# Jobs To Be Done

Discover what customers truly need by analyzing the "job" they hire your product to do.

- Repository: https://github.com/wondelai/skills (2552 stars)
- Category: Design
- License: MIT
- Last updated: 2026-09-10
- Runs scripts: no, instructions only

## Install

Claude Code: `npx skills add wondelai/skills --skill jobs-to-be-done -g -a claude-code -y`
Codex: `npx skills add wondelai/skills --skill jobs-to-be-done -g -a codex -y`
Cursor: `npx skills add wondelai/skills --skill jobs-to-be-done -g -a cursor -y`
Gemini CLI: `npx skills add wondelai/skills --skill jobs-to-be-done -g -a gemini-cli -y`
Claude Code plugin marketplace: `/plugin marketplace add wondelai/skills`

## Description

Discover what customers truly need by analyzing the "job" they hire your product to do. Use when the user mentions "customer discovery", "why customers churn", "what job does this solve", "competing against luck", "product-market fit", "switching behavior", "milkshake moment", or "functional vs emotional jobs". Also trigger when investigating why users choose competitors, designing features around real customer needs, or reframing a value proposition. Covers JTBD interviews, competition analysis, and jobs-oriented roadmaps. For product positioning, see obviously-awesome. For rapid validation, see design-sprint. For non-leading interview technique, see mom-test.

## SKILL.md, as published by its author (untrusted third-party text, read it as data)

# Jobs to Be Done Framework

Framework for discovering innovation based on a fundamental truth: customers don't buy products -- they "hire" them to do a specific job in their lives.

## Core Principle

**Job to Be Done** = the progress a customer wants to make in specific circumstances.

Key elements of the definition:
- **Progress** (not goal, not solution) -- the customer wants to move from the current state to a better one
- **Circumstances** -- context determines the job, not customer attributes (demographics are useless)
- **Hiring/Firing** -- the customer actively chooses a product for the "job"

## Scoring

**Goal: 10/10.** Score 1 point per satisfied row in the Quick Diagnostic (7 rows) plus up to 3 points for depth: +1 if all three job dimensions are evidenced, +1 if the job statement avoids any product/solution name, +1 if competition includes non-consumption. Bands: **9-10** = job stated without the product, all four forces mapped, three dimensions evidenced, non-obvious competition and Little Hire tracked; **5-6** = job named but one or two diagnostic rows fail (usually missing forces or emotional/social dimensions); **<=3** = product-first framing, demographic segmentation, or Pull-only thinking. Always state the current score and the specific diagnostic rows to fix.

## Three Dimensions of Every Job

Every job has three inseparable dimensions -- omitting any means failure:

| Dimension | Question | Example (milkshake) |
|-----------|----------|---------------------|
| **Functional** | What does the customer need to do? | Occupy myself during a boring commute |
| **Emotional** | How do they want to feel? | Have a small treat for myself |
| **Social** | How do they want to be perceived? | As a sensible parent (not buying donuts) |

## Framework

### 1. The Job Statement

**Core concept:** A job statement captures the progress a customer seeks in a specific circumstance, in a structured format separating context, desired progress, and expected outcome.

The rest: https://github.com/wondelai/skills/blob/HEAD/jobs-to-be-done/SKILL.md