jobs-to-be-done

# Jobs to Be Done Framework

Framework for discovering innovation based on a fundamental truth: customers don't buy products -- they "hire" them to do a specific job in their lives.

## Core Principle

**Job to Be Done** = the progress a customer wants to make in specific circumstances.

Key elements of the definition:
- **Progress** (not goal, not solution) -- the customer wants to move from the current state to a better one
- **Circumstances** -- context determines the job, not customer attributes (demographics are useless)
- **Hiring/Firing** -- the customer actively chooses a product for the "job"

## Scoring

**Goal: 10/10.** Rate product strategy or positioning 0-10 against the principles below. Always state the current score and the specific improvements needed to reach 10/10.

## Three Dimensions of Every Job

Every job has three inseparable dimensions -- omitting any means failure:

| Dimension | Question | Example (milkshake) |
|-----------|----------|---------------------|
| **Functional** | What does the customer need to do? | Occupy myself during a boring commute |
| **Emotional** | How do they want to feel? | Have a small treat for myself |
| **Social** | How do they want to be perceived? | As a sensible parent (not buying donuts) |

## Framework

### 1. The Job Statement

**Core concept:** A job statement captures the progress a customer seeks in a specific circumstance, in a structured format separating context, desired progress, and expected outcome.

**Why it works:** Forcing teams to articulate the job in the customer's language and circumstances prevents solution-first thinking and grounds innovation in real human progress.

**Key insights:**
- Format: "When [circumstances], I want to [progress], so I can [outcome]"
- Circumstances matter more than demographics -- the same person has different jobs in different situations
- A well-written job statement never mentions your product or any specific solution
- Jobs are stable over time; solutions change but the underlying job persists

**Product applications:**

| Context | Application | Example |
|---------|-------------|---------|
| New product ideation | Define the job before brainstorming features | "When I'm commuting alone, I want something to occupy me and satisfy hunger, so I'm not hungry until lunch" |
| Feature prioritization | Evaluate whether a feature serves the core job | Features that advance the stated job beat nice-to-haves |
| Positioning & messaging | Use job statement language in copy | Lead with circumstance and progress, not product specs |

**Copy patterns:**
- "When you're [circumstance], you need [progress] -- that's exactly what [product] does"
- Lead with the situation the customer recognizes, not the product category
- Mirror the emotional and social dimensions alongside the functional one

**Ethical boundary:** Never fabricate or exaggerate circumstances to manufacture urgency -- the job must reflect genuine progress, not artificial anxiety.

See: [references/innovation-process.md](references/innovation-process.md) for job hunting methodology, the job atlas, and statement templates.

### 2. Forces of Progress (Push, Pull, Anxiety, Habit)

**Core concept:** The decision to "hire" a new product results from four forces: Push (frustration with the current situation), Pull (attraction of the new solution), Anxiety (fear of the new), and Habit (comfort with the current behavior). Change happens only when Push + Pull > Habit + Anxiety.

**Why it works:** Most innovation efforts only increase Pull while ignoring the anti-change forces -- which is why great products still fail to gain adoption.

**Key insights:**
- Push: "this annoys me"; Pull: "I want this"; Habit: "I've always done it this way"; Anxiety: "what if it doesn't work?"
- Reducing anxiety and habit is often more effective than increasing push and pull
- Passive seekers (vaguely aware of a problem) are easier to influence than active seekers who already have criteria

**Product applications:**

| Context | Application | Example |
|---------|-------------|---------|
| Onboarding design | Reduce anxiety with trials, guarantees, social proof | Money-back guarantee answers "what if it doesn't work?" |
| Switching campaigns | Make migration effortless to defeat habit | One-click data import from competitor |
| Content marketing | Awaken push in passive seekers by naming the frustration | "5 signs your current tool is costing you hours every week" |

**Copy patterns:**
- Address anxiety directly: "No lock-in, cancel anytime, your data is always yours"
- Name the push: "Tired of [frustration]? There's a better way"
- Reduce habit friction: "Switch in 5 minutes -- we import everything automatically"

**Ethical boundary:** Reducing real anxiety is ethical; manufacturing fear or exaggerated pain to drive sales is manipulation.

See: [references/competitive-strategy.md](references/competitive-strategy.md) for forces analysis, non-obvious competition, and jobs-based positioning.

### 3. The Big Hire & Little Hire

**Core concept:** Two distinct decision moments: the Big Hire (purchase/signup, happens once) and the Little Hire (decision to use in the moment, happens repeatedly). Winning the Big Hire does not guarantee the Little Hire.

**Why it works:** Many products win the sale but lose the customer because they optimize only the purchase decision -- understanding both moments reveals where retention problems truly originate.

**Key insights:**
- Big Hire is driven by marketing, onboarding, and first impressions; Little Hire by product quality, UX, and ongoing value
- Big Hire anxiety is purchase risk; Little Hire anxiety is effort and learning curves
- Retention problems are almost always Little Hire failures -- purchased but never used

**Product applications:**

| Context | Application | Example |
|---------|-------------|---------|
| Retention analysis | Separate Big Hire from Little Hire metrics | Track "first use after signup" and "weekly acti