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Jobs to Be Done Tool
Write what customers are trying to get done as a job statement (the task, in their words), count who already spends time or money working around it, and see whether the problem hurts enough to pay for.
This tool also runs as a stage in two playbooks, which take you through several tools in order:
- Validate a business idea Stage 2 of 5: does the problem hurt enough? Start at stage 1
- Prioritize product features Stage 1 of 5: what are customers trying to get done? Start at stage 1
Not following the playbook?
Fills the empty lines from your stage 1 notes. A guess to edit, not evidence.
Narrow enough that you could name twenty of them.
What are they trying to get done?
The job (task), in their terms, without your idea in it. It describes the problem; the verdict comes from step 2, what people do about it today.
Your notes never leave your browser
The job statement, names and notes stay on your computer and in your progress file. To write the diagnosis, only the number of people in each group is sent to our server. How it works
What do they do about it today?
Add people you didn't record in stage 1
Which ideas serve the job?
Read each idea against the job. Ideas that don't serve it leave the list now, before anyone spends time scoring them.
Add your backlog
The job (the task they want done)
How the ideas serve the job
Goes on to stage 2
Ideas marked barely go on, highlighted: stage 2 will show whether customers care about them.
Leaves the list
They stay in your progress file, marked, in case the job changes.
What people do about it today
Paying is the strongest sign of pain, then spending time. People who already have something that works are not your first customers.
Save your progress
Download your progress file to continue from this point any time, on any computer: choose it under "Coming back?" at the start of the tool. Each new file includes everything so far, including the earlier stages when they are connected, so keep the latest one. Your notes stay in this browser only until you close it.
Not saved yet.
Take your results with you
A PDF of the job (the task they want done), what people do about it today and the verdict, without names. The full notes are in the progress file.
About the tool
Why it exists
A problem people spend nothing on won't pay you
Jobs to Be Done asks what people are trying to get done, and what they use to do it today. The framework calls this the customer's job: a task, not employment. Written in three parts, when, I want to and so I can, it describes the problem without your idea in it.
Then comes the test of pain. The best evidence is a workaround people already spend time or money on. If they describe a problem but do nothing about it, it isn't painful enough to pay to solve. This tool works on its own, and as stage 2 of our playbook for validating a business idea, where it starts from the conversations recorded in stage 1. In our playbook for prioritizing product features it is stage 1: you write the job, then read your backlog against it, and only the ideas that serve the job go on. For the method, see our guide to Jobs to Be Done.
The method
How the tool works
The job. You write who needs the task done, and the task in three parts. Continuing from stage 1, the tool can draft them for you to edit. In the playbook, the needs that stage 1 found backed by what people did are shown beside it, as the material to write from.
Four groups. Each person goes into the group that best describes what they do today: pays someone or something, does it themselves, already has something that works, or does nothing about it. The tool can suggest a group from the words in your notes; check every suggestion, since the grouping is your judgment.
The verdict. It is a rule of thumb: real pain when at least half of the people sorted spend time or money on it, some pain from a quarter to a half, little pain below that. Paying is the stronger sign. If nobody is in real pain, the playbook says stop: it is the cheapest place to stop.
In the feature prioritization playbook. After the job, you list the backlog (paste it, or choose a CSV export from Jira, Trello or a spreadsheet) and mark each idea: serves the job directly, serves it, barely, or doesn't serve it. The tool can suggest a mark from the words an idea shares with the job; check each one. Ideas that serve the job, even barely, go on to stage 2. Only the number of ideas with each mark is sent to our server.
What leaves your computer. The job statement, names and notes stay in your browser and your progress file. To write the diagnosis, the page sends our server only the number of people in each group, and the server keeps nothing.