Grapple the Apple.
Alright, ladies and gents, let's gather around the virtual campfire and delve into a world where product development is an electrifying journey of discovery, not just a to-do list item on your Trello board. I'm talking about making your clients stick around like Cheers patrons - because you not only know their names, but you also understand their deepest needs. How do we unravel this mystery? Welcome to the exciting world of customer research with jobs-to-be-done.
So, what is this, you ask, a strategy swiped from an HR handbook? Nay — jobs-to-be-done is your golden ticket to building products that are the bee's knees. Products that customers can't help but swoon over.
Jobs-to-be-done is a framework for understanding the progress that a customer is trying to make in a particular circumstance — creating solutions based on that."
Cutting through the corporate jargon, it's about knowing your customers' goals, their ambitions, and, well, the jobs they need to get done.
What is your customer's ultimate goal? Are they trying to impress their yoga pals with their fancy organic tea (courtesy of your premium subscription box) or just attempting to stay awake during their endless Zoom meetings (thanks to a caffeinated snack from the same box)?
Why aren’t they achieving this already? Maybe that organic tea is as exciting as daytime television, or those caffeinated snacks taste like cardboard. Far too often, we assume we know what’s getting in their way. But without being Sherlock for a day, those assumptions could be as off the mark as a weather forecast.
How can your product be a game-changer in reaching their goal? Offer a solution that doesn’t just ring the bell, but knocks it out of the park. Whether it's the tastiest caffeinated snack, or a mix 'n match tea subscription that’ll make any yoga sesh the envy of the town.
Allow me to drop a slightly controversial idea here - it’s not about your product. It’s about the 'job' your product’s doing. No, your smoothie mixer doesn’t need a CV and cover letter, but if it could talk, it'll tell you what functional, emotional, or social job it's undertaking. Instead of being just a product, it becomes an active participant in your customer's life-story. A real plot-twist, eh?
And remember, customer research isn’t a once-off treasure hunt. It’s a recurring quest for insight. After all, your customers aren’t stagnant, and neither should your understanding of them be. So let’s not make it feel like a chore – instead, imagine you're Indiana Jones, always seeking the lost ark of customer needs. Who said customer research can't be exciting?
