Jobs to Be Done (JTBD) is a framework that helps businesses understand why people choose a particular product or service. Instead of focusing only on who the customer is – such as their age, gender, or other demographics – JTBD focuses on what the customer is trying to accomplish in a specific situation. These tasks or goals are called "jobs." People “hire” products, services, or platforms to get these jobs done. If the solution doesn’t deliver, they’ll look elsewhere.

In digital health, this framework becomes especially valuable. It allows healthcare providers, platforms, and developers to create experiences that don’t just function technically well, but that actively help patients succeed in their broader personal and clinical goals. From booking an appointment smoothly to feeling reassured after a virtual consultation, every action a patient takes through digital platforms connects back to a deeper need – or “job.”

Why JTBD is relevant to digital health strategy

Digital transformation in healthcare has brought incredible convenience, but it has also raised questions around usability, trust, and adherence. Health tech solutions often include a wide range of tools – mobile apps, patient portals, telehealth visits – but without a clear understanding of user motivations, they risk missing the mark.

Here’s where JTBD research helps. Market research guided by the Jobs to Be Done approach can illuminate what users are truly trying to achieve, beyond the surface-level tasks. For example, a virtual care platform might assume its job is “to provide fast appointments.” But deeper insight might reveal that users are actually trying “to feel reassured when they can’t see their doctor in person.” That emotional layer matters – and it should shape everything from product design to communication.

JTBD in digital health unlocks several key benefits:

• Better patient experience: By mapping tools around actual user needs, platforms feel more intuitive, responsive, and supportive.
• User-centered design: Features are built to solve real problems, not just to showcase technical capabilities.
• Focused innovation: Prioritize what matters most and avoid investing in features users don’t care about.
• Increased engagement: When users feel their health tech tool “gets them,” they’re more likely to use it consistently.

In short, JTBD shifts the design process from company-centered to patient-centered. It breaks down barriers and connects directly with what people want and need in their healthcare journey.

JTBD isn’t just a theory – it’s an actionable tool used in market research for digital health apps that leads to stronger design decisions and smarter strategies. At SIVO Insights, we’ve seen how this approach helps refine everything from telemedicine interfaces to digital health onboarding flows, ensuring solutions are rooted in real motivations and behaviors.

When patients use telemedicine platforms, they aren’t just making appointments or checking symptoms – they’re trying to achieve outcomes that help them feel better, stay informed, or maintain control over their health. Jobs to Be Done helps uncover these deeper motivations and ensures telehealth experiences are built around them.

Instead of viewing user actions like “booking a virtual visit” as the end goal, JTBD dives into what that action represents. What’s the patient trying to accomplish? Why do they feel the need to do it now? What would success look or feel like from their perspective?

Examples of common patient 'jobs' in a telemedicine context:

• To avoid the stress and time commitment of in-person visits – Patients often turn to telemedicine because they want care without driving, parking, long waits, or exposure risks.
• To get peace of mind between formal appointments – A virtual touchpoint can help patients feel reassured in moments of uncertainty about a diagnosis, symptom, or side effect.
• To manage chronic conditions more easily – People managing ongoing issues like diabetes or hypertension may “hire” telehealth to simplify routine checkups or medication adjustments.
• To involve caregivers in consultations more conveniently – Family members or home healthcare aides can often participate more easily via virtual formats.
• To protect personal privacy and dignity – For sensitive health issues, telemedicine sometimes feels less intimidating or exposes patients to fewer social or emotional risks.

Understanding these jobs leads to smarter design and messaging

Knowing what patients really want to get done allows businesses to fine-tune their offerings, interfaces, and communications. For example, a company learning that their patients feel anxious while waiting for test results might design a feature to manage expectations – like status alerts or quick educational prompts to reduce uncertainty.

Also, different segments often share different jobs. A teenager using telehealth for mental health support may have fundamentally different needs than a senior managing multiple prescriptions. That’s why JTBD is essential not just for creating one-size-fits-all features, but for identifying growth opportunities within different user segments.

When telemedicine insights reflect deeper patient 'jobs,' they unlock potential for product differentiation, better health outcomes, and stronger engagement. By integrating these insights into your digital health product design strategy, you can align your features, workflows, and messaging with the real-world goals and emotions of your users.

At SIVO, we help health tech teams uncover and validate these jobs through consumer-centered research. Whether you're launching a new telehealth app or iterating on an existing tool, starting with the right 'job' makes every decision downstream that much clearer and more impactful.

One of the most powerful aspects of the Jobs to Be Done (JTBD) framework is its ability to uncover both functional and emotional needs that shape how users interact with digital health apps. Traditional user research might focus on features and usability, but JTBD goes deeper. It reveals why users turn to a platform in the first place – what they're really trying to accomplish in the context of their lives and health priorities.

Understanding Functional Needs in Healthcare Apps

Functional needs relate to the practical problems users want to solve. In digital health and telemedicine, this could mean:

• Scheduling and managing virtual appointments with ease
• Following medication reminders or treatment plans
• Tracking symptoms or accessing medical records

Through JTBD interviews or market research methods, we can isolate these needs as “jobs” that patients hire the app to do. For example, a patient with chronic migraines might “hire” a symptom-tracking app not just to log pain episodes, but to better prepare for doctor visits and improve outcomes.

The Often-Overlooked Emotional 'Jobs'

Emotional needs in healthcare are just as critical – sometimes even more so. Patients want to feel in control, reassured, or understood. Emotional jobs can include:

• Reducing anxiety before a telemedicine appointment
• Feeling confident in one's self-care decisions
• Gaining peace of mind from remote monitoring tools

Using JTBD in a health tech strategy uncovers these hidden motivators. For example, a fictional teletherapy startup applying JTBD uncovered that users weren’t just seeking access to a therapist – they were hiring their platform to “feel supported during moments of isolation.” This deeper insight reshaped how the company designed its virtual connection features and guided patient onboarding for emotional comfort.

Why This Matters for Digital Health Apps

Functional jobs help design better features, but emotional jobs create lasting patient experiences. When both are understood, health tech providers can create products that fit more naturally into patients’ lives, increase engagement, and ultimately improve healthcare outcomes. That’s the reason more digital health trends today are moving toward user-centered design rooted in JTBD thinking – it leads to solutions that are not only usable, but truly meaningful.

When applied correctly, the Jobs to Be Done framework supports more than just better product design – it fuels a growth-focused digital health strategy by aligning with real user needs. Health tech companies and telemedicine providers often operate in a competitive and evolving space, where consumer trust and product adoption are critical. JTBD offers a strategic lens into what truly drives patient decisions, helping businesses stay ahead.

Unlock Deeper Market Differentiation

By identifying patient motivations that extend beyond surface-level goals, digital healthcare companies can position themselves uniquely. Instead of competing on speed or user interface alone, JTBD allows for differentiation through emotional value and relevance. For instance, if patients hire a virtual rehab app to “feel capable of self-managing recovery,” that insight can guide your tone, feature development, and brand message – setting you apart in a crowded market.

Reduce Feature Waste and Accelerate Innovation

One common challenge in health tech product development is building features that never fully land with users. JTBD-driven solutions help cut through the noise by identifying what matters most, so teams can prioritize resources effectively. Instead of adding more, you refine what already supports the patient’s job-to-be-done. This focus not only speeds up innovation cycles but also improves ROI on research and development efforts.

Strengthen Cross-Functional Teams with a Shared Vision

When marketing, product, and clinical teams use JTBD insights, they gain a common language that fosters collaboration. Everyone works toward solving the same patient “jobs” with a united understanding of the goal – whether that’s improving adherence, reducing missed appointments, or boosting user engagement metrics. It creates alignment across departments, making your entire operation more responsive and agile.

Inform Strategic GTM and Retention Plans

Applying market research for digital health apps through JTBD also gives teams clear insight into what messages resonate. If patients hire a chronic condition app not just to track symptoms but to “learn how to talk to their doctor more effectively,” then go-to-market (GTM) strategies and retention content can center around empowerment and knowledge. This leads to more relevant engagement over time.

Simply put, the benefits of Jobs to Be Done in healthcare extend far beyond UX. It helps turn digital tools into ongoing partners in care – differentiating offerings in a growing space while amplifying loyalty, strategic clarity, and trust.

Knowing how to apply Jobs to Be Done in healthcare is essential for transforming insight into action. From idea validation to feature prioritization, JTBD isn't just theory – it’s a practical tool for teams designing impactful health tech experiences that support improved patient retention and satisfaction over time.

Start with Real Patient Interviews

The foundation of JTBD research lies in understanding lived experiences. That means conducting interviews that explore not just what users do, but why they do it. Patients often articulate their goals in emotional or contextual terms – like needing to "avoid going back to the ER" or "feel confident in managing symptoms on their own." These phrases are gold when designing digital health platforms that truly resonate.

Translate Jobs into Pragmatic Product Features

Once jobs are identified, teams can tie them back to product function. For example, if the job is “stay connected to a care team without interrupting workday schedules,” solutions might include asynchronous messaging, smart notifications, or flexible appointment windows. These seemingly simple tweaks can dramatically improve the patient experience in telemedicine tools.

Use JTBD to Inform Prioritization and Roadmapping

Too often, health apps are loaded with features that go unused. JTBD helps teams build with purpose. By ranking jobs based on importance and frustration (how necessary the job is and how poorly it’s currently solved), you get a clear picture of where to focus development teams and roadmap planning. The result? A streamlined, relevant app that answers patients’ real needs.

Improving Patient Retention Through Continued Relevance

Retention in digital health doesn’t just depend on a good first experience. Apps must continue to prove their value over time – and JTBD offers a framework to revisit that value as patient needs evolve. For example, a fictional blood pressure monitoring platform realized that patients were “hiring” it initially for daily tracking but eventually wanted it to also help them “talk to their doctor with confidence.” That insight led to the addition of AI-guided summaries for appointments, boosting app engagement and satisfaction.

Seamlessly Pair JTBD With User-Centered Design Practices

JTBD supports existing product thinking by anchoring design decisions in user motivation. It harmonizes perfectly with user-centered design by prioritizing what users are trying to achieve, not just how they interact with the interface. This makes JTBD one of the most pragmatic growth frameworks for digital health companies focused on meaningful innovation.

Used effectively, it turns sporadic engagement into long-term participation – and turns useful apps into indispensable tools in a patient’s care journey.