I’m gonna take another shot at understanding the milkshake job, after discussions with Michael Boysen in this very thread.
The question on “situations that a commuter could find themselves in” has to be related to the job in question. I take ‘situation’ as synonymous with Christensen’s “circumstance”. Boysen notes that the situation should be important for the job, as well, in an earlier reply in this thread!
If we use ‘breakfast on the go” as the job… then the circumstance/situation must partly create the job in the first place and allow the solution to work under it.
This job can only arise, if the person did not make or get (enough) breakfast at home. Either they don’t want to, or are unable to make (enough) breakfast. They must also consider milkshake or fast-food as ‘breakfast’ material. Either from good marketing or cultural norms. They could be influenced by allergies, or have religious or dietary prohibitions. They must also be in the category of ‘breakfast eaters’ so that there is a job in the first place. The person must also be on the move, as commuters are. Lifestyle could influence the job, like health concerns or identity markers such as “being on the go”. A breakfast in Italy/France is (just) a cup of coffee. The commuter is under different time-pressures, and depending which the choice of solution can change. Financial situations can affect the choice of solution as can social status. I might want to show that my breakfast is of a certain class, to my peers. Then making my own breakfast could be antithetical to that goal, or I could be broke and need to make it at home.
If any of these contexts change, then the whole job could disappear/appear for any person. And the fast-food chain we analyse milkshake for, could become irrelevant for the job. Other competitors might appear as valid choices in some of the circumstances.
For the other milkshake drinkers, we might start by concluding that focusing on using the product would constrain the strategic and expansive mindset needed to properly segment the market and find fitting solutions. This conflicts with “outcome based” segmentation as the linked article discusses.
Let’s do “teenagers”, anyway. They have JTBD: “eat something with friends.”
Besides the functional “eating” they definitely have the social dimension as a goal. Also the milkshake could signal some kind of inclusion or distancing from other social groups; grownups don’t drink milkshakes and kids want ice cream.
Situations that affect both the job and the solutions used, are definitely life-stage related. The end users are defined by life-stage ‘young adults’. If their financial situation changes, then so will their solution choice. Social norms, such as relating to dairy products, might influence the milkshake choice. Eg, it might trend with ‘lactose sensitivity’ in young demographics. If the ‘with friends’ part of the job is emphasized then maybe even a restaurant might be switched for a pinball venue that serves drinks only.
If these situations change, then the milkshake seller might lose that particular customer. They might also want to innovate to face them; a non-dairy milkshake (fake-shake, maybe) or non-lactose. Or special price at times when most teenagers would show up. Maybe some marketing to become the ‘in place’ to hang out.
Traditional competitors would be soda. But technically the ‘eat’ part could be replaced with ‘consume’, and coffee and cigarettes could then be non-traditional competitors.
The performance metrics are proxies for the needs expressed in the circumstance. The commuters are in some situation where they move. They are sitting down and have probably one arm busy. Maybe they need to free both arms at some point.
For commuters, I suggest the metrics:
Time until I get hungry again
Time it takes to get the breakfast
Minimize guilt from eating unhealthy
Enable easy consumption while constrained hands
Not make a mess that requires cleaning afterwards
I want it to show (off) where I got my breakfast from (sometimes)
Fairly high calorie-per-dollar, so I stay full longer
I don’t want to need to pee so quickly after breakfast
My breakfast should give me part of vitamins etc that I need in a day
Minimize the amount of garbage left afterwards
The job I would focus on after having re-done the exercise, is definitely ‘get breakfast on the go’, but I would definitely split it up according to many circumstances. And figure out which split would want something different from my menu, or which competitor they might choose - if any or if they would just not buy.
Obese person craving big meal, can’t get/afford 2 plates in ordinary restaurant.
What are the different situations that a commuter could find themselves in?
In queue, because traffic accident or incident.
High speed unbroken wave
Bathroom, need to go now.
Called home by spouse/family, halfway there.
In an online meeting/listening in.
Talking to passengers.
Stopped by police.
Took wrong exit, trying to get back.
Late for work.
Who are the other end users of milkshakes? What is their JTBD (single)? What situations do they find themselves in (many)?
Teenager wants a slow drink, that doesn’t translate to toilet visit immediately. Allow them to hang out for a long time. Milkshake is more attitude than soda. A burger requires sit-down, a milkshake more mobile.
JTBD: public comfortable social gathering.
Teenager at lunchtime requires a sweet energy boost/dessert. Ice cream too childish. Need the quick energy. Need fairly quick meal, and combine burger and dessert-as-drink.
JTBD: efficient sweet dessert.
Homeless people want to sit alone. Eat sturdy but cheap. Avoid feeling completely mal-placed in public restaurant. Applies in principle to very obese people, too.
JTBD: high-caloric comfortable meal.
Stressed person. They want fast food, and stress relief from fatty foods. They are in between activities or have short lunch. Might have gotten bad news, or just too much news.
JTBD: feel less stressed, by saving time and lower heart rate from metabolism.
Who are the traditional competitors (sorry, no hints) to milkshakes? Do they change with the situation?
Ice cream and Soda. If you are hungry, hurried or socializing, then you might choose a traditional competitor.
Who are the non-traditional Competitors, why?
For public social gathering, the competitor would be cigarettes or a beer. These also conveys attitude, is mobile and non-committal.
For efficient sweet dessert, a bag of candy or French chocolate cake. Or over-sweetened coffee-like drink.
For high-calorics meal, we could replace cold drink with hot cake and whipped cream. You can eat more cake than drink shake. The same applies for stressed person; a fast warm cake with whipped cream goes down faster than shake.
What constraints can you think of?
I don’t get the question… Getting a milkshake comes with few constraints. Health concerns? Dairy allergy? Dairy anti-industry activist? Price?
What are some of the performance metrics for getting the job done successfully?
The teenager consider success if they have an excuse to gather and talk, while showing attitude. It doesn’t feel so awkward, as if sitting/standing with empty hands.
School-lunch-teen considers anything sweet eaten in less than 10 minutes, a success. Either it comes with the meal, or is brought along.
Homeless person wants easy warm meal with no harassment, and comfortable seat. Finishing and leaving in peace, feeling full, is a success. Obese person might feel the same.
Stressed person can literally feel the body relax from eating. Having that feeling is a success.
What is the Job you think we should focus on, why?
The “efficient sweet dessert” is something most urban population might respond to. And milkshakes would just be the starting point.
You have outlined a few potentional jobs, although we could just say "Getting a meal on the go." Everything else would be great fodder for the situations they are in. So, you'd rate the jump and capture the various situations or contexts to understand why the rated the job metrics differently.
A morning commuter "getting breakfast on the go" could be in any number of situations or be in different emotional states
A mother trying to satisfy their child while "getting an afternoon snack" could also be in a number of situations and emotional states.
The job is basically the same although I would say the two examples I gave have different job executors. Clearly in the second one the child would be a beneficiary more than the executor.
The level depends on what you can take action on. As far as the product goes, the milkshake example is a clear example of looking at the product and not the job (e.g., getting breakfast on the go) which opens the door to products you hadn't considered.
If you're a milkshake maker, I guess that sounds disappointing. But so goes the buggy-whip manufacturer. Even if you want to improve your product, you need to put the lens on the job so you can find ways to expand your product (or portfolio) to get more if it done. A hammer is not the job.
There is a lot of consequences in such a statement.
“Find ways to expand your product (or portfolio)” - also super-consequential.
Great comment.
Would you say the job statement reflects how the company sees itself and it’s potential??
Suggestion: “Breakfast on the go” could have been “Enjoy the trip to work”, and spawned podcasts, live Talkshows with phone-in programs, newspaper subscriptions and goodie bag morning-delivery. Or?
The executive level the JTBD question is asked, matters? … for market size it nothing else (buggy-whips needed top-exec rethink, not mid level managers, yes?)
"Would you say the job statement reflects how the company sees itself and it’s potential??"
I would say that it should reflect the objective of the group of people you'd like to focus on
"Suggestion: “Breakfast on the go” could have been “Enjoy the trip to work”, and spawned podcasts, live Talkshows with phone-in programs, newspaper subscriptions and goodie bag morning-delivery. Or?"
You injected an emotion into the job. I would also ask you - as you consider more aspirational jobs - is the data you get from emotions and aspirations enough for the average company to take action on? "I want to feel good." What product would you make?
Let's take "Get to work in the morning."
We don't know how they get to work, and that is a context that would be important since it wouldn't be safe to read a newspaper while driving. On the other hand, someone riding a training could. You would need a step (in the execute phase) that gather metrics on things the want to accomplish while driving, or while sitting on a train, or in a plane. Once you know which of those cause a struggle, you might have enough to design a concept which you could then test. Or, you might need to drill deeper and treat that step as a job.
Then you might provide inputs to the service provider and understand how consumers would want to access/purchase the service/content, etc. Yea, a lot to think about.
Market size / opportunity is really something I would do before a deep job study. You need to understand how many people are trying to do the job, how frequently they do it, how difficult their current solution(s) is, how motivated they are to get the job done, etc. etc. This research isn't cheap, so taking this step (with a small catalog of jobs) is a good way to prioritize your research.
You will never really know how much value you are creating until you get to design and can put concepts in front of customers. The amount of new value will determine how likely someone will "switch"
Oh man, I'd like to discuss this with you.
I’m gonna take another shot at understanding the milkshake job, after discussions with Michael Boysen in this very thread.
The question on “situations that a commuter could find themselves in” has to be related to the job in question. I take ‘situation’ as synonymous with Christensen’s “circumstance”. Boysen notes that the situation should be important for the job, as well, in an earlier reply in this thread!
If we use ‘breakfast on the go” as the job… then the circumstance/situation must partly create the job in the first place and allow the solution to work under it.
This job can only arise, if the person did not make or get (enough) breakfast at home. Either they don’t want to, or are unable to make (enough) breakfast. They must also consider milkshake or fast-food as ‘breakfast’ material. Either from good marketing or cultural norms. They could be influenced by allergies, or have religious or dietary prohibitions. They must also be in the category of ‘breakfast eaters’ so that there is a job in the first place. The person must also be on the move, as commuters are. Lifestyle could influence the job, like health concerns or identity markers such as “being on the go”. A breakfast in Italy/France is (just) a cup of coffee. The commuter is under different time-pressures, and depending which the choice of solution can change. Financial situations can affect the choice of solution as can social status. I might want to show that my breakfast is of a certain class, to my peers. Then making my own breakfast could be antithetical to that goal, or I could be broke and need to make it at home.
If any of these contexts change, then the whole job could disappear/appear for any person. And the fast-food chain we analyse milkshake for, could become irrelevant for the job. Other competitors might appear as valid choices in some of the circumstances.
For the other milkshake drinkers, we might start by concluding that focusing on using the product would constrain the strategic and expansive mindset needed to properly segment the market and find fitting solutions. This conflicts with “outcome based” segmentation as the linked article discusses.
Let’s do “teenagers”, anyway. They have JTBD: “eat something with friends.”
Besides the functional “eating” they definitely have the social dimension as a goal. Also the milkshake could signal some kind of inclusion or distancing from other social groups; grownups don’t drink milkshakes and kids want ice cream.
Situations that affect both the job and the solutions used, are definitely life-stage related. The end users are defined by life-stage ‘young adults’. If their financial situation changes, then so will their solution choice. Social norms, such as relating to dairy products, might influence the milkshake choice. Eg, it might trend with ‘lactose sensitivity’ in young demographics. If the ‘with friends’ part of the job is emphasized then maybe even a restaurant might be switched for a pinball venue that serves drinks only.
If these situations change, then the milkshake seller might lose that particular customer. They might also want to innovate to face them; a non-dairy milkshake (fake-shake, maybe) or non-lactose. Or special price at times when most teenagers would show up. Maybe some marketing to become the ‘in place’ to hang out.
Traditional competitors would be soda. But technically the ‘eat’ part could be replaced with ‘consume’, and coffee and cigarettes could then be non-traditional competitors.
The performance metrics are proxies for the needs expressed in the circumstance. The commuters are in some situation where they move. They are sitting down and have probably one arm busy. Maybe they need to free both arms at some point.
For commuters, I suggest the metrics:
Time until I get hungry again
Time it takes to get the breakfast
Minimize guilt from eating unhealthy
Enable easy consumption while constrained hands
Not make a mess that requires cleaning afterwards
I want it to show (off) where I got my breakfast from (sometimes)
Fairly high calorie-per-dollar, so I stay full longer
I don’t want to need to pee so quickly after breakfast
My breakfast should give me part of vitamins etc that I need in a day
Minimize the amount of garbage left afterwards
The job I would focus on after having re-done the exercise, is definitely ‘get breakfast on the go’, but I would definitely split it up according to many circumstances. And figure out which split would want something different from my menu, or which competitor they might choose - if any or if they would just not buy.
Who are the end users that are consuming milkshakes besides just morning commuters?
Homeless people. No cooking possibility. Need high calorie low price.
Stressed person eating fatty foods to calm down, including a soothing milkshake.
Family with kids, buying milkshakes as treat, to avoid buying soda AND ice cream.
Teenagers hanging out/school lunch, slurping slowly.
Obese person craving big meal, can’t get/afford 2 plates in ordinary restaurant.
What are the different situations that a commuter could find themselves in?
In queue, because traffic accident or incident.
High speed unbroken wave
Bathroom, need to go now.
Called home by spouse/family, halfway there.
In an online meeting/listening in.
Talking to passengers.
Stopped by police.
Took wrong exit, trying to get back.
Late for work.
Who are the other end users of milkshakes? What is their JTBD (single)? What situations do they find themselves in (many)?
Teenager wants a slow drink, that doesn’t translate to toilet visit immediately. Allow them to hang out for a long time. Milkshake is more attitude than soda. A burger requires sit-down, a milkshake more mobile.
JTBD: public comfortable social gathering.
Teenager at lunchtime requires a sweet energy boost/dessert. Ice cream too childish. Need the quick energy. Need fairly quick meal, and combine burger and dessert-as-drink.
JTBD: efficient sweet dessert.
Homeless people want to sit alone. Eat sturdy but cheap. Avoid feeling completely mal-placed in public restaurant. Applies in principle to very obese people, too.
JTBD: high-caloric comfortable meal.
Stressed person. They want fast food, and stress relief from fatty foods. They are in between activities or have short lunch. Might have gotten bad news, or just too much news.
JTBD: feel less stressed, by saving time and lower heart rate from metabolism.
Who are the traditional competitors (sorry, no hints) to milkshakes? Do they change with the situation?
Ice cream and Soda. If you are hungry, hurried or socializing, then you might choose a traditional competitor.
Who are the non-traditional Competitors, why?
For public social gathering, the competitor would be cigarettes or a beer. These also conveys attitude, is mobile and non-committal.
For efficient sweet dessert, a bag of candy or French chocolate cake. Or over-sweetened coffee-like drink.
For high-calorics meal, we could replace cold drink with hot cake and whipped cream. You can eat more cake than drink shake. The same applies for stressed person; a fast warm cake with whipped cream goes down faster than shake.
What constraints can you think of?
I don’t get the question… Getting a milkshake comes with few constraints. Health concerns? Dairy allergy? Dairy anti-industry activist? Price?
What are some of the performance metrics for getting the job done successfully?
The teenager consider success if they have an excuse to gather and talk, while showing attitude. It doesn’t feel so awkward, as if sitting/standing with empty hands.
School-lunch-teen considers anything sweet eaten in less than 10 minutes, a success. Either it comes with the meal, or is brought along.
Homeless person wants easy warm meal with no harassment, and comfortable seat. Finishing and leaving in peace, feeling full, is a success. Obese person might feel the same.
Stressed person can literally feel the body relax from eating. Having that feeling is a success.
What is the Job you think we should focus on, why?
The “efficient sweet dessert” is something most urban population might respond to. And milkshakes would just be the starting point.
You have outlined a few potentional jobs, although we could just say "Getting a meal on the go." Everything else would be great fodder for the situations they are in. So, you'd rate the jump and capture the various situations or contexts to understand why the rated the job metrics differently.
A morning commuter "getting breakfast on the go" could be in any number of situations or be in different emotional states
A mother trying to satisfy their child while "getting an afternoon snack" could also be in a number of situations and emotional states.
The job is basically the same although I would say the two examples I gave have different job executors. Clearly in the second one the child would be a beneficiary more than the executor.
Ah! I see, thank you for that!
I’m obviously not clear on the abstraction level for “jobs” - would you say there is a way to find the right level?
I’m also guessing the idea is to “lock” the variable of “product” in this equation, yes?
The level depends on what you can take action on. As far as the product goes, the milkshake example is a clear example of looking at the product and not the job (e.g., getting breakfast on the go) which opens the door to products you hadn't considered.
If you're a milkshake maker, I guess that sounds disappointing. But so goes the buggy-whip manufacturer. Even if you want to improve your product, you need to put the lens on the job so you can find ways to expand your product (or portfolio) to get more if it done. A hammer is not the job.
”what you can take action on”… mhm, got it.
There is a lot of consequences in such a statement.
“Find ways to expand your product (or portfolio)” - also super-consequential.
Great comment.
Would you say the job statement reflects how the company sees itself and it’s potential??
Suggestion: “Breakfast on the go” could have been “Enjoy the trip to work”, and spawned podcasts, live Talkshows with phone-in programs, newspaper subscriptions and goodie bag morning-delivery. Or?
The executive level the JTBD question is asked, matters? … for market size it nothing else (buggy-whips needed top-exec rethink, not mid level managers, yes?)
"Would you say the job statement reflects how the company sees itself and it’s potential??"
I would say that it should reflect the objective of the group of people you'd like to focus on
"Suggestion: “Breakfast on the go” could have been “Enjoy the trip to work”, and spawned podcasts, live Talkshows with phone-in programs, newspaper subscriptions and goodie bag morning-delivery. Or?"
You injected an emotion into the job. I would also ask you - as you consider more aspirational jobs - is the data you get from emotions and aspirations enough for the average company to take action on? "I want to feel good." What product would you make?
Let's take "Get to work in the morning."
We don't know how they get to work, and that is a context that would be important since it wouldn't be safe to read a newspaper while driving. On the other hand, someone riding a training could. You would need a step (in the execute phase) that gather metrics on things the want to accomplish while driving, or while sitting on a train, or in a plane. Once you know which of those cause a struggle, you might have enough to design a concept which you could then test. Or, you might need to drill deeper and treat that step as a job.
Then you might provide inputs to the service provider and understand how consumers would want to access/purchase the service/content, etc. Yea, a lot to think about.
Market size / opportunity is really something I would do before a deep job study. You need to understand how many people are trying to do the job, how frequently they do it, how difficult their current solution(s) is, how motivated they are to get the job done, etc. etc. This research isn't cheap, so taking this step (with a small catalog of jobs) is a good way to prioritize your research.
You will never really know how much value you are creating until you get to design and can put concepts in front of customers. The amount of new value will determine how likely someone will "switch"
I'm writing this in-between work so I apologize for any lack of coherency :)