Jobs To Be Done (JTBD) is a powerful framework in market research because it reframes how we think about customers. Rather than focusing only on demographics or product categories, it looks at what customers are trying to accomplish in their lives – the "jobs" they’re hiring solutions to complete. These jobs can be functional (e.g., "I need to manage my money better") or emotional (e.g., "I want to feel more in control of my finances").

What makes JTBD so valuable is that it reveals the true motivations behind customer behavior. Once these underlying jobs are identified through JTBD research, they become a guide for strategic decision-making – across product development, marketing, customer experience, and innovation planning.

From Understanding to Action

The process typically starts with deep qualitative or mixed-method consumer research. This might involve in-depth interviews, ethnographic studies, or surveys – all aimed at uncovering the core jobs customers are trying to get done. When done well, this is more than just gathering data – it's identifying patterns, priorities, and insights that speak to unmet needs or underserved opportunities.

These JTBD insights then serve as a strategic anchor. For example:

• In product strategy, they help define what problems to solve and why.
• In CX strategy, they point to pain points and expectations along the customer journey.
• In innovation, they inspire new offerings that align with customer goals.

Creating a Business Roadmap with JTBD

One of the most practical uses of JTBD research is creating a roadmap – whether for product development, experience design, or business growth. The jobs identified during research can be prioritized based on how critical they are to your audience and how well (or poorly) they are currently being served.

This becomes a foundation for ongoing decisions, such as:

• Which features to build first
• Where to focus improvements in the customer experience
• What marketing messages best resonate with core motivations

At SIVO Insights, we see JTBD as more than just a theory. It’s a practical tool for turning rich customer insights into clear, actionable strategies that reflect what people truly need. And when used effectively, it helps align your teams around a shared understanding of customer value – not just what they buy, but why they buy it.

Once Jobs To Be Done insights are gathered, the next step is crucial: turning those insights into strategy. But who exactly does that? In most organizations, applying JTBD research is a cross-functional effort – with several key roles combining their expertise to bring strategy to life.

1. Product Managers: Building with Purpose

Product managers are often on the front lines of insight translation. When they receive JTBD findings, their job is to connect those needs with product features, roadmaps, and user experience elements. For example, if a job is discovered like "help me plan healthy meals quickly," a product manager may prioritize recipe planning tools or streamlined grocery integrations. This is where jobs to be done product management really shines: aligning features with specific user motivations.

2. CX Leaders: Shaping the Experience

Customer experience (CX) teams use JTBD to identify where customer journeys succeed – and where they break down. For them, JTBD informs CX strategy by highlighting which aspects of the experience matter most. For instance, if customers want to "feel supported during onboarding," CX leaders might invest in chat support or video tutorials at that stage.

3. Innovation Strategists: Seeing What’s Next

Innovation and growth teams use JTBD to envision new offerings or redesign existing ones around unmet needs. These roles thrive on identifying white space – areas where the competition may be underdelivering. JTBD research helps pinpoint where new products could succeed by showing what customers are not yet satisfied with.

4. Insight Teams and Research Partners

This is where consultants, internal research teams, or partners like SIVO Insights come in. These professionals specialize in consumer research and insight translation – guiding internal teams on how to prioritize jobs, map them to business goals, and keep strategy aligned with what customers care about.

5. Marketing Teams: Communicating the Value

Finally, marketing teams use JTBD to shape messaging and campaign strategy. If you know the job your product is "hired" to do, you can speak more directly and persuasively to your audience. Instead of listing features, marketing communicates outcomes – tapping into emotional and functional jobs alike.

Turning Insights into an Aligned Strategy

In practice, these roles work together. A JTBD discovery that uncovers “help me feel more confident filing taxes on my own” may lead to a redesigned user interface (Product Management), a helpful onboarding flow (CX), an educational content hub (Marketing), and perhaps even new service tiers (Innovation).

Ultimately, creating strategy from research insights isn’t the job of one department – it’s a coordinated effort. And when all teams understand the "why" behind customer behavior, they’re better equipped to deliver on it. That’s why investing in insight translation – from research to roadmap – is so often where the real transformation happens.

Once Jobs To Be Done (JTBD) research uncovers the real reasons why customers hire – or fire – a product or service, the next step is turning those insights into action. This is where key business roles come in: product managers, customer experience (CX) leaders, and innovation strategists become the bridge between consumer research and business outcomes.

Product Managers: Turning Needs into Features

Product managers play a crucial role in converting JTBD insights into product strategy. When customer needs are clearly defined, PMs can identify what features matter most – and why. For example, if a customer says they "hire" a grocery delivery app to avoid going to the store after work, the product manager can explore ways to improve scheduling flexibility or delivery speed.

This process is about more than features – it’s about prioritization. Product managers use JTBD insights to:

• Identify core user jobs that the product should support
• Decide which new features align with real demand
• Position the product around outcomes, not just functionality

CX Leaders: Linking Consumer Insights to Experience Design

For CX professionals, understanding customer motivations is foundational for shaping better experiences. JTBD helps CX leaders rethink journeys, pain points, and emotions across touchpoints. Instead of siloed experiences per channel, JTBD reveals the why behind customer choices, helping to design a CX strategy aligned with real goals.

Let’s say a bank uncovers that customers hire their mobile app to feel in control of their finances. That insight could guide the CX team to simplify budgeting tools or redesign statement displays to reinforce confidence.

Innovation and Strategy Leaders: Mapping Direction Around Human Needs

JTBD is also critical fuel for long-term innovation planning. Strategy leaders use it to uncover unmet needs, spot whitespace in the market, and reframe problems from a consumer-first perspective. Rather than ideating based on trends or tech, they stay grounded in what customers are already trying to solve.

These leaders ask: What future jobs might emerge? How do we stay relevant as customers’ lives change? With this outlook, JTBD for CX teams and product leaders becomes part of a larger business roadmap – one that’s built to evolve alongside the people it serves.

Turning JTBD insights into strategy isn't automatic – it requires a disciplined approach to insight translation, planning, and execution. The most effective companies use a few key methods to ensure that their market research Jobs To Be Done findings actually guide product development and innovation workstreams.

Anchor Strategy to Validated Jobs, Not Assumptions

Real impact starts by focusing your roadmap on jobs that are backed by customer evidence – not hunches. Whether supported by qualitative interviews, surveys, or usage data, the insights should reflect actual customer struggles and motivations.

For example, if JTBD research shows parents "hire" a streaming platform to keep kids engaged while they cook dinner, roadmap initiatives might include content filters, auto-play educational shows, or parental controls focused on routine use – rooted in specific, validated needs.

Cluster Jobs Around Themes, Then Prioritize

Not all jobs are created equal. Grouping jobs into meaningful categories – like emotional jobs (e.g., feel peace of mind), functional jobs (e.g., manage time efficiently), or social jobs (e.g., appear competent to peers) – helps teams put the pieces together. Once categorized, prioritize based on:

• Frequency – how often the job arises
• Importance – how critical it is to the customer
• Frustration – how poorly the need is currently met

Build Cross-Functional Roadmaps

Creating strategy from research insights works best when teams co-own the solution. Product, design, R&D, and marketing functions should work together to outline the journey from insight to solution. For example, if you plan to address a need uncovered through JTBD, the product team might build features, marketing will shape messaging, and operations ensures delivery aligns with the promise.

Revisit and Evolve the Roadmap

JTBD isn’t a one-time input – it’s an evolving view of customer needs. As new insights come in, revisit the business roadmap to update priorities and ideas. Markets shift, habits change, and revisiting your strategy ensures it stays fresh and consumer-centered.

By following these practices, teams not only apply JTBD more successfully – they also stay closer to the humans at the heart of their strategy.

One of the most important drivers of successful JTBD strategy is cross-functional collaboration – especially between insights professionals and business strategists. Why? Because gathering data is only the first half of the challenge. It's the interpretation, alignment, and application of that data that sets high-performing teams apart.

Insight Without Application is a Missed Opportunity

Market research and consumer insights can generate powerful information about customer behavior and motivation. But without a strategy team to interpret and apply those findings to business challenges, that information risks becoming background noise. Conversely, strategy teams without input from research may rely on assumptions or outdated beliefs.

For example, imagine an insights team uncovers that urban commuters choose rideshare apps not just for convenience but for a sense of personal safety and control. If that insight is shared directly with brand and product leaders, it can trigger highly relevant innovations – such as in-app transparency features or quiet ride preferences. But if it sits in a research deck without strategic partnership, its value is lost.

The Power of Joint Decision-Making

When insights and strategy teams collaborate early and often, they’re able to:

• Translate customer insights into prioritized business opportunities
• Ensure JTBD observations align with organizational goals
• Design solutions that balance user needs and feasibility

By working together, they create a continuous loop where research feeds strategy, and strategy shapes future research questions – increasing both rigor and relevance over time.

Aligning Teams Builds Shared Vision

Bringing different functional leaders – such as CX, product, marketing, and innovation – into the JTBD activation process creates alignment. Everyone sees the customer in the same light, which leads to better communication, fewer silos, and faster progress down the business roadmap.

At SIVO, we often help clients design sessions or frameworks that connect insight translation to business planning. These moments drive momentum by turning “what we learned” into “what we’ll do next” – together.