jtbd-job-definer

name

jtbd-job-definer

description

Extract, audit, or rewrite a solution-free and outcome-free Core Functional Job statement from customer quotes or candidate sentences. Use when given a proposed product feature or customer statement and asked to express the underlying functional job, audit a job statement for solution contamination, or determine if enough evidence exists to validate a job statement. Do not use to map job steps, write desired outcomes, calculate opportunity scores, or recommend product strategy.

JTBD Job Definer

Rewrite "I want this feature" into a solution-free customer job statement.

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Use this when

• A user asks for a specific product feature or button, and you need to uncover the underlying solution-free goal.
• You have a proposed Core Job statement and need to audit it for embedded technologies, products, quality adjectives, or outcome metrics.
• You want to establish a clean Core Functional Job statement before mapping workflow steps.

Don't use this when

• You want to extract raw circumstances, non-consumption barriers, or feature requests without defining a job (use jtbd-context-explorer).
• You need to map the step-by-step execution journey (use jtbd-job-mapper).
• You need to engineer quantitative metric statements (use jtbd-outcome-engineer).

Minimum input

• Minimum Input: A customer statement, feedback quote, feature request, or candidate job statement. Includes two operating modes:
  1. Audit Mode: Provide a job statement -> audits for embedded solutions, features, or outcomes.
  2. Rewrite Mode: Provide a feature request or quote -> formulates a candidate solution-free job statement.

What you get

1. Plain Language Explanation: A 3-part summary explaining what the customer is trying to do, what was removed (and why), and what evidence is still missing.
2. Core Functional Job Statement: A single solution-free, outcome-free functional statement ([Verb] + [Object of Control] + [Contextual Clarifier]).
3. Quality Check Audit: Boolean checks verifying customer perspective, solution-free, outcome-free, and appropriate scope.

Quick prompt

"Rewrite this feature request into a solution-free Core Functional Job: '[Paste feature request or quote]'."

What to do next

• Core job accepted or candidate defined? Pass to jtbd-job-mapper to break it down into an 8-stage functional workflow map.

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Operating Rules

1. Solution-Free Rule: A Core Functional Job MUST NOT mention any technology, product, feature, tool, or vendor name.
2. Outcome-Free Rule: A Core Functional Job MUST NOT contain quality adjectives or performance metrics (e.g., "fast", "reliable", "cheap", "easily"). Performance criteria belong in Desired Outcome Statements (jtbd-outcome-engineer).
3. Single Job Focus: Output exactly ONE Core Functional Job statement per request.
4. Status Discipline: Mark unverified inferences as status: candidate. Only mark status: accepted when direct source evidence proves the job executor's primary functional goal.

Output Format

plain_language:
  customer_is_trying_to: ""
  this_is_not_the_job_because: []
  what_we_still_need_to_know: ""

job:
  statement: ""
  status: candidate | accepted | insufficient_evidence
  executor: ""

evidence:
  direct: []
  inferred: []
  contradictions: []

quality_check:
  customer_perspective: pass | fail
  functional_only: pass | fail
  solution_free: pass | fail
  outcome_free: pass | fail
  appropriately_scoped: pass | fail

missing_evidence: []
next_research_question: ""

Reference

Read references/job-statement-rules.md before:

• Stripping embedded technologies or features from candidate statements
• Resolving whether a job is micro-scoped (step) or macro-scoped (life goal)
• Auditing quality buzzwords and performance criteria