I’ve been meaning for the longest time to do some reading on Jobs to be Done framework, but like so many little jobs it had remain undone. Until Monday night that is when Christian Lafrance organised the first Sydney meet up at the Trinity Bar in Surry Hills. Christian has presented on Jobs to be Done at UX New Zealand  with ABC colleagues Justin Sinclair and Raymond van der Zalm and he has been incorporating the method into UX and product strategy and design projects at the ABC.

What I learnt.

• It’s deceptively simple
• A product management methodology, popular to those who practice Lean startup, now getting traction in UX circles
• Helps business stakeholders relate to designers
• Applied in user research phases of projects
• Uncovers functional objectives of products
• Helps designs and product teams define and prioritise product features
• Helps to encourage stakeholders away from their focus on features (solution mode) towards goals and context.

We touched on …

• recruiting switchers to gain rich insights at the moment where a choice is made
• analysis frameworks (4 forces of progress)
• prioritisation frameworks
• defining the customer value proposition

And next time we will talk about

• provocative interview techniques for switchers

Biggest takeaway that will make me look into Jobs to be Done some more … once this method is used to frame the use of products stakeholders look for the goal, the job and it becomes a powerful driver of customer centricity. They stop talking about features, and start talking about what customers want to achieve.

It was great to meet everyone who turned up on the night. And a big thank you to Christian for organising this and making the commitment to do it again. I worked with Christian for two years and I miss the interrogation to HCD methodology that he brings to the table. So although we still get to see each other on the odd occasion it was great to geek out together and see him in action. Thank you Christian!

If you want to learn more about what we covered check out

• https://speakerdeck.com/madeinlafrance/interviewing-switchers-a-reliable-shortcut-to-feature-definition-and-prioritisation-productcamp-sydney-2014
• http://www.slideshare.net/lafranec/what-milkshakes-and-jobs-tobedone-can-teach-ux-v11
• http://businessmodelalchemist.com/blog/2012/08/achieve-product-market-fit-with-our-brand-new-value-proposition-designer.html
• And if you are curious in attending the next Sydney meet up sign up at: http://www.meetup.com/sydney_jtbd/events/197474352/.