| name | jtbd |
| description | Frame a vague goal as the job to be done, so the outcome is explicit before you build or choose. TRIGGER when: user says 'what's the job', 'JTBD', 'frame the outcome', 'what are we actually trying to do'; or a goal, feature, or decision is stated as a solution with the progress underneath it unnamed. |
JTBD — Job To Be Done
Primitive: JTBD — name the job the user is hiring for, then judge every option by job-fit.
People hire a product to make progress in a situation — the job is that progress, not the feature they ask for or who they are.
The lens — a job is one story:
when [situation], I want to [motivation], so I can [outcome], without [constraint].
- Situation — the trigger and context they're in.
- Motivation — what they reach for; the core desire.
- Outcome — the progress that ends the story.
- Without — the pain or constraint they're avoiding; often where the real insight sits. Name it when it sharpens the job.
Steps
- Find and draft the job. Read the thread for the job in play. If several are live, list them and ask which — or name the primary; don't silently pick. Write it in the lens format, marking any unsupported part
[unclear] — never fill a slot with a guess.
- Check the outcome is progress, not a restated feature. Test: could a completely different solution deliver the same outcome? If not, it's a feature — ask "so they can what?" until it lands on progress.
- Score the options by job-fit — not elegance, effort, or novelty; the without usually separates them. If only the asked-for path is live, add 1–2 alternatives. Then state it back in the format below.
Job frame — the shape to state back:
