Discover what customers truly need by analyzing the "job" they hire your product to do. Use when the user mentions "customer discovery", "why customers churn", "what job does this solve", "competing against luck", "product-market fit", "switching behavior", "milkshake moment", or "functional vs emot

Jobs to Be Done Framework Framework for discovering innovation based on a fundamental truth: customers don't buy products they "hire" them to do a specific job in their lives. Core Principle Job to Be Done = the progress a customer wants to make in specific circumstances. Key elements of the definition: Progress (not goal, not solution) the customer wants to move from the current state to a better one Circumstances context determines the job, not customer attributes (demographics are useless) Hiring/Firing the customer actively chooses a product for the "job" Scoring Goal: 10/10. Score 1 point per satisfied row in the Quick Diagnostic (7 rows) plus up to 3 points for depth: +1 if all three job dimensions are evidenced, +1 if the job statement avoids any product/solution name, +1 if competition includes non consumption. Bands: 9 10 = job stated without the product, all four forces mapped, three dimensions evidenced, non obvious competition and Little Hire tracked; 5 6 = job named but one or two diagnostic rows fail (usually missing forces or emotional/social dimensions); <=3 = product first framing, demographic segmentation, or Pull only thinking. Always state the current score and the specific diagnostic rows to fix. Three Dimensions of Every Job Every job has three inseparable dimensions omitting any means failure: Dimension Question Example (milkshake) Functional What does the customer need to do? Occupy myself during a boring commute Emotional How do they want to feel? Have a small treat for myself Social How do they want to be perceived? As a sensible parent (not buying donuts) Framework 1. The Job Statement Core concept: A job statement captures the progress a customer seeks in a specific circumstance, in a structured format separating context, desired progress, and expected outcome. Why it works: Because jobs are stable while solutions churn, anchoring on the job protects a roadmap from chasing features that the next technology shift makes irrelevant. Key insights: Format: "When [circumstances], I want to [progress], so I can [outcome]" Circumstances matter more than demographics the same person has different jobs in different situations A well written job statement never mentions your product or any specific solution Jobs are stable over time; solutions change but the underlying job persists Product applications: Context Application Example New product ideation Define the job before brainstorming features "When I'm commuting alone, I want something to occupy me and satisfy hunger, so I'm not hungry until lunch" Feature prioritization Evaluate whether a feature serves the core job Features that advance the stated job beat nice to haves Positioning & messaging Use job statement language in copy Lead with circumstance and progress, not product specs Copy patterns: "When you're [circumstance], you need [progress] that's exactly what [product] does" Lead with the situation the customer recognizes, not the product category Mirror the emotional and social dimensions alongside the functional one See [references/innovation process.md](references/innovation process.md) when running an innovation project end to end the job hunting methodology, the job atlas, and fill in statement templates. 2. Forces of Progress (Push, Pull, Anxiety, Habit) Core concept: The decision to "hire" a new product results from four forces: Push (frustration with the current situation), Pull (attraction of the new solution), Anxiety (fear of the new), and Habit (comfort with the current behavior). Change happens only when Push + Pull Habit + Anxiety. Why it works: Most innovation efforts only increase Pull while ignoring the anti change forces which is why great products still fail to gain adoption. Key insights: Push: "this annoys me"; Pull: "I want this"; Habit: "I've always done it this way"; Anxiety: "what if it doesn't work?" Reducing anxiety and habit is often more effective than increasing push and pull Passive seekers (vaguely aware of a problem) are easier to influence than active seekers who already have criteria Product applications: Context Application Example Onboarding design Reduce anxiety with trials, guarantees, social proof Money back guarantee answers "what if it doesn't work?" Switching campaigns Make migration effortless to defeat habit One click data import from competitor Content marketing Awaken push in passive seekers by naming the frustration "5 signs your current tool is costing you hours every week" Copy patterns: Address anxiety directly: "No lock in, cancel anytime, your data is always yours" Name the push: "Tired of [frustration]? There's a better way" Reduce habit friction: "Switch in 5 minutes we import everything automatically" See [references/competitive strategy.md](references/competitive strategy.md) when mapping competitors or writing positioning forces analysis, the non obvious competition tables, and the jobs based positioning formula with worked examples. 3. The Big Hire & Little Hire Core concept: Two distinct decision moments: the Big Hire (purchase/signup, happens once) and the Little Hire (decision to use in the moment, happens repeatedly). Winning the Big Hire does not guarantee the Little Hire. Why it works: Many products win the sale but lose the customer because they optimize only the purchase decision understanding both moments reveals where retention problems truly originate. Key insights: Big Hire is driven by marketing, onboarding, and first impressions; Little Hire by product quality, UX, and ongoing value Big Hire anxiety is purchase risk; Little Hire anxiety is effort and learning curves Retention problems are almost always Little Hire failures purchased but never used Product applications: Context Application Example Retention analysis Separate Big Hire from Little Hire metrics Track "first use after signup" and "weekly active usage" apart from signup conversion Product design Optimize repeated usage, not just first impressions Reduce daily workflow friction even when onboarding is smooth Customer success Monitor Little Hire signals to predict churn Declining usage frequency signals upcoming churn Copy patterns: Big Hire copy sells the promise: "Transform how you [job]" Little Hire copy sells ease: "One click and you're done" Re engagement copy addresses the failure: "We've made [specific friction] easier" See [references/case studies.md](references/case studies.md) when you need a worked precedent to reason from full Big Hire / Little Hire breakdowns of SNHU, American Girl, and Intuit. 4. Competitive Landscape (Non Obvious Competition) Core concept: True competition is everything a customer can "hire" for the same job, often from completely different categories. Competitors are defined by the job, not by industry classification. Why it works: Category based analysis creates blind spots: a milkshake competes with bananas, bagels, and podcasts; Netflix competes with TikTok, sleep, and family conversation. Mapping the full landscape around the job reveals threats and opportunities traditional analysis misses. Key insights: Non consumption (doing nothing) is often the biggest competitor Workarounds and compensating behaviors reveal unserved jobs people hack, combine, and improvise Integrate where performance is "not good enough" for the job; modularize where it's "good enough" The best positioning answers "what job are we the best hire for?", not "how do we compare to similar products?" Product applications: Context Application Example Competitive analysis Map all hires for the same job across categories A PM tool competes with spreadsheets, sticky notes, email, and memory Positioning strategy Position against the real alternative Position against "doing it manually", not a named competitor Pricing strategy Price against the job's value If the job saves 10 hours/week, price against that time, not similar SaaS Copy patterns: "Stop using [workaround] for [job] there's a purpose built solution" "You wouldn't hire a [bad fit] to [job] so why are you using [current hack]?" Position around the job outcome, not feature comparison charts 5. Customer Discovery Interviews Core concept: Don't ask customers "what do you need" they don't know. Instead, reconstruct the purchase timeline (first thought, search, purchase, usage) to uncover the real job. Why it works: Customers rationalize decisions after the fact and can't articulate latent needs; walking backward through concrete events reveals the true circumstances, forces, and tradeoffs that drove behavior. Key insights: First thought: "When did you first look for a solution? What was happening in your life? What frustrated you?" Search: "What alternatives did you consider? What eliminated options? Who did you talk to?" Purchase: "Where were you? What ultimately convinced you? What were you afraid of?" Usage: "Is it doing what you expected? What surprised you? What's still missing?" Signals of undiscovered jobs: workarounds, non consumption, compensating behaviors, negative emotions toward current solutions Ask only about past events, never hypotheticals ("would you...", "do you wish...") a question that names your solution or a benefit leads the subject and produces confirmation, not discovery Product applications: Context Application Example New market entry Interview recent switchers Reconstruct what pushed them away and pulled them in Churn reduction Interview churned customers on their timeline Was it Big Hire (wrong expectations) or Little Hire (poor daily experience)? Feature discovery Interview customers using workarounds Spreadsheets alongside your product reveal an unmet job dimension Copy patterns: Use exact customer language from interviews in marketing copy "We heard you say [verbatim quote] so we built [feature]" Frame benefits in the circumstances and emotions customers actually described 6. Designing for the Job Core concept: Build the entire experience features, metrics, organization around helping the customer accomplish their job, not around internal capabilities or feature parity. Why it works: When every decision answers "will this help the customer better accomplish their job?", teams avoid feature bloat and build coherent products; if you can't answer it, you don't understand the job yet. Key insights: Replace customer satisfaction metrics with "did the job get done?" Replace NPS with "reasons for hiring and firing"; replace feature usage with "progress on the job" Organize teams and processes around jobs, not internal capabilities or product components Product applications: Context Application Example Metrics design Measure job completion "Time from problem to resolution", not "features used per session" Product roadmap Prioritize across job dimensions A functional fix that ignores the emotional dimension may not move the needle Organizational alignment Structure teams around jobs A "morning commute job" team owns content, packaging, and distribution Copy patterns: "Built for [the job], not for [the category]" "Everything you need to [job] nothing you don't" Emphasize outcome and progress, not features and specifications See [references/organizational change.md](references/organizational change.md) when adoption is the bottleneck rather than the analysis escaping the feature factory trap, winning executive buy in, and managing the change. Common Mistakes Mistake Why It Fails Fix Defining jobs narrowly around your product Misses the real co

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