When conducting Jobs To Be Done (JTBD) research, your results are only as strong as the people you talk to. At its heart, JTBD is about understanding motivation – the deeper causes behind why people switch to, choose, or stay loyal to certain products or services. That means the people you interview need to actually have those experiences to share in the first place.

Interviewing the wrong participants – those who haven’t recently faced a key decision or switched between solutions – can give you vague input that fails to reveal new or useful insights. On the other hand, speaking with the right individuals helps uncover real patterns, unmet needs, and decision-making triggers. These are the types of learnings that fuel smarter product development, sharper messaging, and stronger customer alignment.

How Interview Selection Impacts Insight Quality

One of the most common missteps in JTBD research is defaulting to 'easiest to reach' customers instead of the most relevant ones. While convenience sampling might work in some forms of user research, JTBD thrives on depth and context. The goal isn’t just to hear opinions – it’s to reconstruct the story of a decision and discover the job the customer was trying to complete.

Without that story, you're left relying on assumptions rather than data-driven truths. Weak participant selection can lead to:

• Flat or repetitive feedback that doesn't surface anything new
• Missed opportunities to identify pain points, triggers, and unmet needs
• Misleading insights due to lack of recent or relevant experiences

What Makes a 'Right' Participant in JTBD Research?

The ideal JTBD interview subject has recently faced a decision, performed a specific job, or switched from one solution to another. Timing matters – someone who bought a product three years ago might offer blurred details, while someone who switched two weeks ago can recall their motivations clearly. In JTBD, clarity comes from currency.

Choosing your JTBD research participants intentionally allows you to uncover:

• Detailed decision-making processes
• True competitive alternatives, even those outside your category
• Emotional drivers that don't show up in surveys or focus groups

In short, who you interview sets the stage for every meaningful insight your team will uncover. Aligning participant selection with your JTBD goals ensures you’re building your strategy on insight, not assumption.

Now that we understand why interview selection matters, let’s explore the different roles people play in the buying journey – and why each one can add something valuable to your Jobs To Be Done research. JTBD interviews aren't just about talking to customers; they’re about talking to the right kinds of customers and decision influencers.

1. Job Executors

The 'job executor' is the person actually using the product or service to get something done. This participant type is essential because they can describe the real-world context where your offering either helped or failed. They bring firsthand stories about friction points, workarounds, and what success looks like.

Why they matter: These interviews reveal functional and emotional needs your product addresses – or misses. They’re the core of any customer-centric insight strategy.

2. Decision-Makers

Combined with users, decision-makers provide insight into the selection and buying process. In some industries, these may be different people – for example, a hospital administrator might choose medical equipment, but a nurse or technician is the one using it daily.

Why they matter: Understanding what drives the purchase (pricing, brand, features, timing) brings clarity to how to position and sell your offer.

3. Switchers

This group is especially powerful in JTBD research. Switchers are people who recently changed from using one solution to another – whether they moved to or away from your product. They’re rich sources of insight because they can clearly articulate their before-and-after stories.

Why they matter: Switchers help you uncover the forces of change: what pushed them away from their old solution, and what attracted them to the new one. These moments of change are at the heart of strong JTBD insights.

4. Repeat Customers

Users who continue to choose your product over time offer context on consistency and brand loyalty. They may not have recently switched, but they can help you understand what keeps people coming back.

Why they matter: Their feedback helps uncover your product’s staying power, perceived value, and emotional resonance over time.

5. Prospective Buyers – or Near-Misses

Sometimes, the people who didn’t become customers tell you the most. They considered your offer, weighed alternatives, and ultimately chose differently.

Why they matter: Understanding what led to their decision (and where your experience fell short) sheds light on strengthening your product–market fit.

As you design your JTBD research, aim for a mix of these participant types. A balanced group offers a well-rounded view of the customer experience – from initial trigger all the way to purchase and use. That’s the kind of foundation that supports meaningful, strategic consumer insights.

When conducting Jobs To Be Done (JTBD) research, it's essential to go beyond generic customer interviews. You need to understand how different types of people interact with your product or service, and what jobs they are trying to get done. Three core participant roles often show up in JTBD user research: Switchers, Executors, and Decision-Makers.

Switchers: People Who Recently Changed Solutions

Switchers are individuals who have recently changed from one product, service, or brand to another. They provide unique insights into the moments of dissatisfaction and the motivations that drove them to seek a better alternative.

Talking to Switchers helps answer questions like:

• What wasn’t working with their old solution?
• What made them curious about something new?
• What triggered the final decision to switch?

Because they’re close to the moment of change, Switchers often recall their decision-making process with clarity – making them a goldmine for understanding unmet needs and competitor weaknesses.

Executors: The Hands-On Users

An Executor is the person who directly interacts with a product or service to get a job done. In some cases, the Executor and the Buyer may be the same person – in others, they’re completely separate.

Executors can tell you:

• What tasks they actually perform daily
• Which friction points they face during usage
• How your product fits (or fails to fit) into their current routine

This group is ideal for uncovering functional insights. Perhaps the interface is confusing, setup is time-consuming, or onboarding doesn’t match their needs. Their feedback helps shape design improvements and more relevant features.

Decision-Makers: The People Who Say “Yes”

Some people never touch the product, but their approval is what greenlights the purchase. These are your Decision-Makers – often managers, executives, or heads of households. They may not execute the job themselves, but they make the call on what solution gets used.

Interviewing these individuals reveals:

• What priorities drive purchase decisions?
• What financial, safety, or efficiency concerns come into play?
• What alternatives were considered before buying?

Each of these roles offers a different – yet essential – perspective. Understanding the interplay between them is the key to strong JTBD research. Talk to all three, and patterns will emerge that point to true opportunity areas.

Identifying the best people to interview for Jobs To Be Done research starts with knowing not just who your customer is – but what situation they’re in. You're not just looking to talk to a general audience. You're aiming to recruit insight participants who can speak to recent decisions, current pain points, and specific goals related to the 'job' at hand.

Start with Experience, Not Just Demographics

In JTBD research, it’s more valuable to find people who recently tried to solve a problem than to simply match demographic profiles. Consider targeting people who have:

• Recently switched from one product or service to another
• Actively evaluated multiple options
• Decided to delay a decision or stick to the status quo

Someone who has gone through a full decision-making journey will yield much more actionable insights than someone who hasn't felt a need or taken any action related to the job you're studying.

Use Multiple Channels for Recruitment

Once you know the qualities of the participants you’re after, cast your net wide using the right channels, such as:

• Existing customers (via surveys or CRM outreach)
• Online communities and forums related to your category
• Social media groups or targeted ads
• Third-party recruitment partners

Don’t assume that buyer interviews should only involve current users. Non-users or even lapsed users may offer the most revealing stories about unmet needs.

Screen Effectively and Thoughtfully

Once you’ve got a pool of potential participants, screening is crucial. A good screener doesn’t just check for age or income – it identifies experience triggers. Be sure to ask questions like:

• “Have you recently considered or purchased [solution X]?”
• “Can you describe a recent time when you needed to accomplish [job Y]?”

This helps you avoid interviewing people who are too far removed from the decision or whose insights won’t connect to the job you’re investigating.

Why Getting It Right Matters

Recruiting the right JTBD interview participants isn’t just about filling seats – it directly impacts the strength of your findings. By focusing on job-related behaviors and recent actions, you ensure that your market research captures real, relevant signals from the people who matter most.

Even the best-designed Jobs To Be Done interview guide can fall short if your participant pool is off-target. Interview selection plays a critical role in whether your findings are meaningful or misleading. To get the full picture in your consumer insights research, avoid these common pitfalls during participant selection.

Mistake 1: Picking Based on Demographics Alone

Many companies default to age, gender, or income bracket when selecting users for research. But for JTBD, those signals don’t always relate to motivation or decision-making. A 35-year-old tech buyer and a 55-year-old IT manager might buy the same product for very different reasons – or even the same reasons. Instead, focus on behavior, need state, and recency of experience with the job.

Mistake 2: Overlooking Non-Adopters and Switchers

It’s tempting to zero in on your loyal customer base. But only talking to existing users leaves blind spots. People who evaluated your product but chose a competitor – or who recently switched to or away from your offering – can teach you just as much, if not more. Including Switchers in your buyer interviews gives you critical insight into the forces that drive or derail conversions.

Mistake 3: Overloading on One Role Type

Only interviewing Decision-Makers without hearing from Executors can obscure key pain points in usage. Likewise, focusing only on Executors might miss strategic or budget-related concerns. A balanced mix allows you to explore both the “why” behind the purchase and the “how” of daily use.

Mistake 4: Forgetting to Validate the ‘Job’

Not every customer faces the same problem – and JTBD is about the job, not the buyer. Confirm that participants actually had a goal to accomplish or a problem to solve in the area your product addresses. If they haven’t experienced the job, their feedback might skew your understanding.

Mistake 5: Relying Too Heavily on Internal Assumptions

Finally, avoid letting marketing personas or company assumptions drive who you screen in – or out. Let the data speak. A beginner-friendly JTBD mindset embraces curiosity and looks for lived experience over imagined profiles.

By avoiding these participant recruiting mistakes, you increase your chances of uncovering rich, accurate consumer insights that drive smarter decisions across product design, marketing, and long-term strategy.