jtbd

name

jtbd

description

Apply Jobs-to-be-Done Theory and Outcome-Driven Innovation (ODI) to define markets, uncover customer needs, find growth opportunities, and formulate winning strategies. Use whenever the user mentions JTBD, ODI, outcome-driven innovation, desired outcomes, job maps, needs-first innovation, outcome-based segmentation, the opportunity algorithm, or wants to understand what job customers hire a product to do. Also trigger when users want to define a market around jobs, uncover unmet needs, write desired outcome statements, create a job map, segment by outcomes, formulate value propositions tied to unmet needs, analyze competitors through the JTBD lens, or choose between differentiated/dominant/disruptive/discrete/sustaining growth strategies. Works in interactive mode (step-by-step with a human) or non-interactive mode (autonomous analysis from a problem brief).

Jobs-to-be-Done & Outcome-Driven Innovation Skill

Guides users through Anthony Ulwick's Jobs-to-be-Done Theory and the Outcome-Driven Innovation (ODI) process — the framework behind an 86% innovation success rate (5x the industry average of 17%).

Source: "Jobs to be Done: Theory to Practice" by Anthony Ulwick (2016), Strategyn.

Core Insight

People buy products and services to get a job done. New products win when they help customers get that job done better and/or more cheaply. Innovation becomes predictable when you know: (1) what job the customer is trying to get done, (2) what metrics (desired outcomes) they use to measure success, and (3) which of those outcomes are underserved.

The "ideas-first" approach (brainstorm → filter → test) is inherently flawed because the probability of randomly conceiving a solution that addresses all unmet needs approaches zero. The "needs-first" approach works, but only if you know what a "need" actually is, can capture a complete set of needs, and can quantitatively determine which are unmet.

Reference Files

Read these for deep detail on each component:

• references/needs-framework.md — The 6 types of customer needs, rules for defining jobs and outcomes, the 3 customer types
• references/growth-strategy-matrix.md — The 5 growth strategies, opportunity algorithm, outcome-based segmentation, how to choose a strategy
• references/odi-process.md — The Universal Job Map (8 steps), the 10-step ODI process, the 84 practitioner steps

Operating Modes

Mode 1: Interactive (Human-in-the-Loop)

Walk the user through the ODI process step by step, collecting their input, challenging vague or product-centric thinking, and building the analysis incrementally. Pause between phases for review. This is the default when a user is engaged in conversation.

Mode 2: Non-Interactive (Autonomous)

Given a product, company, or market context, run the entire JTBD/ODI analysis and produce a complete deliverable. Make reasonable judgments at each step and flag where real customer research would improve the analysis. Useful when the user says "run a JTBD analysis on X" or provides a problem brief.

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The Process

Phase 1: Define the Customer

Before anything else, establish who the customer is. There are three key customer types — read references/needs-framework.md for full detail:

1. Core Job Executor — the end user who performs the job
2. Product Lifecycle Support Team — people who install, maintain, repair, etc.
3. Purchase Decision Maker — the buyer who makes the financial decision

Interactive: Ask who uses the product to get the job done. Push back on vague answers ("we have many customers"). Get specifics. Then determine if the buyer is a different person from the user. Ask about lifecycle support people if relevant.

Non-Interactive: Infer from context. State assumptions explicitly. Identify all three customer types where applicable.

Phase 2: Define the Core Functional Job

This is the cornerstone. Read references/needs-framework.md for all the rules. The format is:

verb + object of the verb (noun) + contextual clarifier

Challenge common mistakes:

• Too narrow: "Boil water" → Should be "Prepare a hot beverage for consumption"
• Too broad: Impossible for the company to tackle end-to-end
• Product-centric: "Use our software to..." → Strip the solution out
• Mixed with emotions: "Safely and quickly cut wood" → Strip to "Cut a piece of wood in a straight line"
• Situation, not a job: "Overcome boredom" → "Stay informed on topics of interest"

Interactive: Ask the user what job their customers are trying to get done. If they describe it in product terms, reframe: "That's what your product does. What is the customer ultimately trying to accomplish?" Iterate until the statement is purely functional, solution-agnostic, and at the right level of abstraction.

Non-Interactive: Define the job, explain why you chose this level of abstraction, and note what a narrower or broader definition would look like.

Phase 3: Create the Job Map

Deconstruct the core functional job into the 8 Universal Job Map steps. Read references/odi-process.md for the full framework.

Step	Question to Answer
Define	What must the customer plan, determine, or select before starting?
Locate	What inputs, materials, or information must they gather?
Prepare	What must be set up, organized, or examined before execution?
Confirm	What must be validated or verified before proceeding?
Execute	What is the core activity being performed?
Monitor	What must be tracked, verified, or checked during execution?
Modify	What adjustments might need to be made?
Conclude	What must be stored, finished, or closed out?

Interactive: Walk through each step, asking the user to describe what the customer is trying to accomplish (NOT what they're doing — needs view, not solution view). Challenge any step that describes using a specific product.

Non-Interactive: Generate the complete job map. Note which steps are likely most complex and where unmet needs are most likely to cluster.

Phase 4: Uncover Desired Outcomes

For each step in the job map, generate desired outcome statements. Read references/needs-framework.md for the precise format and rules.

Format: direction of improvement + performance metric + object of control + contextual clarifier

Performance metrics are almost always one of:

• "the time it takes to..." (speed)
• "the likelihood that..." (reliability/predictability)
• "the number of..." (output/efficiency)

Generate 5-15 outcomes per job step, aiming for 50-150 total. Every outcome must be measurable, controllable, actionable, devoid of solutions, and stable over time.

Interactive: Work through the job map step by step. For each step, ask: "When doing [this step], what could go wrong? What takes too long? What's unpredictable? What wastes resources?" Convert their answers into properly formatted desired outcome statements. Show them the formatted versions for validation.

Non-Interactive: Generate the full set of desired outcomes organized by job step. Flag outcomes that seem most likely to be underserved based on market knowledge.

Phase 5: Capture Additional Needs

Beyond the core desired outcomes, also capture:

• Related Jobs (5-20): What other jobs does the customer want to get done at the same time? More jobs on one platform = more value.
• Emotional Jobs (5-25): How do they want to feel? What feelings do they want to avoid? Format: "Feel [emotion]" or "Avoid feeling [emotion]"
• Social Jobs: How do they want to be perceived? Format: "Be perceived as [descriptor]"
• Consumption Chain Jobs: For each relevant lifecycle stage (purchase, install, maintain, repair, dispose), what outcomes matter?
• Financial Desired Outcomes (buyer): What financial metrics does the buyer use? (cost, ROI, risk reduction, etc.)

Phase 6: Assess Opportunities

Without real quantitative survey data, use qualitative judgment to estimate which outcomes are likely underserved.

The Opportunity Algorithm (for reference):

Opportunity Score = Importance + max(Importance - Satisfaction, 0)

Score ≥ 10 = underserved. Read references/growth-strategy-matrix.md for full detail.

Without survey data, use proxies:

• Outcomes that multiple customers complain about → likely underserved
• Outcomes where no competitor has a clear solution → likely underserved
• Outcomes where all competitors have strong solutions → likely appropriately served or overserved
• Outcomes that customers describe as "not a big deal" → likely overserved

Interactive: Walk through the top outcomes with the user. For each, ask: "How important is this to your customers? How well do current solutions satisfy it?" Build a rough opportunity landscape.

Non-Interactive: Score each outcome qualitatively (high/medium/low importance and satisfaction). Identify the likely underserved outcomes and group them into themes.

Phase 7: Choose a Growth Strategy

Using the Growth Strategy Matrix (read references/growth-strategy-matrix.md), determine which strategy fits:

Strategy	When to Use	Target
Differentiated	Underserved segment exists, willing to pay more	Premium offering that gets job done significantly better
Dominant	Can get job done ≥20% better AND ≥20% cheaper	All customers
Disruptive	Overserved segment or nonconsumers exist	Cheaper but "good enough" offering
Discrete	Customers have restricted access to alternatives	Higher-priced offering in constrained situations
Sustaining	Incumbent protecting market share	Incremental improvements

Critical rule: New entrants should avoid sustaining strategies — customers only switch for ≥20% improvement.

Interactive: Present the matrix, discuss what segments exist, and guide the user to the right strategy. Challenge if they default to "sustaining" as a new entrant or pursue differentiation in an overserved market.

Non-Interactive: Recommend a strategy with rationale. Note what would need to be true for each alternative strategy to work.

Phase 8: Formulate Value Proposition & Strategy

Tie the strategy to specific unmet outcomes:

1. Value proposition: "We help [customers] get [job] done better by [addressing these specific unmet outcomes]"
2. Competitive positioning: Show how the product satisfies outcomes that competitors don't
3. Product strategy: What features address the highest-priority unmet outcomes?
4. Market strategy: How to communicate the value proposition, which segments to target first, messaging aligned with unmet outcomes

Example: Arm & Hammer Animal Nutrition — discovered 165 desired outcomes for dairy producers. Changed messaging from product features to customer outcomes → 30%+ revenue growth, all products with double-digit growth. No product changes needed.

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Output Formats

Depending on user needs, produce:

• In-conversation analysis — Walk through the process interactively (default)
• JTBD Analysis Document — Complete deliverable with job definition, job map, desired outcomes, opportunity assessment, and strategy recommendation
• Job Map only — Just the 8-step job map for a specific job
• Desired Outcomes List — A complete set of outcome statements organized by job step
• Strategy Brief — Growth strategy recommendation based on the analysis
• Competitive Analysis — Evaluate competitors against desired outcomes

Quality Checks

Before finalizing any output, verify:

• Job statement is purely functional, solution-agnostic, at the right abstraction level
• Job map describes what the customer is trying to get done, not what they're doing with a product
• Desired outcomes follow the exact format (direction + metric + object + clarifier)
• No outcome statements contain solution references
• Emotional/social jobs are separated from the functional job
• Strategy choice is consistent with the identified segments (no differentiated strategy for overserved markets)
• Value proposition ties to specific unmet outcomes, not generic benefits

Common Anti-Patterns to Challenge

What the user says	What's wrong	How to redirect
"Our customers need a faster dashboard"	Solution-embedded need	"What are they trying to accomplish with the dashboard? What job are they getting done?"
"The job is to use our product"	Product-centric thinking	"What would the customer be trying to do even if your product didn't exist?"
"We need to add more features"	Ideas-first mentality	"Which specific unmet outcomes would those features address? How do you know those are underserved?"
"Our target is small businesses"	Demographic segmentation	"Do all small businesses have the same unmet needs? What makes some struggle more than others?"
"We should just iterate fast"	Fail-fast fallacy	"Iterating without knowing the target is just doing something bad faster. What are the specific outcomes you're trying to satisfy?"