a single source, nothing corroborates it

Write the job as the life it improves

Frame what you sell as the progress the buyer is trying to make rather than the feature set you shipped, since nobody wants the hole, they want the picture hanging and the credit for it. Phrase it as an explicit request followed by what that unlocks, and include how they coped before so the statement carries motive as well as outcome. Useful shapes to aim at: removing an obstacle, showing visible progress, conferring status, or cutting friction.

The method

1. 01

   Write the job as the life improvement rather than the task: not boring a hole, but hanging the picture and being admired for it.

2. 02

   Phrase the job with an explicit ask - give me, help me, free me, take away, equip me - followed by the outcome it unlocks.

3. 03

   Include how the customer handled this before and what will be better once the struggle is gone, so the statement carries both history and motivation.

4. 04

   Market the progress the customer is trying to make rather than the features you built, since people hire a product to move their life forward.

5. 05

   Shape the offer around one of these outcomes: clearing an obstacle, creating visible progress at work, conferring status, producing good feelings, removing a looming threat, granting a new capability, or cutting friction.

What it returned

• One of Alan Klement's three criteria for a well-formed job statement.

• Klement's magical words; an example runs from freeing a parent of the stress of vetting products to giving them time to enjoy parenting.

• Clayton Christensen's argument in Competing Against Luck that obsessing over the perfect feature set is a bet on luck.

Sources

• Business is like surfingJustin Jackson · justinjackson.ca · Building the right product · undated
• What is jobs to be done?Justin Jackson · justinjackson.ca · Describing your product's Job to be Done: · undated