jobs-to-be-done

Compare original and translation side by side

🇺🇸

Original

English

🇨🇳

Translation

Chinese

Purpose

目标

Systematically explore what customers are trying to accomplish (functional, social, emotional jobs), the pains they experience, and the gains they seek. Use this framework to uncover unmet needs, validate product ideas, and ensure your solution addresses real motivations—not just surface-level feature requests.

This is not a survey—it's a structured lens for understanding why customers "hire" your product and what would make them "fire" it.

系统性探索客户想要达成的目标（功能性、社交性、情感性任务）、他们遭遇的痛点以及期望获得的收益。使用该框架挖掘未被满足的需求，验证产品理念，确保你的解决方案触达真实动机——而非仅仅满足表面的功能需求。

这不是一项调查——而是一种结构化的视角，用于理解客户为何「雇佣」你的产品，以及什么会让他们「解雇」它。

Key Concepts

核心概念

The Jobs-to-be-Done Framework

Jobs-to-be-Done（JTBD）框架

Influenced by Clayton Christensen and the Value Proposition Canvas (Osterwalder), JTBD breaks customer needs into three categories:

1. Customer Jobs:

Functional jobs: Tasks customers need to perform (e.g., "send an invoice")
Social jobs: How customers want to be perceived (e.g., "look professional to clients")
Emotional jobs: Emotional states customers seek or avoid (e.g., "feel confident in my work")

2. Pains:

Challenges: Obstacles customers face
Costliness: What's too expensive in time, money, or effort
Common mistakes: Errors customers make that could be prevented
Unresolved problems: Gaps in current solutions

3. Gains:

Expectations: What would exceed current solutions
Savings: Time, money, or effort reductions that delight
Adoption factors: What increases likelihood of switching
Life improvement: How a solution makes life easier or more enjoyable

该框架受Clayton Christensen和Value Proposition Canvas（Osterwalder）的影响，JTBD将客户需求分为三类：

1. 客户任务：

功能性任务： 客户需要完成的具体工作（例如：「发送发票」）
社交性任务： 客户希望在他人面前呈现的形象（例如：「在客户面前显得专业」）
情感性任务： 客户希望获得或避免的情绪状态（例如：「对自己的工作感到自信」）

2. 痛点：

挑战： 客户面临的障碍
成本过高： 在时间、金钱或精力上的过度消耗
常见错误： 客户经常犯的可预防错误
未解决问题： 当前解决方案存在的缺口

3. 收益：

期望： 超越当前解决方案的体验
节省： 让客户满意的时间、金钱或精力的减少
采纳因素： 提升客户切换意愿的因素
生活改善： 解决方案如何让生活更便捷或愉悦

Why This Structure Works

该框架的优势

Separates job from solution: "Communicate with my team" (job) ≠ "email" (solution)
Reveals underlying motivations: Functional job may be "track expenses," but emotional job is "feel in control of finances"
Surfaces competition you didn't see: Customers "hire" non-obvious alternatives (pen and paper, spreadsheets, workarounds)
Prioritizes by intensity: Not all pains are equal—focus on the most acute

区分任务与解决方案：「与团队沟通」（任务）≠「使用电子邮件」（解决方案）
揭示深层动机： 功能性任务可能是「跟踪开支」，但情感性任务是「对财务状况感到掌控」
发现潜在竞争对手： 客户会「雇佣」非传统替代方案（纸笔、电子表格、临时变通方法）
按优先级排序： 并非所有痛点都同等重要——聚焦最迫切的问题

Anti-Patterns (What This Is NOT)

反模式（该框架不适用的情况）

Not a feature wishlist: "I want AI, automation, and dashboards" is not a job
Not demographics: "Millennials want mobile-first" is a persona trait, not a job
Not generic: "Be more productive" is too vague—dig into which tasks and why
Not one-dimensional: Focusing only on functional jobs misses social/emotional motivations

不是功能愿望清单：「我想要AI、自动化和仪表盘」并非任务
不是人口统计特征：「千禧一代想要移动端优先」是人物画像特征，而非任务
不是泛泛之谈：「提高生产力」过于模糊——要深入挖掘具体任务及其原因
不是单一维度： 只关注功能性任务会忽略社交/情感动机

When to Use This

适用场景

Early-stage discovery (before you know the solution)
Validating product-market fit (does your solution address the right jobs?)
Prioritizing roadmap (which jobs are most painful/important?)
Competitive analysis (what are customers "hiring" competitors for?)
Marketing messaging (speak to jobs, not features)

早期探索阶段（确定解决方案之前）
验证产品市场契合度（你的解决方案是否解决了正确的任务？）
路线图优先级排序（哪些任务的痛点最强烈/最重要？）
竞品分析（客户为何「雇佣」竞争对手的产品？）
营销话术设计（围绕任务而非功能沟通）

When NOT to Use This

不适用场景

After you've already built the product (too late for discovery)
For trivial features (don't over-analyze small tweaks)
As a substitute for quantitative validation (JTBD informs hypotheses; data validates them)

产品已开发完成后（探索阶段已过晚）
琐碎功能优化（无需过度分析小调整）
替代定量验证（JTBD用于提出假设；数据用于验证假设）

Application

应用方法

Use

template.md

for the full fill-in structure.

使用

template.md

获取完整的填写模板。

Step 1: Define the Context

步骤1：定义背景

Before exploring JTBD, clarify:

Target customer segment: Who are you studying? (reference
```
skills/proto-persona/SKILL.md
```
)
Situation: In what context does the job arise? (e.g., "When managing a project deadline...")
Current solutions: What do they use today? (competitors, workarounds, doing nothing)

If missing context: Conduct customer interviews, contextual inquiries, or "switch interviews" (why they switched from a previous solution).

在探索JTBD之前，先明确：

目标客户群体： 你研究的对象是谁？（参考
```
skills/proto-persona/SKILL.md
```
）
场景： 任务产生的背景是什么？（例如：「在管理项目截止日期时……」）
当前解决方案： 客户目前使用什么？（竞品、临时变通方法、不采取任何行动）

如果背景信息缺失： 开展客户访谈、情境调研或「切换访谈」（询问他们为何放弃之前的解决方案）。

Step 2: Explore Customer Jobs

步骤2：探索客户任务

Functional Jobs

功能性任务

Ask: "What tasks are you trying to complete?"

markdown

undefined

提问：「你试图完成哪些具体工作？」

markdown

undefined

Functional Jobs:

[Task 1 customer needs to perform]
[Task 2 customer needs to perform]
[Task 3 customer needs to perform]


**Examples:**
- "Reconcile monthly expenses for tax filing"
- "Onboard a new team member in under 2 hours"
- "Deploy code to production without downtime"

**Quality checks:**
- **Verb-driven:** Jobs are actions ("send," "analyze," "coordinate")
- **Solution-agnostic:** Don't say "use email to communicate"—say "communicate with remote teammates"
- **Specific:** "Manage finances" is too broad; "Track business expenses for tax deductions" is specific

---

[Task 1 customer needs to perform]
[Task 2 customer needs to perform]
[Task 3 customer needs to perform]


**示例：**
- 「为报税核对月度开支」
- 「在2小时内完成新团队成员的入职培训」
- 「零停机部署代码到生产环境」

**质量检查：**
- **动词驱动：** 任务是行动（「发送」「分析」「协调」）
- **与解决方案无关：** 不要说「使用电子邮件沟通」——要说「与远程团队成员沟通」
- **具体明确：**「管理财务」过于宽泛；「跟踪业务开支以申请税收减免」才具体

---

Social Jobs

社交性任务

Ask: "How do you want to be perceived by others?"

markdown

undefined

提问：「你希望在他人面前呈现怎样的形象？」

markdown

undefined

Social Jobs:

[Way customer wants to be perceived socially 1]
[Way customer wants to be perceived socially 2]
[Way customer wants to be perceived socially 3]


**Examples:**
- "Be seen as a strategic thinker by my exec team"
- "Appear responsive and reliable to clients"
- "Look tech-savvy to my younger colleagues"

**Quality checks:**
- **Audience-specific:** Who is the customer trying to impress? (boss, clients, peers, etc.)
- **Emotional weight:** Social jobs often drive adoption more than functional jobs

---

[Way customer wants to be perceived socially 1]
[Way customer wants to be perceived socially 2]
[Way customer wants to be perceived socially 3]


**示例：**
- 「在高管团队面前被视为战略思考者」
- 「在客户面前显得响应迅速且可靠」
- 「在年轻同事面前显得精通技术」

**质量检查：**
- **受众明确：** 客户试图打动谁？（老板、客户、同事等）
- **情感权重：** 社交性任务往往比功能性任务更能驱动产品采纳

---

Emotional Jobs

情感性任务

Ask: "What emotional state do you want to achieve or avoid?"

markdown

undefined

提问：「你希望获得或避免哪些情绪状态？」

markdown

undefined

Emotional Jobs:

[Emotional state customer seeks or avoids 1]
[Emotional state customer seeks or avoids 2]
[Emotional state customer seeks or avoids 3]


**Examples:**
- "Feel confident I'm not missing important details"
- "Avoid the anxiety of manual data entry errors"
- "Feel a sense of accomplishment at the end of the day"

**Quality checks:**
- **Positive and negative:** Include both what they seek ("feel in control") and what they avoid ("avoid embarrassment")
- **Rooted in research:** Don't fabricate emotions—use customer quotes

---

[Emotional state customer seeks or avoids 1]
[Emotional state customer seeks or avoids 2]
[Emotional state customer seeks or avoids 3]


**示例：**
- 「确信自己没有遗漏重要细节」
- 「避免手动数据输入错误带来的焦虑」
- 「在一天结束时获得成就感」

**质量检查：**
- **正负向兼顾：** 既要包含客户寻求的（「感到掌控」），也要包含他们想要避免的（「避免尴尬」）
- **基于调研：** 不要编造情绪——使用客户的原话

---

Step 3: Identify Pains

步骤3：识别痛点

Challenges

挑战

Ask: "What obstacles are preventing you from completing this job?"

markdown

undefined

提问：「哪些障碍阻碍你完成这项任务？」

markdown

undefined

Challenges:

[Obstacle customer faces 1]
[Obstacle customer faces 2]
[Obstacle customer faces 3]


**Examples:**
- "Tools don't integrate, forcing manual data entry"
- "No visibility into what teammates are working on"
- "Approval processes take 3+ days, blocking progress"

---

[Obstacle customer faces 1]
[Obstacle customer faces 2]
[Obstacle customer faces 3]


**示例：**
- 「工具无法集成，导致手动数据输入」
- 「无法了解团队成员的工作进展」
- 「审批流程需要3天以上，阻碍进度」

---

Costliness

成本过高

Ask: "What takes too much time, money, or effort?"

markdown

undefined

提问：「哪些方面耗时、耗钱或耗力过多？」

markdown

undefined

Costliness:

[What's too costly in time, money, or effort 1]
[What's too costly in time, money, or effort 2]


**Examples:**
- "Generating monthly reports takes 8 hours of manual work"
- "Hiring a specialist costs $10k, which we can't afford"
- "Learning the current tool requires 20+ hours of training"

---

[What's too costly in time, money, or effort 1]
[What's too costly in time, money, or effort 2]


**示例：**
- 「生成月度报告需要8小时手动工作」
- 「雇佣专家需要1万美元，我们负担不起」
- 「学习当前工具需要20小时以上的培训」

---

Common Mistakes

常见错误

Ask: "What errors do you make frequently that could be prevented?"

markdown

undefined

提问：「你经常犯哪些可以预防的错误？」

markdown

undefined

Common Mistakes:

[Frequent error 1]
[Frequent error 2]


**Examples:**
- "Forgetting to CC stakeholders on critical emails"
- "Miscalculating tax deductions due to missing receipts"
- "Accidentally overwriting someone else's work in shared files"

---

[Frequent error 1]
[Frequent error 2]


**示例：**
- 「忘记在重要邮件中抄送利益相关者」
- 「因丢失收据而错误计算税收减免金额」
- 「在共享文件中意外覆盖他人的工作成果」

---

Unresolved Problems

未解决问题

Ask: "What problems do current solutions fail to address?"

markdown

undefined

提问：「当前解决方案未能解决哪些问题？」

markdown

undefined

Unresolved Problems:

[Problem not solved by current solutions 1]
[Problem not solved by current solutions 2]


**Examples:**
- "Current CRM doesn't track customer health scores"
- "Email doesn't preserve conversation context when people are added mid-thread"
- "Existing tools require technical expertise we don't have"

---

[Problem not solved by current solutions 1]
[Problem not solved by current solutions 2]


**示例：**
- 「当前CRM无法跟踪客户健康评分」
- 「当中途添加人员时，电子邮件无法保留对话上下文」
- 「现有工具需要我们不具备的技术专长」

---

Step 4: Uncover Gains

步骤4：挖掘收益

Expectations

期望

Ask: "What would make you love a solution?"

markdown

undefined

提问：「什么会让你爱上一款解决方案？」

markdown

undefined

Expectations:

[What could exceed expectations 1]
[What could exceed expectations 2]


**Examples:**
- "Automatically categorizes expenses without manual tagging"
- "Suggests next steps based on project status"
- "Integrates seamlessly with tools we already use"

---

[What could exceed expectations 1]
[What could exceed expectations ２]


**示例：**
- 「无需手动标记即可自动分类开支」
- 「根据项目状态建议下一步行动」
- 「与我们已在使用的工具无缝集成」

---

Savings

节省

Ask: "What savings in time, money, or effort would delight you?"

markdown

undefined

提问：「哪些时间、金钱或精力的节省会让你满意？」

markdown

undefined

Savings:

[Way of saving time, money, or effort 1]
[Way of saving time, money, or effort 2]


**Examples:**
- "Reduce report generation from 8 hours to 10 minutes"
- "Eliminate the need for a full-time admin"
- "Cut onboarding time from 2 weeks to 2 days"

---

[Way of saving time, money, or effort 1]
[Way of saving time, money, or effort 2]


**示例：**
- 「将报告生成时间从8小时减少到10分钟」
- 「无需全职行政人员」
- 「将入职时间从2周缩短到2天」

---

Adoption Factors

采纳因素

Ask: "What would make you switch from your current solution?"

markdown

undefined

提问：「什么会让你切换当前解决方案？」

markdown

undefined

Adoption Factors:

[Factor increasing likelihood of adoption 1]
[Factor increasing likelihood of adoption 2]


**Examples:**
- "Free trial with no credit card required"
- "Migration support to import existing data"
- "Testimonials from companies like ours"

---

[Factor increasing likelihood of adoption 1]
[Factor increasing likelihood of adoption 2]


**示例：**
- 「无需信用卡的免费试用」
- 「支持导入现有数据的迁移服务」
- 「与我们类似的公司的推荐语」

---

Life Improvement

生活改善

Ask: "How would your life be better if this job were easier?"

markdown

undefined

提问：「如果这项任务变得更简单，你的生活会有怎样的改善？」

markdown

undefined

Life Improvement:

[How solution makes life easier or more enjoyable 1]
[How solution makes life easier or more enjoyable 2]


**Examples:**
- "I could leave work on time instead of staying late to finish reports"
- "I'd feel less stressed about missing important deadlines"
- "I could focus on strategic work instead of busywork"

---

[How solution makes life easier or more enjoyable 1]
[How solution makes life easier or more enjoyable 2]


**示例：**
- 「我可以按时下班，而不是熬夜完成报告」
- 「我不会再为错过重要截止日期而感到压力」
- 「我可以专注于战略工作而非琐碎事务」

---

Step 5: Prioritize and Validate

步骤5：优先级排序与验证

Rank pains by intensity: Which pains are acute vs. mild annoyances?
Identify must-have vs. nice-to-have gains: What would drive adoption vs. what's just a bonus?
Cross-reference with personas: Do different personas have different jobs/pains/gains? (reference
```
skills/proto-persona/SKILL.md
```
)
Validate with data: Survey a broader audience to confirm JTBD insights from interviews

**按强度排序痛点：**哪些痛点是迫切需要解决的，哪些只是轻微困扰？
**区分必备收益与锦上添花的收益：**哪些因素会驱动客户采纳，哪些只是额外福利？
**与人物画像交叉参考：**不同画像的客户是否有不同的任务/痛点/收益？（参考
```
skills/proto-persona/SKILL.md
```
）
**数据验证：**通过更广泛的受众调研，确认从访谈中获得的JTBD洞察

Examples

示例

See

examples/sample.md

for full JTBD examples.

Mini example excerpt:

markdown

**Functional Jobs:** Coordinate tasks across a distributed team
**Pains - Challenges:** Team members use different tools, creating silos
**Gains - Savings:** Reduce status reporting time from 3 hours to 15 minutes

查看

examples/sample.md

获取完整的JTBD示例。

迷你示例节选：

markdown

**Functional Jobs:** Coordinate tasks across a distributed team
**Pains - Challenges:** Team members use different tools, creating silos
**Gains - Savings:** Reduce status reporting time from 3 hours to 15 minutes

Common Pitfalls

常见陷阱

Pitfall 1: Confusing Jobs with Solutions

陷阱1：混淆任务与解决方案

Symptom: "I need to use Slack" or "I need AI-powered analytics"

Consequence: You've anchored on a solution, not the underlying job.

Fix: Ask "Why?" 5 times. "I need Slack" → "Why?" → "To communicate with my team" → "Why?" → "To get quick answers" → "Why?" → "To avoid project delays."

症状：「我需要使用Slack」或「我需要AI驱动的分析」

后果： 你锚定了解决方案，而非背后的任务。

解决方法： 连续问5次「为什么？」。「我需要Slack」→「为什么？」→「与团队沟通」→「为什么？」→「快速获取答案」→「为什么？」→「避免项目延误」。

Pitfall 2: Generic Jobs

陷阱2：泛泛的任务

Symptom: "Be more productive" or "Save time"

Consequence: Too vague to inform product decisions.

Fix: Get specific. "Save time" → "Reduce time spent generating monthly reports from 8 hours to 1 hour."

症状：「提高生产力」或「节省时间」

后果： 过于模糊，无法指导产品决策。

解决方法： 具体化。「节省时间」→「将月度报告生成时间从8小时减少到1小时」。

Pitfall 3: Ignoring Social/Emotional Jobs

陷阱3：忽略社交/情感任务

Symptom: Only documenting functional jobs

Consequence: You miss powerful motivators. People often buy based on emotional/social needs, not just functional.

Fix: Explicitly ask about perception and emotions in interviews. "How would solving this make you feel?" "Who would notice if you solved this?"

症状： 仅记录功能性任务

后果： 你错过了强大的动机。人们往往基于情感/社交需求而非仅仅功能性需求购买产品。

解决方法： 在访谈中明确询问形象和情绪相关问题。「解决这个问题会让你有什么感受？」「谁会注意到你解决了这个问题？」

Pitfall 4: Fabricating JTBD Without Research

陷阱4：无调研编造JTBD

Symptom: Filling out the template based on assumptions

Consequence: You're guessing. JTBD analysis is only valuable if grounded in real customer insights.

Fix: Conduct "switch interviews" (ask why they switched from a previous solution), contextual inquiries, or problem validation interviews.

症状： 基于假设填写模板

后果： 你只是在猜测。JTBD分析只有基于真实客户洞察才有价值。

解决方法： 开展「切换访谈」（询问他们为何放弃之前的解决方案）、情境调研或问题验证访谈。

Pitfall 5: Treating All Pains as Equal

陷阱5：同等对待所有痛点

Symptom: Listing 20 pains without prioritization

Consequence: No clarity on what to solve first.

Fix: Rank pains by intensity (acute vs. mild). Ask "If we only solved one pain, which would have the biggest impact?"

症状： 列出20个痛点但未排序

后果： 无法明确优先解决的问题。

解决方法： 按强度排序痛点（迫切 vs 轻微）。提问「如果我们只解决一个痛点，哪个会产生最大影响？」

References

参考资料

Related Skills

External Frameworks

外部框架

Clayton Christensen, Competing Against Luck (2016) — Origin of Jobs-to-be-Done theory
Tony Ulwick, Outcome-Driven Innovation (2016) — Quantifying jobs and outcomes
Alexander Osterwalder, Value Proposition Canvas (2014) — Customer jobs/pains/gains framework

Clayton Christensen, Competing Against Luck (2016) — JTBD理论的起源
Tony Ulwick, Outcome-Driven Innovation (2016) — 量化任务与成果
Alexander Osterwalder, Value Proposition Canvas (2014) — 客户任务/痛点/收益框架

Dean's Work

Dean的作品

[Link to relevant Dean Peters' Substack articles if applicable]

[相关Dean Peters的Substack文章链接（如适用）]

Provenance

来源

Adapted from

prompts/jobs-to-be-done.md

in the

https://github.com/deanpeters/product-manager-prompts

repo.

Skill type: Component Suggested filename:

jobs-to-be-done.md

Suggested placement:

/skills/components/

Dependencies: References

skills/proto-persona/SKILL.md

Used by:

skills/positioning-statement/SKILL.md

skills/problem-statement/SKILL.md

skills/epic-hypothesis/SKILL.md

改编自

https://github.com/deanpeters/product-manager-prompts

仓库中的

prompts/jobs-to-be-done.md

。

技能类型： 组件 建议文件名：

jobs-to-be-done.md

建议存放位置：

/skills/components/

依赖项： 参考

skills/proto-persona/SKILL.md

使用者：

skills/positioning-statement/SKILL.md

skills/problem-statement/SKILL.md

skills/epic-hypothesis/SKILL.md