2.3 The jobs-to-be-done theory and its application in disruptive innovation
4 min read•august 16, 2024
The jobs-to-be-done theory focuses on why customers buy products, not just what they buy. It helps companies understand the real reasons behind purchases, leading to more effective innovation strategies.
This approach is crucial for disruptive innovation. By identifying unmet or poorly served customer needs, companies can create simpler, more accessible solutions that challenge established products and open new markets.
Jobs-to-be-Done Theory
Core Concepts and Principles
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- Jobs-to-be-done theory developed by focuses on customer needs and motivations
- Customers "hire" products or services to accomplish specific tasks or achieve desired outcomes in their lives
- Shifts focus from product features to underlying motivations driving customer behavior and purchasing decisions
- Jobs-to-be-done categorized as functional (practical tasks), emotional (feelings or experiences), or social (desired perceptions by others)
- Emphasizes customers seek solutions to problems or ways to make progress in their lives, not merely buying products
- Requires deep customer insights obtained through qualitative research methods (in-depth interviews, )
- Challenges traditional demographic-based market , advocating for segmentation based on customer jobs
- Reveals seemingly different products can compete for the same , expanding view of potential competitors and substitutes
Research and Analysis Methods
- Conduct in-depth customer interviews to uncover full range of jobs in a given context
- Analyze customer workarounds and compensating behaviors to identify poorly served jobs
- Map to identify and moments of struggle representing innovation opportunities
- Prioritize jobs based on frequency, importance to customers, and current satisfaction levels
- Identify overserved jobs presenting opportunities for simpler, more accessible alternatives
- Analyze emotional and social dimensions of jobs-to-be-done to uncover non-obvious innovation opportunities
- Use job statements to articulate customer needs in solution-agnostic way, fostering creative problem-solving
Disruptive Innovation Strategies
Identifying Opportunities
- Jobs-to-be-done approach helps identify unmet or poorly served customer needs, prime targets for disruptive innovation
- Focus on jobs rather than existing product categories to identify opportunities beyond traditional industry boundaries
- Encourages innovators to look beyond incremental improvements, considering entirely new ways to satisfy customer jobs
- Jobs-to-be-done analysis reveals overserved customers, indicating opportunities for simpler, more accessible solutions
- Helps anticipate how customers might "fire" existing solutions for new ones better accomplishing their jobs
- Guides development of minimum viable products (MVPs) addressing core customer needs effectively
- Aligns with disruptive innovation principles by focusing on non-consumption and underserved markets
Strategy Development
- Use job statements to clearly articulate customer needs, fostering innovative thinking
- Develop strategies to address functional, emotional, and social aspects of targeted jobs-to-be-done
- Focus on simplifying or increasing accessibility of job accomplishment compared to existing solutions
- Target non-consumers or users of existing solutions based on alignment with jobs-to-be-done
- Plan for evolution to address additional jobs-to-be-done over time, expanding market potential
- Consider impact on broader ecosystem of solutions addressing related jobs-to-be-done
- Anticipate potential displacement of existing products or services
Opportunities for Disruptive Innovation
Market Analysis
- Analyze customer adoption rates and feedback to determine effectiveness in addressing intended job-to-be-done
- Identify jobs where customers are overserved by existing solutions (opportunities for simpler alternatives)
- Assess innovation's potential to attract non-consumers or users of existing solutions
- Evaluate innovation's ability to evolve and address additional jobs-to-be-done, expanding market potential
- Analyze impact on broader ecosystem of solutions addressing related jobs-to-be-done
Product Development
- Develop minimum viable products (MVPs) addressing core customer needs effectively
- Focus on simplifying or increasing accessibility of job accomplishment compared to existing solutions
- Address functional, emotional, and social aspects of targeted jobs-to-be-done in product design
- Create products that can evolve to address additional jobs-to-be-done over time
- Design solutions that can potentially displace existing products or services by better fulfilling customer jobs
Effectiveness of Disruptive Innovations
Performance Metrics
- Assess how well innovation fulfills functional, emotional, and social aspects of targeted job-to-be-done
- Measure innovation's ability to simplify or increase accessibility of job accomplishment versus existing solutions
- Evaluate potential to attract non-consumers or users of existing solutions based on job alignment
- Analyze customer adoption rates and feedback to determine effectiveness in addressing intended job
- Compare innovation's performance on key job metrics against traditional solutions and other potential disruptors
Long-term Impact Assessment
- Evaluate innovation's ability to evolve and address additional jobs-to-be-done over time
- Assess impact on broader ecosystem of solutions addressing related jobs-to-be-done
- Analyze potential displacement of existing products or services
- Monitor changes in customer behavior and job prioritization resulting from the innovation
- Evaluate innovation's contribution to opening new markets or creating new product categories
Key Terms to Review (17)
Airbnb: Airbnb is an online marketplace that connects people looking to rent out their homes with those seeking accommodations, disrupting the traditional hotel industry. By leveraging technology and community-driven platforms, Airbnb has created a new way for travelers to experience unique lodging options and for homeowners to monetize their spare space.
Clayton Christensen: Clayton Christensen was a renowned American academic and business consultant best known for his theory of disruptive innovation. His work provides a framework for understanding how smaller companies with fewer resources can successfully challenge established businesses, ultimately leading to significant changes in various industries.
Customer journey: The customer journey refers to the complete experience a customer has with a brand, from the initial awareness through the purchase process and beyond, encompassing every touchpoint and interaction. Understanding this journey is crucial for businesses as it helps identify how customers make decisions and engage with products or services, enabling better targeting and more effective marketing strategies. Mapping the customer journey allows companies to enhance customer satisfaction and loyalty by improving experiences at each stage.
Desired Outcome: A desired outcome refers to the specific result or goal that a consumer seeks to achieve when hiring a product or service to perform a job. Understanding the desired outcome is crucial for businesses, as it helps them identify customer needs and tailor their offerings accordingly, ultimately driving innovation and satisfaction. By focusing on what customers truly want to accomplish, companies can create solutions that effectively meet those needs, leading to successful disruptive innovations.
Disruptive Technology: Disruptive technology refers to innovations that significantly alter or transform industries by introducing simpler, more affordable solutions that eventually displace established competitors. These technologies typically start at the lower end of the market, making them accessible to a broader audience and fundamentally changing how businesses operate and deliver value to consumers.
Gains: In the context of disruptive innovation and the jobs-to-be-done theory, gains refer to the benefits or positive outcomes that customers seek when they are trying to complete a task or fulfill a need. Understanding these gains is crucial for innovators as it helps them identify what truly matters to customers, allowing them to create solutions that deliver significant value and address unmet needs. By focusing on gains, businesses can better position their offerings in a competitive market.
Interviewing: Interviewing is a method of data collection that involves direct interaction between a researcher and a participant to gather insights about experiences, preferences, or needs. In the context of understanding customer behavior and the jobs-to-be-done framework, interviewing helps uncover the specific tasks that users are trying to accomplish, allowing innovators to develop solutions that truly address those needs.
Intuit's QuickBooks: Intuit's QuickBooks is a leading accounting software designed for small to medium-sized businesses, enabling users to manage their finances, track expenses, and handle payroll efficiently. By simplifying the bookkeeping process, QuickBooks allows businesses to focus on growth while ensuring accurate financial reporting and compliance. Its user-friendly interface and range of features make it a popular choice for entrepreneurs looking to streamline financial management.
Job: In the context of innovation, a job refers to the underlying goal or task that a customer is trying to accomplish in their life. This concept emphasizes that people don't just buy products or services; they hire them to get a job done. Understanding these jobs helps innovators identify opportunities for disruptive solutions that meet specific customer needs and can lead to the development of new markets or products.
Job executor: A job executor refers to the individual or entity that carries out a specific task or job within the jobs-to-be-done framework. This concept is crucial for understanding how customers interact with products and services to fulfill their needs. By identifying the job executor, businesses can better tailor their offerings to ensure that they effectively support the user's objectives and provide a more relevant solution.
Market Disruption: Market disruption refers to a significant change in the way an industry operates, often driven by innovative products, services, or business models that displace established competitors. This change can reshape value chains, redefine consumer expectations, and create new market leaders, often leading to the decline or transformation of existing firms.
Observation: Observation is the process of carefully monitoring and noting behaviors, interactions, and outcomes in real-world settings to gain insights into how people perform tasks or fulfill their needs. This method is essential for understanding the jobs that customers are trying to accomplish, revealing gaps in existing solutions, and guiding innovative product development. By observing how users interact with products or services, organizations can better align their offerings with actual user needs, which is critical in disruptive innovation.
Pain Points: Pain points refer to specific problems or challenges that customers face, which can hinder their experience or satisfaction. Identifying these pain points is essential in the jobs-to-be-done theory, as it helps innovators understand what customers truly need and how existing solutions may fall short. By addressing these pain points, companies can create disruptive innovations that better fulfill customer jobs and improve overall satisfaction.
Segmentation: Segmentation is the process of dividing a broader market into smaller, distinct groups of consumers who share similar needs, characteristics, or behaviors. This concept is crucial in understanding how to tailor products and services to meet the specific jobs that different consumer segments are trying to accomplish, especially in the context of disruptive innovation where meeting unique consumer needs can lead to market breakthroughs.
Targeting: Targeting is the process of identifying and selecting specific segments of a market to focus on when developing products or services. This strategy enables organizations to tailor their offerings to meet the unique needs and preferences of particular customer groups, enhancing customer satisfaction and competitive advantage. By honing in on specific market segments, businesses can maximize resource efficiency and create more impactful marketing strategies that resonate with their audience.
Tony Ulwick: Tony Ulwick is an influential figure in the field of innovation, known primarily for developing the Jobs-to-be-Done (JTBD) theory. This theory emphasizes understanding customer needs by focusing on the 'jobs' they are trying to accomplish, rather than solely on the products they use. Ulwick's approach has transformed how businesses innovate, providing a structured framework that connects customer insights to successful product development and disruptive innovation strategies.
Value Proposition: A value proposition is a clear statement that explains how a product or service solves a customer's problem, fulfills their needs, or improves their situation, while also highlighting the unique benefits that differentiate it from competitors. It connects to various aspects of business strategy by addressing customer needs, market segments, and industry dynamics.