Jobs To Be Done (JTBD) is an innovation theory popularized by Clayton Christensen. The theory’s basic premise is that customers hire and fire product to get a specific job done and make progress in their lives. It is a simple idea with deep implications.

The depth is brought by definition of a job. In JTBD theory jobs are described in context, each having functional, emotional, and social aspects. Shifting perspective from user roles, customer needs, or product features to jobs can lead to powerful insights.

Jobs To Be Done and Milkshakes

Professor Clayton Christensen likes to tell a story of a milkshake. He was working with McDonalds on improving the sales of their milkshakes. They got nowhere, not until Clayton and his team reframed the question they were asking from “How can we improve a milkshake?” to “What job do people hire milkshakes to do?”.

To answer the question Clayton’s team started observing buyers. They discovered a certain pattern: most milkshakes were sold early in the morning, buyers were alone, it was their only purchase, they bought the milk shake and drove off right away. It turns out, the job that milkshake was hired to do was to accompany a lonely driver on their commute to work, to keep them engaged while driving, and to make them feel full until later in the day. Other products, like fruits, and donuts, just couldn’t do as good of a job as a milkshake.With those kinds of insights it was quite obvious how to improve the milkshake, and how to increase sales. Here is a video of Clayton himself talking about the milkshake and JBTD theory. It is short, but insightful, so check it out:

In design job stories are often used as a substitute for user stories.