The document outlines a framework for generating opportunity maps based on customers' jobs-to-be-done, emphasizing the importance of understanding what customers truly value in products. It critiques traditional methods of customer insights and proposes an outcome-driven innovation (ODI) methodology, detailing steps for creating opportunity maps via customer engagement. The goal is to identify and prioritize customer jobs to enhance innovation and deepen connections with consumers.

1. Generating Opportunity
Maps with Customers’
Jobs-to-Be-Done
Stop Guessing. Start Innovating.
Hutch Carpenter
@bhc3
hutch.carpenter@gmail.com

2. Overview
1. The value and challenge of
learning customers’ jobs-tobe-done
2. Blueprint to generate the jobs-tobe-done opportunity map
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3. Why do people buy from you?
“We’re cool”
“We’re the
cheapest”
“Our sales &
marketing”
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4. No, that’s not it.
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5. They buy because you help
them achieve something
People don’t want a 1/4” drill.
They want a 1/4” hole.
People don’t want a freight train.
They want goods transport.
People don’t want a TV.
They want entertainment.
People don’t want a private school.
They want a secure financial future.
People don’t want a scale.
They want weight management.
People don’t want an accounting system.
They want financial tracking.
People don’t want a hose.
They want healthy plants.
People purchase to satisfy a
job-to-be-done they have
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6. Your market is defined by its
jobs-to-be-done
Products
Demographics
Jobs-tobe-done
Products are a
means to an end
Demographics are not
causal attributes
Satisfying a job
spurs purchases
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7. But do you know the relevant
jobs-to-be-done?
The vast majority of companies
have no clue what their customers value
in the products and services they buy.
As a result, many companies invest in
all the possible value dimensions they
can provide — cost, convenience,
quality, services, speed, breadth of
offerings, and the like — with a
predictable result: a mediocre offering.
Bill Lee
Author, The Hidden Wealth
of Customers: Realizing the
Untapped Value of Your
Most Important Asset
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8. These sources of customer
insight don’t get the job done
Social
Media
Customer
Forums
Surveys
Too catch-as-catchcan. An analysis
showed 0.2% of
tweets indicate a jobto-be-done.
Feature-oriented
discussion, dominated
by issues, how-to’s and
product suggestions.
Pre-set questions herd
customers into specific
insights. Lack followup with customers for
deeper understanding.
These methods put you in a passive position,
soothsaying scraps of insight to comprehend customers’ jobs.
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9. You can’t wait for
customers’ jobs-tobe-done to come to
you. You have to go
after them with a
*
club.
* inspired by writer Jack London
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10. Foundations: Strategyn
Outcome Driven Innovation
In What Customers Want, Strategyn’s Tony Ulwick outlines the
Outcome Driven Innovation (ODI) methodology to comprehensively go
after customers’ jobs-to-be-done. ODI provides foundational elements
to generate opportunity maps.
Key elements of ODI:
Core job-to-be-done
Outcomes are individual steps
that make up the job
Rate outcomes by current level
satisfaction and their importance
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11. What is your job-to-be-done?
ODI is a powerful, large undertaking. Are you looking for
the benefits of a consulting project? Or a way to talk
regularly with your customers about their jobs-to-be-done?
Identify significant new
market opportunities with
external expertise
●
●
●
86% success rate
Don’t tie up existing staff
Consulting firm budget
Contact
Strategyn
Identify growth opportunities
through regular customer
engagement on jobs-to-be-done
●
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Lightweight process
Easily accessible
Develop your own expertise
Read
On
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12. Overview
1. The value and challenge of
learning customers’ jobs-to-bedone
2. Blueprint to generate the
jobs-to-be-done opportunity
map
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13. Blueprint for creating
opportunity maps
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Focus of initiative
2
Select customers
3
Select software
4
Job statement structure
5
Customer interviews
6
Satisfaction with jobs
7
Importance of jobs
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The steps herein provide the core
structure. Feel free to hack as you see fit
to optimize your results.
Opportunity map
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14. Focus of initiative
Target: Determine the area
that will be the focus.
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Strategic priorities
High growth ancillary areas
Emerging trends that
appear to have value for
your business
Vital business with stalling
growth or profitability
Scope: Target area needs to
provide a logical job grouping.
It should ideally allow for
development of products,
services within 6-18 months.
Example target: social collaboration
Too wide a scope: increase level
of community activity overall
Just right a
scope: Increase
commenting
Too narrow a scope:
faster login process
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15. Select customers
Previously expressed interest in target area
Most active customers
Strategically important customers
Rotate customers enlisted for these efforts
Assume 1-2 hours per customer. Use this time commitment as basis for
number of customers you can engage in the jobs-to-be-done effort.
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16. Select software
Key attributes of the JTBD software:
Rate satisfaction with jobs
Ability to post in job structure format
Rank importance of jobs
Accessible to multiple parties
Easily read each job statement
Copy jobs from one board to another
One recommendation: listhings.com
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Free, online site
Access granted to multiple people
Drag-n-drop sticky notes
Color code stickies
Read the entire post on the board (no click-through needed)
Lacks ability to copy jobs from one board to another
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17. Job statement structure
Each job has a defined structure. Each element of the job
statement provides relevant information.
Element
Description
Context
The background for the job to
be done. When does it happen?
What is the larger goal?
Job
The actual thing to be
accomplished.
Success Metric
What is the desired outcome?
Basis of measuring success of
any implemented ideas. Use
terms: increased, minimized.
Example job statement
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18. Customer interviews
Seed jobs before talking with your customer
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Start with obvious jobs to provide an example.
In subsequent interviews, pick up the jobs from previous interviews.
Screen sharing: real-time, common view during the interview
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In person is also great if it can be done.
Separate job boards for each customer
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To capture each customer’s own satisfaction and importance ratings.
Need not be separate boards if these can be captured individually on same board.
Capture new jobs and contextual insight from each customer
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Initially, customers will be slow to express jobs. Prompt them as needed.
Once they get going, you will gain a number of unexpected insights.
Sometime a job is too grounded in current product features. Probe further.
Sequence and timing of interviews
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1 hour: Collect jobs initially, do not worry about satisfaction or importance.
1 hour: Customer rates jobs on satisfaction and importance.
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19. Satisfaction with jobs
Customers will tell you how satisfied they are
with each job
● Satisfaction levels: Low, Moderate, High
● Tie satisfaction rating to success metric
● Sort jobs into three different satisfaction buckets
Example of sorting jobs according to satisfaction levels
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20. Customers provide their view of
the importance of each job
● Exercise of rank ordering jobs based on
their level of importance to the customer
● Rank order importance within each
satisfaction level
● With listhings, drag-n-drop the jobs in
the order specified by the customer
● Focus on LOW and MODERATE satisfaction
jobs
● High satisfaction jobs need not be ranked
by importance
Example of ranking jobs according to importance
Importance of jobs
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21. Opportunity Map
At the conclusion of each
interview, that customer’s
opportunity map will be
generated.
● Most low satisfaction jobs
● Highest-importance, moderatesatisfaction jobs
● Look across the opportunity maps
of interviewed customers for
areas to target for enhancements
and innovation
● Collate the jobs in a spreadsheet
to analyze opportunities
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22. Concluding thoughts
● This methodology is for people who want to incorporate jobs-to-bedone thinking into their normal innovation-related, product-related,
service-related work.
● Know the jobs-to-be-done to move confidently forward on the
innovation opportunities that will make a difference to your
customers.
● This is a blueprint that demands experimentation and hacking to
explore how it helps innovation and how it can be improved.
● Results of this process will provide evidence-based insight for use in
persuading others about an internal initiative.
● Conducting jobs-to-be-done interviews provides an intangible benefit:
deeper customer connections to you and your organization.
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23. Questions? Feedback?
Hutch Carpenter
hutch.carpenter@gmail.com
@bhc3
Hutch Carpenter
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