JTBD Analysis

Core Principle

A job is the progress a person is trying to make in a particular circumstance. Jobs are stable over time — technology changes, jobs don't. People hire products to make progress; they fire them when they fail.

The trap: Feature requests describe a proposed solution, not the underlying job. Always extract the job first.

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Job Statement Format

When [situation/trigger], I want to [motivation/action], so I can [expected outcome]

Examples (good):

• "When I'm hosting a virtual networking event, I want to facilitate natural conversations between strangers, so I can create valuable connections that wouldn't happen otherwise."
• "When I join an event as a participant, I want to quickly find relevant people to talk to, so I can maximize the value of my limited time."

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Job Types — Extract All Three

Type	Question	Example
Functional	What task is the user trying to accomplish?	Find someone with complementary expertise
Emotional	How does the user want to feel?	Feel confident approaching strangers
Social	How does the user want to be perceived?	Appear professional and well-connected

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Abstraction Layers — Navigate to the Real Job

Jobs usually live at strategic or physical level, not tactical.

Layer	Question	Example
Tactical	How do we improve this interaction?	Better drag-and-drop for notes
Operational	Why does this workflow exist?	Why do we need a facilitator?
Strategic	What decision is being pursued?	How do we reduce direction uncertainty?
Physical	What's the irreducible function?	Input → Synthesis → Convergence

Navigation rules:

• Use "why?" to move up layers
• Use "how?" to move down layers
• Stop when further "why?" produces a life-goal answer

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First-Principles Extraction — 3-Step Inversion

When a feature request is presented as a job, apply this:

1. Identify the Activity — What visible action is the user performing?

   • e.g., "User brainstorms on a whiteboard"

2. Reject the Activity as the Job — Does anyone wake up wanting to do this activity?

   • "Nobody wakes up wanting to brainstorm" → the job is deeper

3. Strip to Irreducible Function — What remains if all tools and methods are removed?

   • e.g., "Reduce uncertainty via input-synthesis-convergence"

Disruption check: Is there a higher-level job that would make this entire job unnecessary?

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ODI Outcome Statements — Measurable Success Criteria

Format:

[Direction] + [Metric] + [Object] + [Context]

Direction: Always "Minimize" (95% of time). "Maximize" only when more is genuinely better.

Metrics priority:

1. the time it takes to

   — speed/efficiency (preferred)

2. the likelihood of

   — avoiding occurrences

3. the likelihood that

   — avoiding results

4. the number of

   — quantity reduction

5. the effort required to

   — ease

Good vs bad examples:

Bad	Problem	Good
"I want easy video calls"	Ambiguous + solution	"Minimize the time it takes to start a conversation with a specific person"
"Manage my network effectively"	Vague verb + ambiguous	"Minimize the time it takes to identify who can help with a specific need"
"Use breakout rooms to talk privately"	Solution embedded	"Minimize the likelihood of conversations being overheard by unintended parties"
"Don't miss important people"	Negative framing	"Minimize the likelihood of failing to connect with relevant attendees"

Forbidden words: easy, reliable, good, better, effective, efficient, manage, handle, deal with. Forbidden patterns: solution references ("using AI", "via the app"), compound statements with "and"/"or", demographics.

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Opportunity Scoring

Formula:

Score = Importance + Max(0, Importance - Satisfaction)

Where Importance and Satisfaction are surveyed 1-10.

Score	Interpretation
> 12	Under-served — high opportunity
10-12	Appropriately served — maintain
< 10	Over-served — do not invest

Output format per opportunity:

| Outcome | Importance | Satisfaction | Score | Status |
|---------|------------|--------------|-------|--------|
| Minimize time to find relevant attendees | 9.2 | 4.1 | 14.3 | Under-served |

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DIVERGE Output for JTBD Phase

Produce

docs/feature/{feature-id}/diverge/job-analysis.md

with:

1. Raw request — verbatim feature/problem statement received
2. Job extraction — 5 Why chain from tactical to physical/strategic level
3. Job statements — functional (required) + emotional + social (if identifiable)
4. Disruption check — Is there a higher-level job this entire job is serving?
5. Outcome statements — 3-6 measurable ODI-format statements
6. Opportunity candidates — Which outcomes appear most under-served?

Gate: Job must be at strategic or physical abstraction level. Tactical-level jobs are not acceptable input for brainstorming — elevate first.