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If you’re like us, you hire a cup of coffee every morning to start the day. Then you spend (probably too much) time deciding on food to hire for lunch. And you might choose a gas station to hire on the way home.
That’s right — hire. If this verbiage doesn’t make sense to you, you’re reading the right guide. Let’s talk about the Jobs-to-be-Done framework.
Understanding Jobs-to-be-Done
Jobs-to-be-Done is a transformative approach to consumer research, innovation and marketing. The idea was developed by Tony Ulwick, popularized by Clayton Christensen and continues to evolve with the help of other industry leaders, but here’s the premise:
People "hire" products and services to complete a specific goal – which is referred to as a "job".
People don't want a 1/4 inch drill, they want a 1/4 inch hole.
- Theodore Levitt, Harvard Business School
Coffee drinkers might hire their morning cup for energy or to start a routine that locks them in for the day. When it comes to hiring lunch, someone might want to complete the “job” of treating themselves (with a greasy burger), fueling up for a productive afternoon (with a salad bowl) or choosing a quick option to maximize break time (like going through the closest drive-thru).
A theory of progress
The belief behind Jobs-to-be-Done is that people hire products and services to make a specific type of progress in their lives. This changes the way we think about consumer decision-making, as it shifts the focus from short-term needs and desires to something longer-term and ongoing.
For example, patients don’t schedule consultations with orthopedic surgeons because they need back surgery. They’re meeting with surgeons because they want to live a life with less pain.
What is Jobs-to-be-Done used for?
Jobs-to-be-Done is also a theory of consumerism. Teams use it to understand:
- Consumer decision-making: Why consumers choose specific products or services, and why they switch from one brand to another.
- Direct and indirect competition: The other brands, products, or options your target audience considers hiring to complete a job.
- Innovation opportunities: Ways to identify unmet needs in the market that you can capitalize on to differentiate your brand and better serve consumers.
This information is helpful in product development, customer experience design and when building marketing strategies.
Why it works: The impact of emotions
What makes the Jobs-to-be-Done framework so effective as a research method? Its focus on the role of emotions in consumer decision-making.
There are many factors at play when people make purchasing decisions. They can be described as functional, emotional and social needs.
Emotions are a powerful motivator. We like to think that we make decisions based on logic, but our brains are actually wired to make decisions based on emotional impulse (and then justify the decision using logic later).
For example, when buying a new car, the “logical” choice might be an economic and reliable option like a Toyota Camry. But after test driving a BMW, the brain can often find a way to justify the price of luxury. (The surround view cameras and ventilated seats may not have drawn you in — but your brain will use them to rationalize the purchase.)
It’s important to know your customers’ functional needs, but they aren’t the reasons they hire your brand for the job. Jobs Theory uses in-depth interviews to uncover the reasons why consumers actually choose your brand — their emotional decision-drivers.
Related: At Cast and Hue, we use these insights to create Demand Profiles, which inform brand innovation, differentiation and marketing efforts.
Jobs-to-be-Done example: McDonald’s
One of the earliest examples of Jobs-to-be-Done in practice is a story about McDonald’s milkshakes. McDonald’s wanted to increase milkshake sales. They took a smart first step to improving their product: speaking to customers.
In their first approach to consumer research, the interviewers asked customers pointed questions about what they wanted out of the milkshakes — such as whether they wanted larger shakes or new flavors. McDonald’s changed the milkshakes based on this feedback, but sales didn’t improve. They went back to the drawing board.
That’s when they hired Clayton Christensen, who applied his new Jobs Theory to the challenge. Instead of asking customers about features, he sought to understand why they “hire” milkshakes in the first place. The findings were surprising.
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The job of a milkshake
Christensen found that most of the milkshakes were sold in the morning. When asking customers what was causing them to come to McDonald’s so early for a shake, he found that many of them were just looking for something that would keep them awake and engaged during a long commute to work. A cold and thick milkshake did the trick for them.
McDonald’s wasn’t competing against Burger King’s milkshakes or Friendly’s ice cream, as they may have assumed. They were competing against other snacks (like donuts) that would do the job of keeping commuters busy and satisfied.
Armed with this information, McDonald’s made it faster and more convenient for commuters to buy their morning shakes. They also made the milkshakes thicker, so they’d take longer to drink. The result? Milkshake sales spiked by 7x.
Jobs-to-be-Done in healthcare
How does this framework apply in a healthcare environment? Healthcare organizations can use Jobs Theory to understand why patients choose their specialists or clinics over others. (Or to understand why patients choose competitors, and how to be their first choice instead.)
Read more specific examples of how healthcare brands used Jobs-to-be-Done.
1. Using JTBD to inform positioning and marketing
Stridewell was new to the market and wanted insights to guide brand positioning. We helped Stridewell drill down on their audience’s specific emotional needs and create personas centered around each customer's Job to be Done. We call these personas "Demand Profiles."
Stridewell’s Demand Profiles inform their marketing strategy and help them create messaging that resonates with each of their patients.
2. Using JTBD to drive service line growth
MultiCare partnered with Cast & Hue to better understand why their orthopedic service line was experiencing lower numbers in South King County. We developed an approach that used Jobs-to-be-Done interviews to inform different needs-based personas with insights gleaned from talking to patients who received care at their system and patients receiving care at competitors in the region.
3. Using JTBD to design patient-centric experiences
MedStar PromptCare wanted to more closely align the experience at their urgent care centers with their patient-centric values. We held patient interviews, design thinking workshops and journey mapping sessions to provide a roadmap to achieving their goal.
Interested in Jobs-to-be-Done?
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