Jobs to Be Done theory

The Jobs to Be Done theory was proposed by Harvard professor Clayton Christensen. The essence of this theory is that consumers do not buy products or services for nothing, they “hire” them to solve certain problems. That is, if you buy a lawn mower, you buy it not because you need a metal machine to mow the lawn, but because you need a beautiful lawn or a beautiful yard.

What good is this theory for business? It helps you understand what leads a customer to buy and how you can improve your product to address those needs. In addition, the “work to be done” theory can help a business expand its market by closing unmet needs or those that existing products or services cannot solve.

Here is an example of the use of this theory. It is kindly provided to us by Christensen when talking about selling milkshakes at McDonald’s. The professor noticed that many people bought milkshakes in the morning to satisfy their hunger on the way to work, not just as a tasty dessert. That is, McDonald’s could change the recipe of its shakes so that they would better satisfy hunger.

Q: How do you apply the Jobs to Be Done theory to a business or product creation? 
A: In several steps.

Let’s look at these steps in more detail:

1. Understand the task. In this stage, we need to determine what the consumer wants to solve with your product or service. This can be done through surveys, interviews, data analysis, and observation of consumer behavior.

2. Find the solution. When the problem is found, we need to start developing products or services that will solve it as quickly and efficiently as possible. Ways to do this: prototyping, testing, iteration.

3. Attract and retain customers. When you already have a finished product or service that solves the problem perfectly, it needs to be well promoted. That is, our next step is to market and sell the product or service to the target audience. This can be done through pricing, advertising, sales and customer service strategies.

4. Continue to improve. Based on customer feedback and data, continue to improve your product or service so that it continues to perform better than its peers.

So, the essence of the “job to be done” theory is that the success of a product or service depends not so much on its incredible features or stunning design, but on how well it solves a specific consumer problem. 
Using this theory, you will be able to create products and services that best solve the problem at hand, and therefore have great success in the marketplace.