Jobs to Be Done
Meet Jonah, a creative yet frustrated product manager who, like many in his field, faces a common set of challenges.
- Generating fresh product ideas for clientele from various industries
- Navigating effective collaboration with globally dispersed product and project teams
- Managing tight deadlines and maintaining productivity
Right now, Jonah seeks strategies and tools to master these essential tasks and stay sane in the middle of constant product ideation and management hustles.
This is where the Jobs to be Done (JTBD) theory may come in handy—a framework that individuals, like Jonah and you, with their product teams, can use to understand the underlying needs and motivations of their current or potential users. Let's explore the JTBD theory, and find out how Living Spec can support you in adopting this strategy.
Note, Living Spec is not the creator of the Jobs to be Done approach, and Living Spec as a product does not have an opinion on the Jobs to be Done approach. We simply want to provide a tool that can help you and your team adopt this approach.
Understanding the Cost of Neglecting "Jobs to be Done"
Out of 30,000 new product launches yearly, 95% of them fail to gain traction and eventually fade into the unknown. Often, the core reason is a lack of understanding of the fundamental "jobs" that users or clients need to accomplish.
In the words of Ted Levitt, "People don't want to buy a quarter-inch drill; they want a quarter-inch hole." JTBD focuses on customers' true goals. The Living Spec team turns those into Use Cases, but that is just one viable approach.
So, what's the remedy for product managers like Jonah and their teams? It starts with grasping their potential clients' needs and studying them closely. Here's where Living Spec comes in.
How Living Spec Can Support
These are some ways Living Spec can supercharge Jonah and his teams' process of understanding - and hopefully, yours too:
- Collaboration at its Best: Living Spec's collaborative features allow teams to collectively brainstorm, share insights, and nurture innovative ideas. No idea is left behind, and everyone has a voice in the creative process. Everything starts with creating a blank document to capture everyone's ideas.
- Full Transparency: With Living Spec, everything shared can be visible and accessible to the entire team. This means instant feedback, swift answers to questions, and a shared understanding of the project's direction.
- Flexibility for Growth: In the ever-evolving landscape of product management, flexibility is key. Living Spec lets Jonah and his teams add pages or "specs" as needed. There are no rigid constraints; they can follow the natural flow of the creative process.
Ready to turn customer feedback into part of your product plan? [Start collaborating more effectively with your product team](/Ready to turn criticism into a positive opportunity for growth? Start collaborating more effectively with your product team and improving customer satisfaction today with Living Spec.