Jobs-to-be-done (JTBD) is a model for understanding what circumstances and needs cause someone to act or seek a solution in any given situation.
This framework is applied in product strategy, service design, and user research to help organizations understand what motivates a person so that the organization may align a product or service to that person’s objective and desired outcome.
In its purest sense, a person will consider an outcome they wish to reach in order to satisfy a need. That is the job-to-be-done. This could be turning on the TV to decompress after a long day. It could be drinking a milkshake while driving to work to feel full enough to get through the morning.
Understanding this foundational need allows an organization to consider alternatives, competitors, and opportunities to fulfill the foundational user need, or JTBD.
In this video, Clayton Christensen talks McDonald’s, milkshakes, and JTBD.