In 2026, gaining a competitive edge means truly understanding why customers make the choices they do. Many businesses still rely on product-centric strategies, often missing the deeper motivations that drive real decisions.
The jobs to be done framework is changing that, offering a proven way to uncover actionable insights that fuel innovation and growth. This guide will walk you through every step needed to master jobs to be done and unlock powerful customer understanding in a fast-changing market.
Here’s what to expect: we’ll break down jobs to be done theory, explore its business impact, provide a step-by-step implementation guide, share real-world examples, highlight common pitfalls, and look ahead at the future of customer insight strategies.
Understanding Jobs to Be Done Theory
The jobs to be done framework flips traditional thinking about why customers choose certain products or services. Rather than focusing on demographics or product features, it asks a fundamental question: what progress is the customer really trying to make? When people buy a product, they are “hiring” it to help them accomplish a specific goal in a particular situation.
The Core Concept of JTBD
At its heart, jobs to be done is about understanding the progress people seek in their lives. Customers do not simply buy products for their features. Instead, they “hire” solutions to solve a problem, achieve a goal, or fulfill a desire. This approach, championed by Tony Ulwick and Clayton Christensen, helps organizations see beyond surface-level motivations.
Consider the classic example: someone buys a quarter-inch drill bit not because they want the tool, but because they need a quarter-inch hole. The real focus is on the outcome, not the tool itself. This mindset shift guides teams to look for the underlying need—the job to be done—rather than obsess over incremental product improvements.
Jobs to be done persist even as technology changes. Listening to music is a job that has endured, while records, tapes, CDs, and streaming have all been “hired” at different times. By focusing on the job, companies can stay relevant as customer preferences and technologies evolve.
This perspective is transformative for innovation. Instead of asking, “How can we make our product better?” teams ask, “What job is the customer trying to get done?” For a more in-depth analysis, see Microsoft's JTBD Framework Analysis.
The Forces Influencing Customer Decisions
Making progress is rarely a straight line. The jobs to be done framework identifies four main “Forces of Progress” that shape customer decisions:
Pushes: Problems or frustrations with the current situation.
Pulls: Attractive features or promises of a new solution.
Anxieties: Fears or uncertainties about switching.
Habits: Comfort with existing behaviors.
These forces can drive or stall decisions. For example, in the Detroit condo market, many buyers hesitated to move because they could not imagine living without their large dining tables. This emotional attachment, an anxiety, outweighed the push of a new lifestyle.
Context matters. The same person might “hire” a product for different jobs, depending on the situation. Understanding these circumstances is crucial for revealing why customers act as they do.
In the Christensen Institute’s condo case, truly understanding the jobs to be done and the forces at play led to a 25% business growth, even as the broader market shrank by 49%. This proves that deep insight into these forces can unlock real opportunity.
Types of Jobs: Functional, Emotional, and Social
Jobs to be done are not all the same. They fall into three main categories:
Functional jobs: Practical tasks or problems to solve (e.g., getting from point A to B).
Emotional jobs: Feelings or aspirations the customer wants to achieve (e.g., feeling secure, proud, or fulfilled).
Social jobs: How the customer wants to be perceived by others (e.g., fitting in with peers, impressing colleagues).
Take choosing a college as an example. The functional job might be earning a degree. The emotional job could be fulfilling family expectations, while the social job might involve joining a certain peer group. Mapping all these layers provides a comprehensive view of why customers decide as they do.
True insight emerges when organizations capture the full range of jobs to be done. This holistic approach is key to designing experiences, products, and services that resonate on every level.
Why JTBD Matters for Business Success
Understanding the real reasons behind customer choices is no longer a luxury, but a necessity for businesses aiming to thrive in 2026. The jobs to be done framework stands out as the most reliable way to uncover these hidden motivations and transform them into lasting business success.
Unlocking Predictable Innovation and Growth
The jobs to be done framework empowers organizations to see beyond surface-level needs. By focusing on the progress customers seek, companies can reveal unmet needs that competitors overlook. This approach leads to innovation that is not only creative but also rooted in real user demand, making outcomes more predictable and reducing the risk of failed product launches.
Consider healthcare and pharmaceuticals, where teams using jobs to be done have identified patient and provider needs that traditional research missed. These insights have led to new therapies and delivery methods, as highlighted in testimonials from industry leaders. Similarly, Momentive leveraged jobs to be done to gain actionable insights in mature markets, unlocking new avenues for growth.
Key benefits include:
Identifying unmet or unspoken needs.
Creating stronger, more resonant value propositions.
Accelerating time to market by clarifying priorities.
Aligning teams across marketing, sales, and product.
Strategic clarity is another major advantage. Ingersoll Rand, for instance, used jobs to be done principles to refine growth initiatives and achieve a superior product-market fit. Companies that adopt this framework can develop robust, lasting need statements in days instead of months. For a deeper dive on JTBD’s transformative power, see this Comprehensive JTBD White Paper.
The Limitations of Traditional Approaches
Traditional marketing often relies on demographic data or focuses too heavily on product features. This can leave companies blind to the true drivers of customer decisions. Without the jobs to be done perspective, businesses risk missing out on what really matters and can be overtaken by more customer-focused competitors.
Take the classic example of kettle makers versus Keurig. Kettle brands focused solely on boiling water, overlooking the broader job customers wanted: convenient, enjoyable beverage preparation. Keurig succeeded by addressing the complete job, illustrating how jobs to be done can prevent disruption by competitors who meet needs more fully.
Key risks of traditional approaches:
Becoming boxed in by outdated product definitions.
Overlooking shifts in customer expectations.
Failing to spot emerging opportunities.
By shifting from a product-centric to a job-centric mindset, organizations can avoid these pitfalls and ensure their innovations resonate deeply with customers. Embracing jobs to be done is not just about avoiding mistakes, but about building a foundation for sustainable growth and market leadership.
Step-by-Step Guide: Implementing JTBD in 2026
Unlocking the power of jobs to be done requires a structured approach. The following steps outline how to embed JTBD thinking into your business for 2026 and beyond. Each step is actionable, practical, and designed to help you understand, prioritize, and act on what truly matters to your customers.
Step 1: Define Your Target Customer and Context
The first step in implementing jobs to be done is to clearly define your target customer and the specific situations in which they interact with your offering. Go beyond basic demographics or surface-level characteristics. Instead, focus on understanding the real-life scenarios and triggers that lead people to seek out your product or service.
For example, in financial services, segment customers by life events such as buying a home or planning for retirement. In medical devices, consider the context of use, like hospital emergency rooms versus home care. In software, identify whether users are onboarding, troubleshooting, or scaling their operations.
Use methods such as in-depth interviews, observational research, and customer journey mapping. Capturing context ensures you target the most relevant jobs to be done, laying the foundation for meaningful insights.
By grounding your research in real-world circumstances, you avoid making assumptions and start uncovering the true drivers behind customer decisions. This clarity is essential for the success of jobs to be done initiatives.
Step 2: Discover and Articulate Customer Jobs
After identifying your target audience and their context, the next step is to uncover the specific jobs to be done they are trying to accomplish. Use qualitative research like interviews and ethnographic studies to dig deep. Ask open-ended questions such as, "What were you hoping to achieve?" or "What options did you consider before choosing this solution?"
Map out the customer journey, looking for moments where needs arise and progress is desired. For instance, in postsecondary education, students may "hire" a college for different jobs: gaining independence, meeting family expectations, or joining a community.
Capture both the explicit needs customers voice and the unspoken motivations that drive their actions. A thorough understanding of jobs to be done at this stage sets the stage for targeted innovation and solution development.
Step 3: Analyze Forces of Progress and Barriers
Understanding why customers switch to or resist new solutions is crucial in the jobs to be done framework. Analyze the "forces of progress" that push and pull customers toward a choice, as well as anxieties and habits that hold them back.
Pushes might include dissatisfaction with current options or a new need emerging. Pulls are the attractions of your solution. Common barriers are anxieties about change or the comfort of existing routines.
Consider the Detroit condo sales example: emotional ties to a dining table often prevented downsizing, even when logic suggested otherwise. By identifying these hidden forces, you can anticipate resistance and design interventions that help customers make progress.
Mapping these dynamics allows you to address both rational and emotional aspects of jobs to be done, increasing adoption rates and customer satisfaction.
Step 4: Prioritize Jobs and Opportunities
Not all jobs to be done are equal. Some are more important or less well-served than others. Use quantitative tools such as surveys to assess which jobs have the highest importance and lowest current satisfaction among your customers.
Apply the Outcome-Driven Innovation approach to rank jobs based on these metrics. Focus on jobs with high importance and low satisfaction, as these represent the best opportunities for differentiation and growth.
For market sizing, combine data from customer feedback with competitive analysis. This ensures your product development is driven by validated jobs to be done, reducing risk and increasing the likelihood of market success.
Prioritizing in this way helps you allocate resources effectively and maximize your impact in meeting real customer needs.
Step 5: Align Solutions and Messaging to Customer Jobs
Once you've prioritized the most critical jobs to be done, redesign your product features, services, and messaging to address them directly. This alignment should extend across marketing, sales, and product development teams.
For example, in the Detroit condo case, developers added storage and moving services to address emotional jobs, not just functional needs. Test new concepts with your customers, gather feedback, and iterate quickly.
Aligning your offering with jobs to be done is a key driver of growth. Companies that excel at this often embrace Product-Led Growth Strategies, ensuring every feature and message is rooted in real customer jobs.
This approach not only sets you apart from competitors but also builds lasting loyalty by consistently solving your customers' most important problems.
Step 6: Integrate JTBD into Ongoing Strategy and Operations
To sustain the benefits of jobs to be done, make it a core part of your company’s culture and processes. Develop dashboards to monitor customer job satisfaction and spot evolving needs in real time.
Train cross-functional teams to use JTBD frameworks in ideation, product development, and customer support. Create feedback loops so you can adapt quickly as customer jobs shift.
Institutionalizing jobs to be done thinking helps organizations maintain market leadership, stay agile, and continuously deliver value. Over time, this leads to stronger product-market fit, higher customer retention, and a culture of innovation.
Real-World Examples and Case Studies
Understanding the practical impact of jobs to be done is easiest through real stories. These cases show how applying the framework uncovers surprising insights and drives measurable growth.
Kettle Makers vs. Keurig: Redefining the Job
For years, kettle makers believed their customers wanted to boil water quickly. However, when jobs to be done entered the conversation, it became clear that people were really trying to prepare a satisfying beverage with minimal effort.
Keurig capitalized on this by creating a platform that addressed the entire beverage preparation job, not just heating water. The result? Keurig disrupted the market by solving the broader job, while traditional kettle makers lagged behind.
Focus on the real job, not just the product.
Look for opportunities to simplify the user’s task.
Avoid getting stuck on features customers may not truly value.
This example highlights why jobs to be done can reveal hidden market opportunities.
Condominium Sales: Emotional Jobs and Market Growth
In Detroit, a condominium developer faced a declining market. By using jobs to be done, the team discovered that buyers were emotionally attached to their dining tables, which represented family gatherings and memories.
Instead of just selling units, the company addressed these emotional jobs by redesigning floor plans and offering moving and storage solutions. This customer-centric approach resulted in a 25% sales increase, even while the broader condo market shrank by 49%.
Emotional jobs often drive the final decision.
Address anxieties and attachments to remove barriers.
Adapt offerings to fit real customer motivations.
This case demonstrates how jobs to be done can turn challenges into opportunities, even in tough conditions.
Postsecondary Education: The Five Jobs Framework
Why do students choose a college? The jobs to be done framework reveals five core jobs: getting into the best school, doing what’s expected, getting away, stepping it up, and extending oneself.
Colleges that map these jobs improve program design, marketing, and student outcomes. Research shows that 74% of students transfer or drop out, often because their chosen school does not align with their true job. By understanding the jobs to be done, institutions can create more relevant experiences and reduce attrition.
Functional, emotional, and social jobs all matter.
Tailor programs to the spectrum of student needs.
Use jobs to be done to improve retention and satisfaction.
This approach transforms how education providers serve and support students.
Healthcare and Pharmaceuticals: JTBD in Complex Environments
Applying jobs to be done in healthcare brings clarity to both patient and provider needs. Companies like Roche have used the framework to uncover hidden jobs, improve patient outcomes, and streamline healthcare delivery.
In regulated and complex industries, jobs to be done uncovers opportunities that traditional research often misses. For a deeper look at real-world implementation, read a Practitioner's View on JTBD, which explores the framework’s impact on innovation.
Complex markets benefit from jobs to be done clarity.
Unspoken needs often reveal the largest opportunities.
JTBD supports both product and service innovation.
This example proves that jobs to be done is not just for consumer products, but also drives transformation in healthcare and beyond.
Common Pitfalls and How to Avoid Them
Understanding the jobs to be done framework is powerful, but it is easy to stumble if you miss crucial details. Many organizations fall into common traps that limit the impact of their insights and innovation efforts. Recognizing and addressing these pitfalls will set your team up for sustainable success.
Avoiding Feature Traps and Shallow Data
One of the biggest mistakes is confusing product features with real customer jobs to be done. Teams often focus on adding new features, believing this will satisfy users. In reality, customers "hire" products for outcomes, not features. For example, kettle makers once thought boiling water was the job, but Keurig succeeded by understanding the broader beverage preparation job.
Another common pitfall is relying too heavily on demographics or personas. While these offer surface-level insights, they rarely reveal the underlying motivations that drive customer decisions. Focusing only on age, income, or location can box you in and blind you to disruption.
Missing Context and Overlooking Emotional and Social Jobs
Failing to capture the full context of jobs to be done is risky. True customer needs span functional, emotional, and social dimensions. If you only address the practical task, you may miss powerful motivators, like emotional attachments or the desire for social belonging. In the Detroit condo case, ignoring emotional jobs nearly cost developers significant market share.
Ignoring the forces of progress—such as anxieties or habits—can also block adoption. Customers resist change for many reasons, so understanding what pushes or pulls them is essential.
Lack of Validation and Short-Term Thinking
Not validating jobs to be done with real customers is a critical error. Skipping research or failing to test assumptions can lead to misaligned solutions. Iterative, cross-functional research is key. If you want to learn more about robust research methods, see this guide on Aligning Research with JTBD.
Finally, focusing on quick wins instead of long-term satisfaction undermines growth. Sustainable success comes from solving the ongoing jobs your customers face, not just temporary pain points.
How to Avoid These Pitfalls:
Build cross-functional teams to capture diverse perspectives.
Invest in iterative research and continuous validation.
Map all aspects of the jobs to be done—functional, emotional, and social.
Regularly revisit and update your findings as markets evolve.
By staying vigilant and methodical, you will avoid common traps and unlock the true potential of jobs to be done in your business strategy.
The Future of JTBD and Customer Insights in 2026
The landscape of customer understanding is evolving at lightning speed. As we look ahead to 2026, the jobs to be done framework is set to become even more central in driving innovation and competitive edge. Businesses that harness emerging technologies and integrate JTBD into their core strategies will unlock deeper, more actionable insights than ever before.
Emerging Trends in JTBD Application
Several trends are shaping how organizations apply jobs to be done. First, artificial intelligence and advanced analytics are transforming how customer jobs are discovered and prioritized. Machine learning can now analyze massive datasets to identify patterns in customer behavior, surfacing hidden jobs that manual research might miss.
Second, JTBD is increasingly being integrated with outcome-driven innovation and agile product development. Teams are using rapid iteration cycles, informed by real-time customer feedback, to align products and services with evolving jobs to be done.
Third, the framework is expanding beyond consumer markets. B2B, SaaS, and digital services companies are using jobs to be done to redesign offerings and improve account-based strategies. The focus on emotional and social jobs is also growing, as brands recognize these as powerful differentiators in crowded markets.
AI-driven job discovery and prediction
JTBD embedded in agile, cross-functional teams
Expansion into B2B and digital verticals
Greater emphasis on emotional and social jobs
JTBD insights powering full-funnel marketing and customer experience design
As organizations map the jobs to be done across the entire customer journey, they are better equipped to tailor their go-to-market strategies for lasting impact.
The Evolving Role of Customer Insights
Customer jobs are not static. In 2026, the jobs to be done that drive purchase decisions will shift faster than ever, influenced by technology, culture, and new expectations. This means continuous discovery and adaptation are essential for market leadership.
Organizations that institutionalize jobs to be done thinking across teams will outperform competitors in innovation and satisfaction. Companies using JTBD frameworks report faster time-to-market, higher product success rates, and more resilient business models.
To maximize value, businesses will need to:
Embed JTBD into brand messaging and strategy development. Insights from jobs to be done can elevate brand messaging frameworks for more authentic customer connections.
Invest in ongoing customer research to detect shifts in jobs early.
Train cross-functional teams to use JTBD tools in daily decision-making.
Build feedback loops that track job satisfaction and evolving needs.
Looking forward, jobs to be done will shape how organizations structure teams, design products, and communicate with customers. Those who lead this shift will set the pace for innovation and growth in a rapidly changing world.
If you’re ready to turn customer insights into real growth, the JTBD framework can be your game-changer. We’ve seen how understanding what drives your customers—beyond just features—can help you innovate, fine-tune your messaging, and build systems that actually deliver results. But putting this into practice takes the right approach and tools. If you want to see how a unified growth system can work for your B2B SaaS company, I recommend you Learn more about RCKT's Growth Packages. Take the next step toward predictable growth and marketing clarity!