediate action steps, such as prototyping or messaging changes

When grounded in unmet consumer needs, JTBD insights move beyond observation — they serve as a blueprint for action.

Next, let’s bring these ideas to life with real-world examples.

Understanding the theory is one thing — but seeing actionable JTBD insights in the wild brings the concept to life. Below are a few simplified examples of how real businesses have used Jobs to Be Done to identify unmet customer needs and drive better outcomes.

Example 1: Home Cleaning Product for Busy Parents

JTBD Insight: “I want to clean the house quickly during naptime without waking the baby.”

This insight revealed that parents weren’t just hiring a cleaning product to disinfect — they were hiring it for convenience and quiet. That unmet need led a household brand to reposition a quieter, low-scent cleaning spray as “nap-friendly,” with changes in packaging and marketing. Sales grew in parenting channels and social media engagement spiked.

Example 2: Streaming Service for Commuters

JTBD Insight: “I want to start a show during my work commute and easily pick it up later at home.”

This pointed out a clear need for seamless playback across devices. The platform improved its syncing experience and even introduced short-form content tailored to commute windows. Usage during weekday mornings increased by double digits.

Example 3: Grocery Delivery for Rural Customers

JTBD Insight: “I want to get fresh groceries without waiting days for delivery.”

Instead of investing in faster shipping, one grocer partnered with local pickup hubs in underserved areas. These changes weren't based on assumptions — they were tightly aligned with action-worthy insights from consumer interviews and behavioral data.

What Can We Learn from These?

• JTBD insights go beyond demographics: It's not “mothers aged 35–50” — it's “making life easier in a specific moment.”
• Actionable insights point to value creation: Each example led to decisions that added measurable value to the customer experience.
• Real change starts with real context: When businesses understand the deeper ‘why’ behind customer behavior, their solutions resonate more deeply.

As these examples show, actionable JTBD insights aren’t abstract. They’re practical tools for product development, marketing, service design, and broader business strategy.

If you’re investing in the Jobs to Be Done framework, the goal isn’t just generating insights — it’s turning those insights into action. To do this, your research process should be designed not only for discovery, but for clarity and alignment with business outcomes.

1. Ask the Right Questions

JTBD insights start with understanding what people are really trying to accomplish in their everyday lives. Instead of asking, “What features do you like?” ask, “What were you trying to get done when you chose this?” It shifts the focus from product usage to actual intent and context, unlocking more meaningful innovation research.

2. Focus on Functional, Emotional, and Social Jobs

Jobs aren’t only about accomplishing tasks. Customers “hire” products for how they make them feel (emotional) or how they are perceived by others (social). Capture all three layers to get a complete picture of user behavior and needs.

3. Look for Moments of Struggle

Unmet customer needs often emerge where people are patching together their own workarounds. Be curious about points of friction, frustration, or hesitation. These moments often highlight conditions where current offerings fall short – and opportunity lies.

4. Bring the Business Lens Early

Involving stakeholders from product, marketing, and leadership early ensures your research aligns with strategic priorities. This makes it easier to translate findings into business strategy and implementation plans later.

5. Tell a Clear Story

Once you gather insights, make sure they’re presented clearly and tied to actual decisions. A good JTBD report includes the customer’s “job,” pain points, existing solutions, and recommendations for action. The simpler the story, the more momentum you’ll build across teams.

Making JTBD research more actionable is not about using more data — it’s about using the right data, in the right way, to spark the right outcomes. When done well, it guides not just what to build, but why it matters to your users.