Recipe
Jobs-to-be-done framework
Stop segmenting by persona. Start segmenting by the job your customer is hiring your product to do.
The core insight
Customers don't buy products — they hire them to make progress in a specific circumstance. A teenager buying a milkshake at 6:30 AM isn't the same job as a parent buying one for a treat. Same product, completely different competition.
The four forces
- Push — dissatisfaction with the current solution. What makes the status quo unbearable?
- Pull — attraction to the new solution. What promise does your product make that resonates?
- Anxiety — fear of switching. What could go wrong if they adopt your product?
- Habit — inertia of the current behavior. "We've always done it this way."
How to run it
- Interview 10–15 recent customers. Ask what they were doing the moment they decided to buy.
- Map every answer to a job statement: verb + object + context.
- Identify the competing solutions they considered — including "do nothing."
- Score each job on importance and frequency. Prioritize the high-importance, high-frequency cluster.
- Design your roadmap around making that job dramatically easier.
Meridian tip: Use the jobs map as your north star for feature prioritization. If a feature doesn't reduce push, increase pull, lower anxiety, or break habit — cut it.