Understand customer motivations through job theory. Use when defining product strategy, conducting user research, identifying competitors, writing user stories, or reframing features around customer progress.
Uncover the real jobs customers hire products to do. Use this when conducting user research, defining strategy, or writing requirements to identify true competitors and innovation opportunities beyond stated feature requests.
/plugin marketplace add flpbalada/thinking-toolkit/plugin install jobs-to-be-done@thinking-toolkitThis skill inherits all available tools. When active, it can use any tool Claude has access to.
Jobs-to-be-Done (JTBD) is a framework developed by Clayton Christensen and Bob Moesta that focuses on the progress customers are trying to make in their lives. Instead of asking "who is the customer?" it asks "what job are they hiring this product to do?"
Customer has a "job" to get done
|
v
+-------------+
| "Hires" a |
| product to |
| do the job |
+-------------+
|
v
If it does well → keeps using
If it fails → "fires" it, tries another
Clayton Christensen's famous example:
Traditional approach: "Who buys milkshakes? Demographics, preferences..."
JTBD approach: "What job is the milkshake being hired to do?"
Discovery: Morning milkshake buyers had a completely different job than afternoon buyers.
| Time | Job to Be Done | Competition |
|---|---|---|
| Morning | "Make my boring commute more interesting + keep me full until lunch" | Bagels, bananas, coffee |
| Afternoon | "Treat my child after a long day" | Toys, playground time, ice cream |
| Type | Description | Example |
|---|---|---|
| Functional | Practical task to accomplish | "Help me file my taxes correctly" |
| Emotional | How I want to feel | "Make me feel confident about my finances" |
| Social | How I want to be perceived | "Show others I'm responsible" |
When [situation/context]
I want to [motivation/job]
So I can [expected outcome]
Interview questions to uncover jobs:
| Question | Purpose |
|---|---|
| "Walk me through the last time you [action]" | Get specific context |
| "What were you trying to accomplish?" | Uncover functional job |
| "How did that make you feel?" | Uncover emotional job |
| "What did you try before this?" | Identify competition |
+------------------+------------------+
| PUSH | PULL |
| (away from) | (toward) |
| | |
| - Current pain | - Better outcome |
| - Frustration | - Emotional gain |
+------------------+------------------+
| |
v v
+------------------+------------------+
| ANXIETY | HABITS |
| (of new) | (of old) |
| | |
| - Will it work? | - "I've always |
| - Learning curve | done it this |
+------------------+ way" |
+------------------+
For customers to switch: Push + Pull > Anxiety + Habits
True competitors are anything hired for the same job:
Job: "Help me fall asleep faster"
| JTBD View |
|---|
| Sleep apps |
| Melatonin |
| White noise |
| Reading |
| Exercise |
| Wine |
## Jobs-to-be-Done Analysis
**Product/Feature:** [Name]
### Core Job Statement
When [situation] I want to [motivation] So I can [outcome]
### Job Dimensions
**Functional:** [What they're trying to accomplish] **Emotional:** [How they
want to feel] **Social:** [How they want to be perceived]
### Forces Analysis
**Push:** [Pain points driving change] **Pull:** [Benefits of new solution]
**Anxieties:** [Concerns about switching] **Habits:** [Behaviors keeping them in
place]
### True Competition
| Competitor | Job Performance |
| ---------- | --------------- |
| [Alt 1] | [How well] |
| [Alt 2] | [How well] |
| Product | Job | Competitors |
|---|---|---|
| Snickers | "I'm hungry and need a quick, filling snack" | Protein bars, nuts |
| Milky Way | "I want to treat myself to something indulgent" | Ice cream, cookies |
Not hired for: "I want to learn Python" (Udemy does this) Hired for: "I want to show my employer I'm developing professionally"
| Method | Combined Use |
|---|---|
| Hypothesis Tree | Structure job discovery hypotheses |
| Five Whys | Dig into underlying motivations |
| Fogg Behavior Model | Design for job completion |
This skill should be used when the user asks to "create a hookify rule", "write a hook rule", "configure hookify", "add a hookify rule", or needs guidance on hookify rule syntax and patterns.
Create distinctive, production-grade frontend interfaces with high design quality. Use this skill when the user asks to build web components, pages, or applications. Generates creative, polished code that avoids generic AI aesthetics.