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in search of the best way for representing customer goals.

Few weeks ago I was looking for an effective ways for performing user research to design new features for an existing product. I decided to have a look at the Jobs-to-be-Done method promoted by Intercom on their free book on the theme. The book explains how the company adapted the method, used for decades in physical product innovation, to the needs of a their customer messaging apps.

I found many interesting ideas in the book. It explains how to look at a your product as a solution to customers goals and it suggests to think about competitors as different solutions to same goals.

When you’re thinking about competitors, it’s best to ignore product categories and instead ask yourself who else is fighting for that same job.

The newspaper industry thought they were in the business of selling news printed on paper. Had they realized their business was “keep people entertained”, or “keep people in the know”, their new competitors like mobile games, Twitter, and Facebook would have been a more obvious threat.

Intercom book provides insights on customers mixed feelings about changing habits, and presents case histories on how the method was successfully used inside the company.

Why customers switch products, Intercom

I got a bit disappointed when I read Paul Adams chapter about the issues he finds in using Cooper’s Personas tool. According to Paul, Personas focus too much on people profiles than on their goals.

When I worked at Google, I created dozens if not hundreds of personas across many projects. We followed Cooper’s method carefully, along with iterations of our own. Universally, I found their value limited. They often helped with building empathy amongst employees who were disconnected from their users, but they rarely led to breakthrough ideas or fresh thinking about a problem.

If you are not familiar with Personas tool, it is a Goal-Directed methodology introduced in software product design by the software superstar Alan Cooper in 1995. In his blog post The origin of personas Cooper extensively explain the story of the method. The tool is extensively used for digital products user research, I personally believe Personas method is valuable in helping product teams taking user-centered decisions when designing or prioritizing features.

Speaking with my friend Fabio Nucatolo and on Linkedin User Experience group I found some articles addressing the differences between Personas and Jobs-to-be-Done and some examples on how the 2 methods can coexist.

According to Page Laubheimer at Nielsen Norman Group

Well-executed personas are based largely on rich behavioral characteristics, attitudinal data, and insights about mental models, and they require qualitative research with real users to uncover the why behind users’ behaviors. These rich personas typically will include information related to specific goals that users must achieve when they use the product; these goals are directly comparable to the information found in the jobs-to-be-done definition.

Personas vs. Jobs-to-Be-Done

I agree with Shahrzad Samadzadeh when she claims that

Without personas, jobs bury emotional and social needs under a thick layer of functional analysis.

Bringing Together Personas, Jobs To Be Done, and Customer Journey Maps | Cooper

Finally I like Claire Menke at Udemy solution to reconcile the 2 methods.

At Udemy we use JTBD as a layer of refinement within a persona — how a student views learning (their persona) shapes the situations they face, as well as how they will react to overcome a challenge or take advantage of an opportunity in their lives (their JTBD).

The “Goldilocks Experience” of developing a foundational research framework — finding a practice…

What do you think? I’m happy to ear more opinions on JTBD Vs Personas in the comments.

Jobs-to-be-Done Vs Personas was originally published in Prototypr on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

Jobs-to-be-Done Vs Personas

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