Foundations of Jobs to Be Done: The Core Process

Establish the foundation for successful customer research

Learn to identify the right job performer and focus job that balances customer needs with organizational priorities. This phase ensures your entire team is aligned before research begins.

• 1.0 Frame Overview — Introduction to framing your research effort and defining who you'll talk to and what you'll explore

• 1.1 Scope — Map your playing field, identify stakeholders, and select the job performer and focus job that will drive the most value

• 1.2 Hypothesis — Create a hypothesis job map using the universal job map structure, existing knowledge, and AI to prepare for discovery

Tools included: Jobs to Be Done Hypothesis Canvas

Uncover deep customer insights through structured investigation

Move beyond surface-level feedback to understand the steps, struggles, and context that shape how customers get jobs done. This phase combines qualitative research with systematic analysis to reveal true unmet needs.

• 2.0 Discovery Overview — Introduction to qualitative research and the detective mindset needed for Jobs to Be Done discovery

• 2.1a Investigate: Interviewing — Conduct effective one-on-one interviews that explore job steps, success criteria, emotions, and circumstances

• 2.1b Investigate: Categorize & Formulate — Parse interview data and properly formulate insights across the four JTBD categories using precise language

• 2.2 Analyze — Validate your job map, identify hotspots with your team, and quantify unmet needs through opportunity scoring

Tools included: Interview discussion guide, Brief Guide to Jobs Interviews article, data collection worksheet

Transform insights into action across your organization

Research only creates value when it drives decisions. Learn to synthesize findings into compelling job stories and embed insights into the workflows of teams across your organization.

• 3.0 Spin Overview — Introduction to storytelling, positioning, and integrating insights into organizational workflows

• 3.1 Synthesize — Craft compelling job stories that are empathetic, ambitious, and specific, making your insights portable and actionable

Throughout the course, you'll receive:

• Companion articles on conducting JTBD interviews, formulation best practices, and cross-functional activation strategies

• Practical exercises to apply concepts to your own hobby or project

• Team workshop guides for facilitating hotspot identification and sense-making activities

• Case Studies for practical insights from fellow JTBD practitioners

Each module builds on the previous one, taking you from initial scoping through to organizational activation, with real-world examples from the home buying domain woven throughout.

Jobs to Be Done is a theory of innovation based on the idea that people "hire" products and services to get a "job" done. The Jobs to Be Done framework is a systemic approach to exploring a problem space, independent of any product, service, or brand.

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While interviews are a common method used to gather information within the Jobs to be Done framework, it's not just about the interviews themselves. The key is to uncover the functional and emotional aspects of the job that customers are trying to accomplish. The interviews are a means to understand the customer's context, struggles, and desired outcomes.

The Jobs to be Done framework can benefit your team by providing a holistic understanding of customer needs; JTBD shifts the focus from products or features to understanding the actual problems customers are trying to solve. This customer-centric approach can lead to more meaningful and innovative solutions that truly address customer needs.

This course shows you how to operationalize the JTBD principles. On the one hand, there are the key elements of the framework, as outlined in the JTBD Hypothesis Canvas. On the other, we've introduced a simplified 6 stage process to follow. You'll learn how to go from insight to action in this course, as well as have access to case studies, demos and tools.

The Jobs to Be Done Playbook by Jim Kalbach covers a diverse set of techniques practitioners in the field have developed over the past two or so decades, but it doesn't suggest a specific method. This course changes that and introduces a core process in 5 stages that gets any JTBD effort started. Additionally, we've updated our language and descriptions of the JTBD framework to make it even easier to understand. Most of this course doesn't overlap with The Jobs to Be Done Playbook and presents unique information.

In theory, JTBD is easy to grasp. In practice, it takes some effort to master the framework. This course breaks down JTBD in a unique way that you won't find anywhere else. JTBD is quickly becoming the go-to framework for human-centered innovation. So if you want to make a difference in your team and organization, find out how to focus on what matters most to your customers for differentiated solutions that outperform the competition.

If you haven't received the multi-factor authentication (MFA) code at your email address after you were prompted to enter one, we have a few alternative options:

• Email Elaine at hello@jtbdtoolkit.com and she'll send you a paypal invoice.

• Add no-reply@podia to your email contacts. The MFA code will come from this automated email sender.

• Use a non-corporate email when you sign-up for the course. We've had the best luck with common consumer email platforms, such as Gmail. We can also change the email associated with your account on request.

• Double-check your Spam filter after 10min.

We offer a 25% discount for organizations interested in purchasing 3 or more licenses for the course. Please email Elaine at hello@jtdbtoolkit.com to purchase.