You will use the Jobs to Be Done (JTBD) framework to reframe the problem from the customer’s perspective, then define the key value your product or service must deliver to solve it. This is your opportunity to translate qualitative insights into a clear product hypothesis.
Review the following video for this assignment.
Draft a one- to two-page APA-formatted Word document that defines the core job your customer is trying to get done and outlines your proposed value proposition. This assignment builds on the insights you gathered during your Week 3 discovery and synthesis work. Your paper should include the following.
1. Core Job to Be Done (JTBD) - Describe the main job your customer is trying to accomplish. Use the JTBD format.
• Include any emotional, social, or functional aspects of the job.
• Highlight what makes this job particularly difficult or frustrating.
2. Supporting Pain Points - Identify 2–3 pain points your user experiences while trying to complete this job.
• What is getting in the way of progress?
• What causes stress, confusion, or wasted time?
3. Value Proposition Hypothesis - Write a clear value proposition that explains how your product or service will help the customer get the job done. You can use the Geoff Moore format or a variation: “For [target user], who [problem/job], our [product] is a [category] that [key benefit]. Unlike [alternatives], it [differentiator].”
• Focus on delivering benefit, not describing features.
• Be specific and aligned to what you’ve heard from users.
4. What You’re Still Unsure About - Briefly reflect on 1–2 assumptions that still feel risky or unproven.
Sample Answer
This paper applies the Jobs to Be Done (JTBD) framework to reframe a core customer need identified during the discovery and synthesis phase (Week 3). The objective is to articulate the customer's true motivation for "hiring" a product or service and to define a clear, targeted value proposition hypothesis. This analysis moves beyond surface-level features to focus on the functional, emotional, and social progress the customer is trying to achieve. The insights reviewed from the associated video and prior research focus on the challenges faced by [Insert your target user group, e.g., busy working parents, new remote managers, small business owners] as they attempt to achieve [Insert the general area of the job, e.g., personal financial stability, team productivity, market entry].
Core Job to Be Done (JTBD)
The fundamental progress the customer is trying to make—the core Job to Be Done—is defined as:
When [Situation], I want to [Motivation/Goal], so I can [Desired Outcome/Progress].
Specific JTBD:
When I am [Situation/Context that triggers the job, e.g., managing a remote team spread across three time zones], I want to [Verb phrase describing the core functional goal, e.g., ensure that every team member feels heard and contributes equally to strategic decisions], so I can [The ultimate emotional/social/functional benefit, e.g., stop worrying about invisible productivity dips and feel confident that my team is operating at peak performance without me having to micromanage].
Functional, Emotional, and Social Aspects
Functional: The customer needs a reliable, efficient way to [e.g., track asynchronous task progress, share complex documents without version conflicts, schedule meetings across disparate calendars].
Emotional: The customer desires to [e.g., feel less stress and more in control, achieve a sense of peace about their professional life, reduce the guilt of being an absentee manager/parent].
Social: The customer wants to be perceived as [e.g., a highly effective, modern, and trustworthy leader by their peers and supervisors, a responsible and organized person within their community].