Video

Uncovering the Jobs to Be Done (with a live switch interview)

Bob Moesta and Chris Spiek · Business of Software Free Intermediate

Reading about the switch interview is one thing, watching one run live is another. Bob Moesta and Chris Spiek interview an audience member on the spot about a real purchase, reconstructing the timeline of struggle from first thought to buy and mapping the forces that pushed and pulled them. It is the most concrete way to learn the actual questioning technique for uncovering the real job.

  • Build the buyer's timeline from the first thought to the purchase, so you surface the causality behind a switch instead of stated preferences
  • The forces diagram (push, pull, anxiety, habit) explains why someone moves or stays put, which matters most when your product is unfamiliar
  • Interview around a concrete recent decision, not hypotheticals, because memory of a real struggle is far more reliable than opinions about the future
Open on businessofsoftware.org ↗

It answers 3 questions

  1. How many customer interviews do I need before I trust the job I've found is real?
  2. How do I find the job when my customers can't articulate it themselves?
  3. How do I do user research when I'm building something nobody has seen before and can't describe what they want?

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