The Jobs to be Done Interviewing Style: Who are our Users Trying to Become?
The belief
The Jobs-to-be-done Theory (JTBD) is based on the notion that users are trying to accomplish a certain goal. They don't just buy something, they “hire” products and services to get a “job” done. A famous example by Harvard Business School Professor Theodore Levitt: “People don’t want to buy a quarter-inch drill. They want a quarter-inch hole.” The problem: Not many companies are aware of the “jobs” their customers use the products for, though. Economist Peter Drucker put it straightforward in his 2010 book The Strategic Drucker: “The customer rarely buys what the business thinks it sells him.”
This implicates, the better a company understands the underlying job, the more successful products, and services can be tailored to fit the need. This article shows how JTBD can be used for user interviews to gain insights into why customers are pushed or pulled into a product/service. A disclaimer: To detect the deeper goal that is actually driving the behavior of a user is difficult, mainly because customers do not actively know themselves or do not want to share this due to factors like social desirability.
The specifics
Screen for:
People who just recently started using your product/service
People who have just recently stopped using your product/service
People who have not yet used your product/service
Aim to understand:
Why people switch to your product/service
Why people switch away from your product/service
What people who have not heard about your product/service are trying to accomplish and how they are currently doing that
What pushes/pulls people into using your (or a competitor’s) product/service
Listen for:
Push of the situation: what was it about their particular situation that led them to look for a new solution?
Pull of the situation: what was it about the new solution that made them want to try it?
Habits holding them back: what habits do they have that may prevent them from trying a new solution?
Anxieties of the new solution: what anxieties did they have about trying or using a new solution?
The script
Focus on the switch event, try to re-create the moment in order to bring back the feelings associated with the experience (ask about details like: where were you, what day was it, what were you doing, …)
What other solutions did you consider before trying the product /service?
What were you trying to find when you were considering those solutions?
What were you trying to solve?
Tell me about how you looked for these products/services.
What other solutions have you actually used?
What did and didn’t you like about other solutions you’ve tried/used?
If this product/service wasn’t available to you, what you do instead?
What solutions have the people you know tried or used?
What are you doing now compared to the past?
Continue with more emotionally questions
When did you first realize you needed something to solve your problem?
Did you talk to anyone else about what choices you were considering? What was this conversation like?
Was anything recommended to you?
What did you imagine using this product/service would be like?
What did you want from the product/service?
Did you have any anxiety about purchasing/using this product/service?
Was there anything that made you nervous about using it?