Jobs to be Done at GitLab

Jobs to be Done (JTBD) is a framework for viewing products and solutions from the user’s perspective. It’s about understanding what people want to achieve so we can build a better solution that reflects those desires. The purpose of these materials is to empower GitLab team members to uncover user needs, identify strategic opportunities, validate existing plans, and open the door to innovation.

Much of what follows on this page and our other JTBD pages (Playbook, Beyond the Playbook) borrows heavily from Jim Kalbach and his book, “The Jobs to be Done Playbook”.

This page covers the ‘what’ of Jobs to be Done. To skip to the ‘how’, or the practice of doing Jobs to be Done research, head over to the playbook.

Note: The previous single source of truth for all the JTBD at GitLab (a yml file, internal only) is in the process of being replaced. In the meantime, GitLab teams performing JTBD should keep track of their playbook work in FigJam. A handbook page containing all the JTBD will be created shortly.

Anatomy of a JTBD Canvas

A Job to be Done Canvas is a way to arrange all of the elements of a Job Performer’s Main Job in an easy to read format, well-suited for iteration, sharing, and documentation. We use canvases throughout our JTBD playbook, as part of our FigJam template. Each canvas has a number of different sections which combine to provide a holistic picture of a Job Performer’s Main Job. It can be a bit daunting, so here’s an explanation of each section:

The Domain: Where do you want to innovate?

To innovate effectively, start by ensuring you’re working in the right area of your Stage Group. Deciding this up front will help determine Who you’re going to innovate for and then what they’re trying to get done.

Job Performer: Who do you want to innovate for?

Once it’s clear what domain you want to work in you’ll need to identify and understand the specific Job Performer for the task, emphasizing that it refers to the person executing the job. Focus your research on one Job Performer at a time and align it with the Main Job, ensuring a clear and straightforward approach. A Job Performer is rarely the same as someone’s job title.

What goes into a Job Performer:

• Describe an individual, not a job title
• Don’t use AND or OR
• Keep it high-level/generic, not a persona or market segment
• Who is performing the job we want to go after?
• Keep it simple and straightforward, moving back and forth between the Job Performer and the target job to define each, as needed.

Good exmaples:

• New home buyer
• Author
• Code reviewer

Bad examples:

• Millionaire real estate investor (being a millionaire real estate investor is a relevant circumstance to how the job gets done, and what kind of homes they would be looking for, but this doesn’t describe the Main Job that’s getting done – this person could be buying, selling, renovating, etc.)
• Steven King (Job Performers are not a specific person)
• Software Engineer (job title, not a Job Performer)

Note: Job Performers vs. Personas

A common area of confusion is the difference between a Job Performer and a user persona. In short, a persona is more or less at the level of a job title, a Software Developer, for instance. However, a software developer may take on a number of different Main Jobs as part of their role (writing code, reviewing code, maintaining infrastructure, and so on). Similarly, other job titles or personas may also do the Main Jobs we look at in JTBD (an engineering manager may also review code, for example).

Both personas and Job Performers are useful constructs in helping to understand and improve your product, but it is important not to conflate the two. Job Performers in the JTBD framework don’t correspond to job titles (some exceptions may apply) - they tend to live ‘closer’ to the Main Job we’re investigating. For instance, we might have a dozen personas that each ‘review code’ as part of their jobs - but if the experience of reviewing code is the one we’re focused on we only need to have one Job Performer - a ‘Code Reviewer’ - that encapsulates what all of these different personas have to go through in order to do that part of their jobs.

Related Job Performers (optional): Who affects our Job Performer when doing their job?

It may help to think about the other actors or Job Performers that relate to your Domain in order to help in selecting a Job Performer to build your canvas around. Consider, who are all of the potential Job Performers within your Domain performing tasks? Once you’ve select the primary Job Performer you want to innovate for, move the remaining Job Performers to the Related Job Performers section, if you deem it necesary, you can build canvases around them at a later date.

Main Job: What is the Job Performer trying to get done?

The Main Job serves as the central focus for innovation efforts. It represents a goal and has specific criteria. What is the Job Performer trying to get done in the selected Domain? Main Jobs should be timeless and as unchanging as possible. It should be expressed in functional terms, like a utilitarian goal. It’s an act that should be performed and have a clear end state… the “done” part of JTBD. It is not what your company needs to do to deliver a service. Always think in terms of the Job Performer’s perspective. The level of granularity for the Main Job can vary, depending on the innovation’s purpose and feasibility.

What goes into a Main Job:

• Discrete functional, utilitarian goals independent of a solution
• Begin with a Verb so it’s action-oriented
• Should have a clear end state (done part of JTBD)
• Are singular (avoid ANDs or ORs)
• Are technology or solution agnostic
• Specific but broad enough to allow for innovative solutions
• Do NOT include adjectives (those are more Outcomes)
• Ask, “How would people have gotten this done 30 years ago?”
• Format: [verb] + [object] + [(optional) qualifiers/clarifier] (try putting an “I want to…” to get the ball rolling, then remove the “I want to”)
  • Verb: Action that describes what the Job Performer is trying to accomplish. Verb choice is crucial as it sets the stage for the activity or outcome the Job Performer seeks.
  • Object: The target of the Verb Action. Clarifies what the verb is acting upon and provides a focus for the job.
  • Clarifier/Qualifier: This adds specificity, context, conditions, or purpose that helps refine the job. It can be critical for distinguishing between similar jobs or highlighting unique aspects of the job that are particularly relevant to the Job Performer’s situation or needs.

Good examples:

• Buy (verb) a new home (object) within 10 minutes of my work (clarifier)
• Write (verb) a book (object)
• Ensure (verb) code changes (object) meet organizational standards (clarifier)

Bad examples:

• Purchase the house at 123 Main Street for less than asking. (Too specific)
• Be a best selling author (Aspirational goal, but not a Main Job)
• Review Merge Requests efficiently (references a specific technology [merge request], uses an adjective [efficiently])

Related Jobs: What else is the Job Performer trying to get done?

When considering which job to innovate on, it may help to think about the other goals the selected Job Performer may have within the Domain – known as Related Jobs. These Related Jobs are distinct objectives, each with its own unique phases, and should be formulated at a similar level of detail for comparison, typically numbering between 3 to 6 per Job Performer. Once you’ve selected the primary Main Job you want to innovate for, move the remaining Jobs to the Related Jobs section; if you deem it necessary, you can build canvases around them at a later date.

Aspirations: What does the Job Performer aspire to become by achieving the Main Job?

Aspirations represent the “be” goals of the Job Performer, signifying their desire for personal growth or transformation while completing the job. These aspirations should be derived from conversations with Job Performers and are placed at the top of the canvas as they hold a hierarchical position above the Main Job. Typically, there are 1 to 3 Aspirations associated with any Main Job. For instance, in the context of a real estate organization, potential top-down elements for innovation related to “home ownership” could include:

• Job Performer: New homeowner
• Target job: Acquire a new home
• Related jobs: Finance a new home, Move homes, Sell old home
• Aspirations: Be happy with home life, Be part of a local community

Job Steps: How does the Job Performer get the job done?

Job Steps are the sequential series of objectives a Job Performer must complete to accomplish their Main Job. These objectives form a Job Map. Each Job Step is high-level and can be broken out into it’s own workflow if you were to zoom-in on it; they are not individual tasks. Avoid being too granular when writing Job Steps in order to keep the steps relevant to all performers executing the job.

What goes into a Job Step:

• Begins with an action verb, in the first person
• Avoids using “ANDs” or “ORs”
• Are solution or product agnostic
• Are broken into top-level stages the Job Performer needs to accomplish, moving left to right as they are done.
  • Each stage comprises vertical stacks which are sub-steps the Job Performer needs to accomplish, moving top to bottom before moving to the next stage.

Good examples:

• Decide where to look for a new home
• Determine selection criteria
• Seek new homes
• Transfer home ownership

Bad example:

• Ask Richard what neighborhoods are popular to live in (Who’s Richard? Does everyone who does this job have a Richard? Too specific.)

Outcomes: How does the Job Performer measure the success of getting the job done?

Outcomes represent how the Job Performer gauges the success of completing the Main Job and are often subjective. You can have between 50 to 100 Outcome statements for any given Main Job.

What goes into an Outcome statement:

1. They begin with a verb indicating a direction of change (e.g., minimize, reduce, decrease, maximize, increase).
2. Contains something the Job Performer wants to change as a unit of measure (e.g., time, effort, or likelihood).
3. They end with qualifiers/clarifiers that make the outcome statement specific and relevant to the Main Job.

• Avoid ANDs or ORs (they need to be singular), and remain technology/solution agnostic

Good examples:

• Minimize (direction) the time it takes (measure) to identify a potential new home (qualifiers)
• Reduce the number of compromises made when deciding on a new home
• Minimize the distance to the place of employment

These outcome statements provide insights into the Job Performer’s criteria for success in accomplishing the Main Job.

Bad examples:

• Find the best home quickly (Why? No verb indicating direction, ‘best’ is not specific enough to be useful.)
• Have the most attractive house on the street (Why? No direction, ‘most attractive’ is not a good unit of measure.)

Emotional/Social Aspects: How does the Job Performer feel and want to be perceived?

When considering the emotional and social aspects of the job, explore how the Job Performer feels and how they want to be perceived while doing the Main Job . These are sort of the ‘experiential’ side of the job, as opposed to the functional aspect of the job.

Understanding the emotional and social aspects of the job helps to determine how potential solutions could be delivered, and how to ensure the Job Performer’s needs are met.

What goes into an Emotional aspect:

• Begin with words “feel” or “avoid feeling”
• Indicate an emotion
• Avoid ANDs or ORs (they need to be singular), and be technology/solution agnostic.

Good Emotional Aspect examples:

• Feel in control of the home acquisition process
• Avoid feeling uncertain about new home selection

What goes into an Social aspect:

• Begin with words “appear as” (looks like) or “avoid appearing as.” (avoid looking like)
• Indicate a social implications or perceptions of what others think of them
• Avoid ANDs or ORs (they need to be singular), and be technology/solution agnostic.

Good Social Aspect examples:

• Appear as a good future neighbor
• Avoid appearing unknowledgeable about the new home acquisition process

These aspects can vary widely and provide insights into the Job Performer’s emotional and social motivations and challenges, which can be crucial in determining how potential solutions ought to be delivered. For example, if a programmer is worried about appearing fast to his coworkers, we can design a solution that includes lots of time-saving features (code completion, AI summarization, other automatic actions, and so on).

Job Differentiators: What factors influence how the job gets done?

Job Differentiators are the factors or circumstances that influence how the job gets done. They often encompass time, manner, or place, among other characteristics. Job Differentiators are introduced with the word “if”, indicate a range of options, and use “versus/vs.” when applicable to show a comparison.

What goes into a Job Differentiators:

• Begins with words like if
• Should show a range of options with Versus/Vs
• Avoid ANDs or ORs (they need to be singular), and be technology/solution agnostic.

Good Job Differentiators examples:

• If the Job Performer is single vs. married
• If the Job Performer has young children or not
• If the potential new home is local (within driving distance) vs. far away from the current location

Additionally, you can qualify the Main Job in order to narrow its scope, such as “get energy in the morning” or “get energy in the afternoon at work.” These are often called job differentiators, and provide a more focused perspective on the target job.

Main Jobs to micro jobs

When talking about Jobs to be Done, we’re often talking about different levels of jobs. It’s important to note the differences in terminology between these levels so that you and your stakeholders can communicate effectively.

Main Jobs

A Main Job is a means to an end. It’s an act that will be performed and should have a clear end state (the “done” part of JTBD). That is why we write jobs in the pattern Verb + Object + Clarifier when writing job statements.

Example: Buy a new home

Small jobs

Small Jobs are more practical and correspond to a process or workflow. They answer the question, “How does the job get done?” in the context of the Main Job and moves the user closer to accomplishing their goal.

Example: Put in an offer on a house

Micro-jobs

Micro-jobs are the small tasks a user may undergo to accomplish their small job and Main Job. Micro-jobs should be self-explanatory and easy to understand without much context.

Example: Decide how much you’re going to offer in relation to the asking price.

It’s important to be able to identify and correctly place jobs at the right altitude as you work through the Jobs to be Done process. It will help keep you focused on the Main Job and allow you to quickly incorporate (or discard) new information that you hear during interviews into your job steps.

Job Stories

(reference article by JTBD Toolkit)

Job Stories should be created to synthesize and summarize your data from your Job Canvas to help bring it all together. The goal is to avoid leading designers with a preconceived solution to better align development with the company’s vision and strategy by encapsulating the customer pain point to address in a Job Story that will aid in innovative solution creation.

Job Stories emphasize the situation and context over the individual. Ultimately, Job Stories combine your top insights to one place and summarize them. Good Job Stories describe the pain points that you’re going after and help you empathize with the Job Performer.

Paint points must:

• Express a need, not a solution
• Be concrete, not abstract
• Be measured quantitatively, not anecdotal

The story part of Job Stories implies its connection to narrative storytelling. While this is a more creative aspect of the JTBD framework, it should still align coherently with each of the elements selected from your JTBD Canvas to build your Job Stories. This means the Job Story you build should still make logical sense when pieced together from the most important aspects of your JTBD Canvas.

For any domain, you might end up with 3 to 5 Job Stories covering the data and insights you’ve gathered.

Job Story Format

1. When I ___________ [am at this Job Step] + [under these conditions-Job Differentiators],
2. I want ____________ [this New Ability, customer imperative or demand the Job Performer has on the solution],
3. So I can __________ [reach these Outcomes] + [and have these Emotional/Social Aspects].

Line 1

• Job Step: During your Job Mapping workshop, you voted on the most important Job Steps on the map. Typically, 1 or 2 of them came out of that voting session as important to focus on. You will use those to create your Job Stories.
• Job Differentiators: During your Job Differentiator workshop, you voted on the most important Job Differentiators to come out of your research and moved them to your canvas. Use the Job Differentiators to create your Job Stories.

Line 3

• Outcomes: While reviewing your research data, you performed quantitative research to learn how your Job Performers prioritize the outcomes you’ve found. Use these prioritized Outcomes to create your Job Stories.
• Emotional/Social Aspects: During your Emotional and Social Aspects workshop, you voted on the most important Emotional and Social Aspects to come out of your research and moved them to your canvas. Use the Job Differentiators to create your Job Stories.

Line 2

• This doesn’t come directly from your Job Canvas but is still derived from your knowledge of your Job Performers and their Main Jobs, which are derived from your research data.
• You’ll need to get creative by considering what you’ve learned about your Job Performer and this Main Job; consider what “superpower” an ideal solution might grant your Job Performer.
• This is a specific, aspirational, even a little ambitious statement of what the Job Performer wants to achieve from completing this Main Job. What capabilities are missing from the Job Performer’s current tools?

Qualities of a Job Story

• Evidence-based: Job Stories are derived from data and Job Canvases; they aren’t created off the cuff when you first hear about a new potential pain point from a customer.
• Specific about the pain point: Job Stories aren’t vague; they are specific in their narrative about the pain point they’re addressing.
• Empathy-building: The first line of a Job story should contextualize the scenario to foster empathy.
• Aspirational: Line 2 of a Job Story is the literal central element. It’s the customer imperative, the goal that drives the solution forward. Ambitious but achievable.
• Self-evident: A good Job Story should be able to stand on its own, representing and summarizing a solidly researched Job Canvas.

How to use Job Stories

• To generate HMW statements: Use the Job Story as a springboard by turning them into How Might We (HMW) statements to guide explorations.
• To define a Design Sprint challenge: Use the Job Story to articulate the focus or challenge statement of the Design Sprint.
• To create a testable hypothesis for an MVP: Lean’s MVP model requires creating a hypothesis statement that will be validated against the proposed solution. Here’s a framework that can be formatted:
  • We believe that [job performers]
  • Will achieve [desired outcome]
  • While performing [job step]
  • Using [proposed solution].
  • Success will be evidenced by [specific measure].
• Incorporate them into issues: Add them into the description of an issue as a heuristic to measure the solution against and to aid in making design decisions.
• Usability testing success criteria: Validate whether the solution successfully achieves the Job Story.

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