{"id":25663,"date":"2026-03-03T22:24:45","date_gmt":"2026-03-03T20:24:45","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/pointofnew.at\/glossary\/jobs-to-be-done-jtbd\/"},"modified":"2026-03-06T15:15:39","modified_gmt":"2026-03-06T13:15:39","slug":"jobs-to-be-done-jtbd","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/pointofnew.at\/en\/glossary\/jobs-to-be-done-jtbd\/","title":{"rendered":"Jobs-to-be-Done (JTBD)"},"content":{"rendered":"<div style=\"background:#f0f1f3;padding:1.5rem;margin-bottom:2rem;border-radius:12px;\">\n<strong>In a nutshell:<\/strong> Jobs-to-be-Done (JTBD) is an innovation framework that views customer needs through the lens of the &#8220;task&#8221; customers want to accomplish. Instead of asking &#8220;What does the customer want to buy?&#8221;, JTBD asks: &#8220;What progress does the customer want to achieve in their life?&#8221; \u2013 thereby opening up radically new perspectives on innovation.\n<\/div>\n<nav style=\"background:#f8f9fa;padding:1.5rem 2rem;border-radius:8px;margin-bottom:2rem;\">\n<strong style=\"font-size:1.1rem;\">Table of Contents<\/strong><\/p>\n<ol style=\"margin:0.75rem 0 0;padding-left:1.25rem;\">\n<li><a href=\"#definition\" style=\"text-decoration:none;color:#1a5276;\">What is Jobs-to-be-Done? \u2013 Definition <\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"#theorie\" style=\"text-decoration:none;color:#1a5276;\">The JTBD Theory: Core Concepts<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"#dimensionen\" style=\"text-decoration:none;color:#1a5276;\">The 3 Dimensions of a Job<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"#methodik\" style=\"text-decoration:none;color:#1a5276;\">JTBD Methodology: Discovering and Prioritizing Jobs<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"#interview\" style=\"text-decoration:none;color:#1a5276;\">Conducting JTBD Interviews<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"#innovation\" style=\"text-decoration:none;color:#1a5276;\">JTBD as an Innovation Driver<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"#kmu\" style=\"text-decoration:none;color:#1a5276;\">Jobs-to-be-Done for Austrian SMEs<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"#faq\" style=\"text-decoration:none;color:#1a5276;\">Frequently Asked Questions about Jobs-to-be-Done<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"#verwandte-glossar-begriffe\" style=\"text-decoration:none;color:#1a5276;\">Related glossary terms<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<\/nav>\n<h2 id=\"definition\">What is Jobs-to-be-Done? \u2013 Definition <\/h2>\n<p>Jobs-to-be-Done (JTBD) is an innovation framework developed by Clayton Christensen (Harvard Business School) and other thought leaders such as Tony Ulwick and Bob Moesta. The central thesis: customers do not buy products \u2013 they &#8220;hire&#8221; products to do a specific &#8220;job&#8221; in their lives. <\/p>\n<p>The most famous example comes from Theodore Levitt: &#8220;Customers do not want a 6 mm drill. They want a 6 mm hole.&#8221; JTBD goes one step further: customers do not want a hole either \u2013 they want a shelf on the wall to neatly display their books. <\/p>\n<p>For <a href=\"\/glossar\/geschaeftsmodell-innovation\/\" style=\"color:#1a5276;text-decoration:none;\">business model innovation<\/a>, JTBD is transformative: if you understand your customers&#8217; true &#8220;job,&#8221; you can develop radically new <a href=\"https:\/\/pointofnew.at\/en\/glossary\/value-proposition\/\">value propositions<\/a> that think beyond existing product categories \u2013 and potentially tap into <a href=\"https:\/\/pointofnew.at\/en\/glossary\/blue-ocean-strategy\/\">Blue Oceans<\/a>.<\/p>\n<h2 id=\"theorie\">The JTBD Theory: Core Concepts<\/h2>\n<p><strong>The Job:<\/strong> A &#8220;job&#8221; is the progress a person wants to achieve in a specific life situation. It is stable over time (unlike technologies or products), situation-dependent, and multidimensional (functional + emotional + social). <\/p>\n<p><strong>Circumstances:<\/strong> The same job can require completely different solutions in different situations. &#8220;Getting full quickly&#8221; during a business lunch requires a different solution than when camping. The situation determines the solution space.  <\/p>\n<p><strong>Competing Solutions:<\/strong> The true competitors are not necessarily similar products, but all solutions that do the same job \u2013 including &#8220;doing nothing&#8221; or workarounds. Netflix competes not only with Disney+, but also with books, gaming, and sleep. <\/p>\n<p><strong>Hiring &amp; Firing:<\/strong> Customers &#8220;hire&#8221; a solution for a job and &#8220;fire&#8221; the previous solution. Understanding both sides is crucial for successful innovation. <\/p>\n<h2 id=\"dimensionen\">The 3 Dimensions of a Job<\/h2>\n<p>Every job has three dimensions that collectively determine the purchasing decision:<\/p>\n<table style=\"width:100%;border-collapse:collapse;margin:1rem 0;\">\n<thead>\n<tr style=\"background:#f1f5f9;\">\n<th style=\"padding:0.75rem;text-align:left;border:1px solid #e2e8f0;\">Dimension<\/th>\n<th style=\"padding:0.75rem;text-align:left;border:1px solid #e2e8f0;\">Question<\/th>\n<th style=\"padding:0.75rem;text-align:left;border:1px solid #e2e8f0;\">Example (hiring a consultant)<\/th>\n<\/tr>\n<\/thead>\n<tbody>\n<tr>\n<td style=\"padding:0.75rem;border:1px solid #e2e8f0;font-weight:600;\">Functional<\/td>\n<td style=\"padding:0.75rem;border:1px solid #e2e8f0;\">What should be achieved in practice?<\/td>\n<td style=\"padding:0.75rem;border:1px solid #e2e8f0;\">Develop a new business model, increase revenue<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td style=\"padding:0.75rem;border:1px solid #e2e8f0;font-weight:600;\">Emotional<\/td>\n<td style=\"padding:0.75rem;border:1px solid #e2e8f0;\">How does the customer want to feel?<\/td>\n<td style=\"padding:0.75rem;border:1px solid #e2e8f0;\">Security, confidence, control over the future<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td style=\"padding:0.75rem;border:1px solid #e2e8f0;font-weight:600;\">Social<\/td>\n<td style=\"padding:0.75rem;border:1px solid #e2e8f0;\">How does the customer want to be perceived?<\/td>\n<td style=\"padding:0.75rem;border:1px solid #e2e8f0;\">As innovative, as a good leader, as future-oriented<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<p>Many innovations fail because they only address the functional dimension. The emotional and social dimensions are often the real drivers of purchase \u2013 especially in a B2B context, where <a href=\"https:\/\/pointofnew.at\/en\/glossary\/buyer-persona\/\">buyer personas<\/a> also consider personal career goals and reputation. <\/p>\n<h2 id=\"methodik\">JTBD Methodology: Discovering and Prioritizing Jobs<\/h2>\n<ol>\n<li><strong>Create a Job Map:<\/strong> Break down the entire &#8220;job process&#8221; into steps \u2013 from problem recognition to searching for a solution to evaluating success. Typically 8\u201312 steps. <\/li>\n<li><strong>Identify Desired Outcomes:<\/strong> Formulate the desired results (outcomes) for each job step: &#8220;Minimize the time required to&#8230;&#8221; or &#8220;Maximize the likelihood that&#8230;&#8221;<\/li>\n<li><strong>Calculate Opportunity Score:<\/strong> According to Tony Ulwick&#8217;s Opportunity Algorithm: Outcomes that are important but poorly served show the greatest innovation opportunities.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Formulate Job Stories:<\/strong> &#8220;When I [situation], I want to [motivation], so that I [expected result].&#8221; E.g.: &#8220;When I develop a new business model, I want validated customer insights so that I can minimize investment risks.&#8221;<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<h2 id=\"interview\">Conducting JTBD Interviews<\/h2>\n<p>JTBD interviews fundamentally differ from traditional market research:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>Focus on past decisions:<\/strong> Not &#8220;What would you buy?&#8221;, but &#8220;Tell me about the last situation in which you hired [Solution X].&#8221;<\/li>\n<li><strong>Timeline Technique:<\/strong> Reconstruct the entire decision journey \u2013 from the first thought to research, purchase, and usage.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Push-Pull-Anxiety-Habit Framework:<\/strong> What pushed away from the old state (Push)? What pulled towards the new solution (Pull)? What anxieties about the change existed (Anxiety)? What habits made the change difficult (Habit)?   <\/li>\n<li><strong>5-10 interviews are often sufficient:<\/strong> JTBD interviews are qualitatively deep \u2013 even 5 conversations often reveal recurring patterns.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>JTBD interviews can be excellently integrated into <a href=\"https:\/\/pointofnew.at\/en\/glossary\/design-thinking\/\">Design Thinking<\/a> processes and <a href=\"https:\/\/pointofnew.at\/en\/glossary\/innovation-workshop\/\">innovation workshops<\/a>.<\/p>\n<h2 id=\"innovation\">JTBD as an Innovation Driver<\/h2>\n<p>JTBD provides valuable impulses for various types of innovation:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><strong><a href=\"\/glossar\/geschaeftsmodell-innovation\/\" style=\"color:#1a5276;text-decoration:none;\">Business Model Innovation<\/a>:<\/strong> If you understand your customers&#8217; job, you might be able to fulfill it better with a completely different business model \u2013 e.g., with a <a href=\"https:\/\/pointofnew.at\/en\/glossary\/subscription-model\/\">subscription model<\/a> instead of a single purchase.<\/li>\n<li><strong><a href=\"https:\/\/pointofnew.at\/en\/glossary\/value-proposition\/\">Value Proposition<\/a> Design:<\/strong> JTBD insights flow directly into the Value Proposition Canvas \u2013 &#8220;pains&#8221; and &#8220;gains&#8221; are defined from the job perspective.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Product Strategy:<\/strong> Which features address which job? Features that don&#8217;t serve a job can be eliminated \u2013 <a href=\"https:\/\/pointofnew.at\/en\/glossary\/lean-startup\/\">Lean<\/a> at its best. <\/li>\n<li><strong><a href=\"https:\/\/pointofnew.at\/en\/glossary\/brand-positioning\/\">Brand Positioning<\/a>:<\/strong> JTBD shows which emotional and social jobs your brand should fulfill.<\/li>\n<li><strong><a href=\"https:\/\/pointofnew.at\/en\/glossary\/disruptive-innovation\/\">Disruptive Innovation<\/a>:<\/strong> JTBD explains why simpler, cheaper solutions can displace established providers \u2013 if they do the core job &#8220;good enough.&#8221;<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2 id=\"kmu\">Jobs-to-be-Done for Austrian SMEs<\/h2>\n<p>SMEs particularly benefit from JTBD because they are often close to their customers:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>Customer conversations as a goldmine:<\/strong> Sales staff and service teams conduct JTBD-relevant conversations daily \u2013 they just need to learn to ask the right questions.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Discover Niche Jobs:<\/strong> SMEs can identify jobs in their niche that large corporations overlook \u2013 and develop an uncopyable <a href=\"https:\/\/pointofnew.at\/en\/glossary\/usp-unique-selling-proposition\/\">USP<\/a> from them.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Rapid Implementation:<\/strong> JTBD insights can be directly translated into <a href=\"\/glossar\/prototyping\/\" style=\"color:#1a5276;text-decoration:none;\">prototypes<\/a> and MVPs \u2013 without months of market research projects.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Getting started in 3 steps:<\/strong> Conduct 5 JTBD interviews with existing customers \u2192 Identify patterns \u2192 Formulate Job Stories \u2192 <a href=\"https:\/\/pointofnew.at\/en\/glossary\/innovation-workshop\/\">Innovation workshop<\/a> to derive new solution ideas.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<div style=\"background:linear-gradient(135deg,#1e3a5f,#2563eb);color:#fff;padding:2rem;border-radius:12px;margin:2rem 0;text-align:center;\">\n<h3 style=\"color:#fff;margin-top:0;\">Discover Your Customers&#8217; True Jobs<\/h3>\n<p style=\"font-size:1.1rem;\">We help you understand your customers&#8217; real needs with Jobs-to-be-Done interviews and workshops \u2013 and develop innovative value propositions from them.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/pointofnew.at\/en\/business-model-innovation-services\/\" style=\"display:inline-block;background:#fff;color:#1e3a5f;padding:0.75rem 2rem;border-radius:8px;text-decoration:none;font-weight:600;margin-top:0.5rem;\">Request JTBD workshop now \u2192<\/a>\n<\/div>\n<div itemscope=\"\" itemtype=\"https:\/\/schema.org\/FAQPage\">\n<h2 id=\"faq\">Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)<\/h2>\n<details itemscope=\"\" itemprop=\"mainEntity\" itemtype=\"https:\/\/schema.org\/Question\" style=\"background:#eaecee;border-radius:8px;margin-bottom:0.75rem;overflow:hidden;\">\n<summary itemprop=\"name\" style=\"padding:1rem 1.2rem;font-weight:600;cursor:pointer;color:#2c3e50;\">What is the difference between Jobs-to-be-Done and Personas?<\/summary>\n<div itemscope=\"\" itemprop=\"acceptedAnswer\" itemtype=\"https:\/\/schema.org\/Answer\" style=\"padding:0 1.2rem 1rem;color:#2c3e50;\">\n<div itemprop=\"text\" style=\"margin-top:0.75rem;\">\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/pointofnew.at\/en\/glossary\/buyer-persona\/\">Buyer personas<\/a> describe who the customer is (demographics, psychographics, behavior). JTBD describes why the customer buys (what progress they want to achieve). Both approaches are complementary: personas help with communication and channel selection, JTBD with product and business model development. The combination provides a complete customer picture.   <\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/details>\n<details itemscope=\"\" itemprop=\"mainEntity\" itemtype=\"https:\/\/schema.org\/Question\" style=\"background:#eaecee;border-radius:8px;margin-bottom:0.75rem;overflow:hidden;\">\n<summary itemprop=\"name\" style=\"padding:1rem 1.2rem;font-weight:600;cursor:pointer;color:#2c3e50;\">Does JTBD also work in the B2B sector?<\/summary>\n<div itemscope=\"\" itemprop=\"acceptedAnswer\" itemtype=\"https:\/\/schema.org\/Answer\" style=\"padding:0 1.2rem 1rem;color:#2c3e50;\">\n<div itemprop=\"text\" style=\"margin-top:0.75rem;\">\n<p>Absolutely \u2013 JTBD is particularly valuable in the B2B sector. B2B purchasing decisions are complex, involve multiple stakeholders, and have distinct functional, emotional, and social dimensions. The purchasing manager has different jobs than the technical director or the CEO. JTBD helps to identify these different jobs and tailor the value proposition for each stakeholder.   <\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/details>\n<details itemscope=\"\" itemprop=\"mainEntity\" itemtype=\"https:\/\/schema.org\/Question\" style=\"background:#eaecee;border-radius:8px;margin-bottom:0.75rem;overflow:hidden;\">\n<summary itemprop=\"name\" style=\"padding:1rem 1.2rem;font-weight:600;cursor:pointer;color:#2c3e50;\">How many JTBD interviews do I need?<\/summary>\n<div itemscope=\"\" itemprop=\"acceptedAnswer\" itemtype=\"https:\/\/schema.org\/Answer\" style=\"padding:0 1.2rem 1rem;color:#2c3e50;\">\n<div itemprop=\"text\" style=\"margin-top:0.75rem;\">\n<p>JTBD interviews are qualitative and in-depth \u2013 typically 45\u201390 minutes per conversation. Experience shows that recurring patterns emerge after 5\u20138 interviews. 10\u201312 interviews are considered a guideline for a robust picture. Unlike quantitative market research, the focus is not on statistical significance, but on understanding the causal mechanisms behind purchasing decisions.   <\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/details>\n<details itemscope=\"\" itemprop=\"mainEntity\" itemtype=\"https:\/\/schema.org\/Question\" style=\"background:#eaecee;border-radius:8px;margin-bottom:0.75rem;overflow:hidden;\">\n<summary itemprop=\"name\" style=\"padding:1rem 1.2rem;font-weight:600;cursor:pointer;color:#2c3e50;\">How does JTBD differ from Design Thinking?<\/summary>\n<div itemscope=\"\" itemprop=\"acceptedAnswer\" itemtype=\"https:\/\/schema.org\/Answer\" style=\"padding:0 1.2rem 1rem;color:#2c3e50;\">\n<div itemprop=\"text\" style=\"margin-top:0.75rem;\">\n<p>JTBD and <a href=\"https:\/\/pointofnew.at\/en\/glossary\/design-thinking\/\">Design Thinking<\/a> are complementary. JTBD is primarily an analytical framework \u2013 it helps to understand what jobs customers want to get done. Design Thinking is a problem-solving process \u2013 it helps to develop creative solutions for these jobs. In practice, JTBD interviews provide input for the Empathize phase of Design Thinking, and the Design Thinking process translates JTBD insights into prototypes and solutions.   <\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/details>\n<details style=\"background:#eaecee;border-radius:8px;padding:0;margin-bottom:0.75rem;\">\n<summary style=\"padding:1rem 1.2rem;font-weight:600;cursor:pointer;color:#2c3e50;list-style:none;\">Can Jobs-to-be-Done replace traditional market research?<\/summary>\n<div style=\"padding:0 1.2rem 1rem 1.2rem;\">JTBD complements rather than replaces traditional research methods. It excels at uncovering underlying motivations and unmet needs but doesn&#39;t provide market size, pricing sensitivity, or competitive dynamics that other methods reveal. The most effective approach combines JTBD interviews for deep insight into customer motivations with quantitative research for market validation and sizing. Think of JTBD as the &#39;why&#39; behind customer behavior while traditional research provides the &#39;what,&#39; &#39;who,&#39; and &#39;how many.&#39;<\/div>\n<\/details>\n<\/div>\n<h2>Related Terms<\/h2>\n<div style=\"display:flex;flex-wrap:wrap;gap:0.5rem;margin-top:0.5rem;\">\n<a style=\"display:inline-block;background:white;border:1px solid #d5d8dc;border-radius:20px;padding:0.4rem 1rem;margin:0.3rem;color:#1a5276;text-decoration:none;font-size:0.95em;\" href=\"https:\/\/pointofnew.at\/en\/glossary\/innovation-management\/\">Innovation Management<\/a><br \/>\n<a style=\"display:inline-block;background:white;border:1px solid #d5d8dc;border-radius:20px;padding:0.4rem 1rem;margin:0.3rem;color:#1a5276;text-decoration:none;font-size:0.95em;\" href=\"https:\/\/pointofnew.at\/en\/glossary\/design-thinking\/\">Design Thinking<\/a><br \/>\n<a style=\"display:inline-block;background:white;border:1px solid #d5d8dc;border-radius:20px;padding:0.4rem 1rem;margin:0.3rem;color:#1a5276;text-decoration:none;font-size:0.95em;\" href=\"\/en\/glossary\/business-model-innovation\/\">Business Model Innovation<\/a><br \/>\n<a style=\"display:inline-block;background:white;border:1px solid #d5d8dc;border-radius:20px;padding:0.4rem 1rem;margin:0.3rem;color:#1a5276;text-decoration:none;font-size:0.95em;\" href=\"https:\/\/pointofnew.at\/en\/glossary\/digital-transformation\/\">Digital Transformation<\/a><br \/>\n<a style=\"display:inline-block;background:white;border:1px solid #d5d8dc;border-radius:20px;padding:0.4rem 1rem;margin:0.3rem;color:#1a5276;text-decoration:none;font-size:0.95em;\" href=\"https:\/\/pointofnew.at\/en\/glossary\/lean-startup\/\">Lean Startup<\/a><br \/>\n<a style=\"display:inline-block;background:white;border:1px solid #d5d8dc;border-radius:20px;padding:0.4rem 1rem;margin:0.3rem;color:#1a5276;text-decoration:none;font-size:0.95em;\" href=\"https:\/\/pointofnew.at\/en\/glossary\/change-management\/\">Change Management<\/a>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>In a nutshell: Jobs-to-be-Done (JTBD) is an innovation framework that views customer needs through the lens of the &#8220;task&#8221; customers want to accomplish. Instead of asking &#8220;What does the customer&hellip;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":24529,"parent":25140,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-25663","page","type-page","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry"],"featured_image_src":"https:\/\/pointofnew.at\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/Point-of-New-Business-Model-Innovation-Benedikt-Hasibeder-scaled.png","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/pointofnew.at\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/25663","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/pointofnew.at\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/pointofnew.at\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pointofnew.at\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pointofnew.at\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=25663"}],"version-history":[{"count":10,"href":"https:\/\/pointofnew.at\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/25663\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":28068,"href":"https:\/\/pointofnew.at\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/25663\/revisions\/28068"}],"up":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pointofnew.at\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/25140"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pointofnew.at\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/24529"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/pointofnew.at\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=25663"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}