Why (And How) We Use Jobs-to-be-Done

In design, the process shapes the product

There are many ways to create a journey map, facilitate design thinking, or design an experience. However, the process shapes the product. And not all processes are made equal.

Weak deliverables — like less-than-useful journey maps or experience blueprints that fail to resolve underlying problems — are symptoms of poor design processes. 

If previous initiatives or consulting firms have failed to make a meaningful difference, it’s because the project team didn’t understand your audience well enough. To design experiences, services, and products that finally “click” for the people you serve, you need to understand the human needs that are driving buying decisions.

Jobs-to-be-Done is the vehicle to arrive at that deeper state of understanding.

>>How does Jobs-to-be-Done improve design?

First, a refresher on Jobs-to-be-Done. This qualitative research framework aims to uncover the “jobs” that people “hire” a service or product for. 

One example we like to use is a Starbucks iced latte. There are many reasons why somebody might hire one:

• To energize themselves for the day
• To start their day with a positive interaction 
• To reward themselves with a treat 

Understanding those jobs — the reasons why people hire your products and services — helps you deliver products, services, and experiences that better meet their needs. It also helps you market more effectively by focusing on what matters most to your customers.

New to Jobs? Read our beginner’s guide to the framework: How it’s used, why it works, and examples.
Read our JTBD guide →

>>What makes JTBD effective? 

Jobs-to-be-Done uncovers the emotional drivers and motivations that shape human thinking (how people perceive your brand) and behavior (what they buy). Here’s what makes the methodology so effective in human-centered design.

1. Asking the right questions 

Think back to the latte. If you ask coffee drinkers in the drive-thru, “Why are you buying a latte today?” the answers will be surface-level: “I was tired,” “I was bored,” or “I buy one every day.”

Buying decisions are influenced by functional, social, and emotional needs — even those as small as buying a $7 drink — but you won’t get into the complexity and nuance of emotions with surface-level questions. 

Jobs-to-be-Done doesn’t stop at functional needs (like coffee as a pick-me-up). It helps researchers craft the right questions and probe in the right places to understand the emotions behind decisions that consumers might not even realize themselves.

2. Expanding your perspective 

Similar but different, Jobs helps designers correctly frame the challenge. As a designer, you solve the problem you define. If it’s the wrong issue — or if it’s framed in a limiting way — you’ll design the wrong solutions. And you won’t realize it until you implement them. 

Years ago, Blockbuster seemed to focus on a poorly framed challenge: “How do we make the best rental store possible?” while Netflix zoomed out: “How do we improve the way people watch movies?” That framing made all the difference.

This is why Jobs-to-be-Done in design thinking is so effective. It gets you out of the box of your own brain, expanding the realm of what you can design. 

3. Uncovering sharper insights

Surface-level journey maps, personas, and experience strategies are all too common. Broad insights that focus on functional needs limit how well you can design for and communicate with your audience. 

Jobs research pinpoints what your audience most wants, how they feel across the journey, and what’s not working for them. 

This information is invaluable. It helps you be more precise with: 

• What you design
• Which initiatives you prioritize
• What you say to people — and when

>>How we apply Jobs-to-be-Done 

There are many ways to apply Jobs-to-be-Done. These JTBD examples are some common ways that we use the methodology in our work at Cast & Hue.

Jobs-to-be-Done in journey mapping

Jobs drives our customer research process, which shapes a stronger end product. We use it to craft discussion guides and questions for journey mapping sessions that get at the root of human needs. Our journey maps account for the true drivers behind buyer decisions, how they might change during the journey, and how to engage audiences at different phases.

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Jobs-to-be-Done in design thinking

Jobs methodology helps us frame design thinking challenges to help teams think like Netflix, not Blockbuster. This positioning leads to solutions that are more evergreen and universally applicable, because they take the full context of a situation into account, rather than centering on one specific product or feature.

Jobs-to-be-Done in experience design

Before we can design a strong experience, we must understand what matters to the end users — the people who go through it. Our Jobs-informed approach uncovers “themes” around what people want from an experience. (For example, they may want a sense of control during an anxiety-ridden health journey, or reliability from a platform in a logistically complex space.)

We identify these themes during Jobs-to-be-Done interviews by asking the right questions and probing more deeply into human needs and emotions.

Jobs-to-be-Done in marketing 

While we aren’t a marketing agency, our audience insights often guide marketing strategies. Our clients have found that their personas, messaging strategies, and campaigns resonate more when they’re based in deep-rooted emotional needs rather than broad pain points. Learn how one of our clients, P.F. Chang’s, used our insights to craft a targeted marketing strategy. 

Cast & Hue’s unique approach

Not all CX agencies and design firms use Jobs-to-be-Done, but more of us should. Our expertise in Jobs differentiates our approach at Cast & Hue and helps us deliver journey maps, experience blueprints, and other deliverables that are more insightful, precise, and genuinely useful.

This is why we don’t treat Jobs as an add-on service. The methodology is baked into our process and central to what we do. We apply it in different ways across projects to strengthen our process — and, as a result, your outcomes.

Once you zero-in on your audience’s emotional needs, business decisions become easier and more impactful. When you’re ready, let’s talk about it.