What made people purchase a certain product or subscribe to a service? What made them abandon one offering and switch to another? By conducting retrospective interviews we can learn about the customers' decision-making processes leading to transactions by understanding their inherent contexts and causality. At this 8th Jobs-to-be-Done meetup we conducted such an in-depth interview live. We learnt and practised together how the JTBD interviewing technique helps to uncover key moments that shaped the customer’s decision-making ahead of buying. By tracing the customer’s story back to her first thought about a new solution, we tried to understand how and most importantly why the customer decided to switch. Zalando Tech’s innovation team was so kind to sponsor the meetup and host it at their terrific new place in Berlin-Mitte.

1. Jobs-to-be-Done
Meetup Berlin #8:
Conducting Retrospective
JTBD Interviews
Zalando — November 25, 2015
Andrej Balaz
Hannes Jentsch
Hubert Gertis
Martin Jordan
Tor L. Bollingmo

2. Where
Kindly supported by

3. What
Understanding
why people are switching
from one product
to another
—and the outcomes they
want to achieve

4. POINT O F VIEW
Customer jobs & hired solution
S O LU T I O N
• toothpaste and toothbrush
J O B S
• having a fresh breath
• feeling fresh
• preventing caries

5. BELIEF
Jobs-to-be-Done is a …
Framework for developing & communicating
product and services
Mindset for understanding human behaviour, and
why people switch from one offering to another
Set of tools and methods for almost every part
of the product development process

7. Warm-up
Which rather pricey product did
you purchase recently?
What ‘jobs’ is it doing
for you?
What does it replace?

8. Rule of the evening
Takes notes, collect questions –
to discuss them later

9. Retrospective interviews are a way to uncover the
‘jobs’ people are trying to get done, the events and
forces that lead them to ‘hire’ a specific solution.
It’s a qualitative research method, based on an
interview around a customer’s timeline leading up
to a purchase.
Resource: Gertis, H., Bollingmo T. L. (2015): Jobs-to-be-Done Interviews. Berlin, Germany.
TOOLS & METHODS
Retrospective Interviews
First
thought
Event 1
BUY
Event 2
Passive
looking
Active
looking
Deciding Consuming

10. PUSH PULL
HABIT ANXIETY
FORCES PROMOTING A NEW CHOICE
FORCES BLOCKING CHANGE
Business
as usual
New
behaviour
Resource: Spiek, C., Moesta, B. (2014): The Jobs-to-be-Done Handbook. Seattle, WA: CreateSpace.
TOOLS & METHODS
Forces

11. WEAK SIGNAL BETTER PRICE
KEEP NUMBER?
DIRECT
WITHDRAWAL
FORCES PROMOTING A NEW CHOICE
FORCES BLOCKING CHANGE
Business
as usual
New
behaviour
Resource: Spiek, C., Moesta, B. (2014): The Jobs-to-be-Done Handbook. Seattle, WA: CreateSpace.
TOOLS & METHODS
Forces

12. LIVE ON STAGE
Interview on
computer purchase
Photo: Maciej Lastowski, https://twitter.com/maciejmaszyna/status/669596276112146432

13. Hints, tips & tricks

14. Ask why.
Never say “usually” when asking a question.
Encourage stories.
Look for inconsistencies.
Pay attention to nonverbal cues.
Don’t be afraid of silence.
Don’t suggest answers to your questions.
Ask questions neutrally.
Don’t ask binary questions.
Only ten words to a question.
Only ask one question at a time, one person at a time.
Make sure you’re prepared to capture.
APPROACH

15. CARDS
Resource: Briggs, J .(2015): JTBD Cards: Learning to Interview Customers

16. Remember:
Motivation behind chosen solutions
City short trip
1 First though to make a trip Timeframe of preparation
2 Decision to make a trip City short list
3 Deciding on a specific city How long have you been there
Which other cities have been
condsidered
What was the purpose of the trip
4 Deciding what to do in the
city
Preparation of city trip — how?
What did you want to know about the
city (and what not?)
How did you gather information
(apps, guides, friends, …)
Why did you use this medium? How
chosen?
How detailed did you plan the trip?
5 Arriving and being there Travel: When, with what, schedule,
idle time, …
What did you do in the first half day
(or evening)
6 Consuming content What exactly seen, how chosen?
Interaction with existing offers
How did you learn more about the
place?
Did you prepare for specific
exhibitions/events?
7 Review How did you share experiences?
How much did you stick to your initial
plans?
What artefacts did you bring home?
FIELD GU IDE

17. CLUSTERI NG

18. Phase 1
Job-to-be-Done: Getting to work on time Hired solution: Car sharing service – Previously undiscovered touchpoint
Phase 2 Phase 3 Phase 4 Phase 5 Phase 6 Phase 7
Phase 5 (Simplified example)
CONTEXT
Woke up too late that morning
TOUCHPOINT
Urban navigation app
WANTED OUTCOME
Discovering the best option to get to work fast
UNWANTED OUTCOME
Wasting more time with searching for options
FUNCTIONAL JOB
Finding the fastest way to get to work
EMOTIONAL JOB
Regaining control of the situation
SOCIAL JOB
Letting my colleagues know
when I will arrive at work
Resource: Jentsch, H., Jordan, M. (2015): Understanding the jobs your service is hired for –
Combining service design methods with the Job-to-be-Done framework. Touchpoint 7/2, Cologne, Germany
TOOLS & METHODS
Jobs-in-context Map

19. Kontaktpunkt 1
Ich möchte einen anderen Ort besuchen um aufzutanken und bereichert zu sein
K O N T E X T
GEGENWÄRTIG GENUTZT
ERWÜNSCHTES RESULTAT
U N E R W Ü N S C H T E S R E S U L T A T
F U N K T I O N A LER J O B
E M O T I O N A LER J O B
S O Z I A LER J O B
K O N T E X T
GEGENWÄRTIG GENUTZT
ERWÜNSCHTES RESULTAT
U N E R W Ü N S C H T E S R E S U L T A T
Keine Buchung und Sicherheit
F U N K T I O N A LER J O B
Unterkunft buchen
E M O T I O N A LER J O B
S O Z I A LER J O B
Kontaktpunkt 4
K O N T E X T
erstes spontanes Erkunden der Gegend
GEGENWÄRTIG GENUTZT
ERWÜNSCHTES RESULTAT
U N E R W Ü N S C H T E S R E S U L T A T
F U N K T I O N A LER J O B
E M O T I O N A LER J O B
Umgebung erobern
S O Z I A LER J O B
K O N T E X T
weiter gehen könnte
GEGENWÄRTIG GENUTZT
ERWÜNSCHTES RESULTAT
U N E R W Ü N S C H T E S R E S U L T A T
F U N K T I O N A LER J O B
E M O T I O N A LER J O B
S O Z I A LER J O B
Kontaktpunkt 6
K O N T E X T
GEGENWÄRTIG GENUT
Internetpräsenz oder
ERWÜNSCHTES RESULT
U N E R W Ü N S C H T E S R E S
F U N K T I O N A LER J O B
E M O T I O N A LER J O B
S O Z I A LER J O B
Kontaktpunkt 3
K O N T E X T
GEGENWÄRTIG GENUTZT
ERWÜNSCHTES RESULTAT
U N E R W Ü N S C H T E S R E S U L T A T
F U N K T I O N A LER J O B
E M O T I O N A LER J O B
S O Z I A LER J O B
VORBEREITUNG ERKUNDUNG BESUCH
TOOLS & METHODS
Jobs-in-context Map
Resource: Jentsch, H., Jordan, M. (2015): Understanding the jobs your service is hired for –
Combining service design methods with the Job-to-be-Done framework. Touchpoint 7/2, Cologne, Germany

20. LITERAT UR E
Chris Spiek & Bob Moesta
Jobs-to-be-Done
The Handbook
Steve Portigal
Interviewing users
How to uncover compelling insights

21. Thanks for joining!
See you at the next meetup
in December …