The stark reality of product innovation is that many new products fail. According to research cited by Qualtrics, which references Gartner and McKinsey, only 55% of product launches occur on schedule, and a significant portion of revenue relies on new, successful products. The primary challenge? Ensuring a product solves a real, important customer problem. At thrv, we use our proprietary Jobs to be Done (JTBD) framework for rigorous JTBD product validation, a method designed to significantly reduce development risk and guide our portfolio companies toward creating offerings that customers will actually hire. This article explains our approach.

Table of Contents

• Understanding Product Concept Confirmation: Your First Line of Defense
• The Jobs to be Done (JTBD) Framework: A Paradigm Shift in Understanding Customer Needs
• The JTBD-Driven Product Concept Confirmation Process: A Step-by-Step Guide to Lower Risk
• Step 1: Unearthing the Customer's True Job
• Step 2: Defining Success – The Customer's Desired Progress Metrics
• Step 3: Ideating Concepts as Solutions to Unmet Jobs and Needs
• Step 4: Crafting Testable, JTBD-Rooted Hypotheses
• Step 5: Designing Confirmation Tests Through the JTBD Lens
• Step 6: Executing Confirmation Tests – Methods & Approaches
• Qualitative Confirmation
• Quantitative Confirmation
• Usability Testing Reimagined
• Step 7: Analyzing Feedback – Connecting Insights to Jobs and Needs
• Step 8: Iterative Refinement – The Cycle of Learning and Improvement
• Using Our Platform for Effective JTBD-Driven Confirmation
• Case Study: JTBD Confirmation in Action – The Note-Taking App Transformation
• The Tangible Impact: Dramatically Reduced Risk, Radically Better Products
• Conclusion: Innovate Smarter, Not Harder, by Focusing on the Job
• Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)

Understanding Product Concept Confirmation: Your First Line of Defense

Product concept confirmation is the process of testing a new product idea with target customers before committing significant resources to development and launch. It's a critical step to reduce product development risk.

Key benefits include:

• Maximizing resource efficiency by focusing on promising concepts.
• Reducing market failure risk by building what customers truly need.
• Significantly increasing the probability of achieving product-market fit.
• Lowering Customer Effort Scores by designing solutions that help customers complete their jobs more effectively.

At thrv, we view this not just as a best practice, but as a fundamental component of our equity value creation strategy for our portfolio companies.

The Jobs to be Done (JTBD) Framework: A Paradigm Shift in Understanding Customer Needs

The Jobs to be Done (JTBD) framework operates on a core tenet: customers "hire" products or services to get specific "jobs" done. This perspective, popularized by Clayton Christensen, shifts the focus from product features to the customer's underlying motivation and desired progress.

Key principles of JTBD relevant to JTBD product validation include:

• Jobs are stable over time: Customer needs for progress persist, even as solutions change.
• Focus on progress: Innovation should aim to help customers make progress in their lives or work.
• Functional, emotional, and social dimensions: A job often has multiple facets that influence choice.

JTBD is profoundly effective for finding deep insights that drive meaningful innovation because it centers on the "why" behind customer actions. Understanding the job provides a stable target for product development, unlike fleeting feature requests. Our AI-powered platform accelerates the analysis of JTBD insights, helping our teams generate actionable strategies swiftly.

The JTBD-Driven Product Concept Confirmation Process: A Step-by-Step Guide to Lower Risk

Our approach to JTBD product validation is systematic, integrating JTBD principles at every stage. This ensures that concepts are rigorously tested against actual customer jobs and needs.

Step 1: Unearthing the Customer's True Job

We begin by deeply understanding the customer's job. This is not about what features they want, but what fundamental problem they are trying to solve or goal they are trying to achieve.

• Techniques: We employ in-depth JTBD interviews (often using "switch" interview techniques to understand the forces compelling a change in solutions), contextual inquiry, and analysis of customer support data. Our platform helps structure and analyze notes from these interactions.
• Customer Needs Format: We define needs as "action verb + variable" pairs, such as "determine optimal resource allocation" or "identify potential system conflicts."
• Crafting the "Job Story": A common format is "When [situation], I want to [motivation/goal], so I can [desired progress/outcome]."

Step 2: Defining Success – The Customer's Desired Progress Metrics

Once the job is defined, we identify how customers measure successful job completion. These are the customer needs or desired progress metrics.

• We focus on metrics that measure how quickly and accurately customers can execute their job.
• These are translated into clear, measurable need statements like "calculate total project cost" or "verify data integrity."
• High Customer Effort Scores (CES) on these needs indicate significant unmet needs and opportunities for innovation.
  
  

Step 3: Ideating Concepts as Solutions to Unmet Jobs and Needs

With a clear understanding of the job and associated unmet needs (areas with high CES), we guide our portfolio companies to ideate concepts specifically designed to address these gaps.

• Innovation is directed towards areas where current solutions cause customers to struggle or fail to achieve their desired progress efficiently.
  
  

Step 4: Crafting Testable, JTBD-Rooted Hypotheses

Before testing, we formulate hypotheses grounded in JTBD.

• Example: "We believe [our new software feature] will help [project managers] to [determine resource availability] more accurately and quickly when [planning complex projects], leading to a lower Customer Effort Score for this job step, compared to [current manual methods]."
  
  

Step 5: Designing Confirmation Tests Through the JTBD Lens

Our confirmation tests are designed to directly assess how well a concept helps customers get their job done.

• We prioritize qualitative methods initially to understand the "why" behind customer reactions. This aligns with approaches for concept testing methods that seek deep understanding.
• Tests directly measure the concept's ability to address the job and its associated needs.
  
  

Step 6: Executing Confirmation Tests – Methods & Approaches

We use a blend of methods, always framed by the customer's job.

Qualitative Confirmation

• JTBD-focused concept interviews: We present low-fidelity prototypes (storyboards, mockups) and observe how users interact with them in the context of their job. Questions focus on whether the concept helps them make progress. For example, Maze.co offers guides on such testing, but our focus remains on the job.
• Observational studies: Watching users attempt their "job" with the proposed concept, noting points of struggle (high effort) or ease (low effort).
  
  

Quantitative Confirmation

After initial qualitative signals, we may use quantitative methods to assess broader appeal.

• Surveys: To measure concept appeal, perceived value for the job, and willingness to pay to get the job done better. These surveys are built around customer needs and Customer Effort Scores, not abstract satisfaction.
• A/B testing: Comparing variations of a concept against specific job-related metrics.
  
  

Usability Testing Reimagined

While traditional usability testing (as described by Nielsen Norman Group) often focuses on ease of use of features, our approach to user testing JTBD reframes it:

• We assess not just if the product is easy to use, but how effectively and efficiently it helps users achieve their core job. A high CES for a job step, even with a "usable" interface, signals a problem.
  
  

Step 7: Analyzing Feedback – Connecting Insights to Jobs and Needs

All feedback is analyzed through the JTBD framework.

• Did the concept demonstrably help users make progress on their job?
• Did it address needs with high Customer Effort Scores?
• We synthesize qualitative and quantitative data, always anchoring back to the customer's job and their struggle to complete it. Our platform's AI capabilities significantly accelerate this synthesis, turning raw data into actionable insights for our portfolio companies.
  
  

Step 8: Iterative Refinement – The Cycle of Learning and Improvement

JTBD product validation is an iterative process.

• Insights from testing are used to refine the concept, pivot, or, if necessary, abandon it. This iterative loop is crucial to reduce product development risk.
• This continuous cycle ensures resources are directed towards solutions that truly address unmet customer needs.
  
  

Using Our Platform for Effective JTBD-Driven Confirmation

Our proprietary thrv platform is instrumental in implementing this JTBD-driven confirmation process within our portfolio companies. It includes:

• JTBD Software: Tools to help teams identify and prioritize unmet customer needs based on Customer Effort Scores.
• Process: Structured methodologies to accelerate growth and reduce risk, embedding JTBD thinking.
• AI-Powered Analytics: To swiftly analyze customer feedback, identify patterns in job struggles, and translate insights into product roadmap actions.

This comprehensive solution enables product, marketing, and sales teams in our portfolio companies to align their strategies with customer needs, fostering growth and enhancing equity value. Explore Our JTBD Software Solutions to see how we operationalize this.

Case Study: JTBD Confirmation in Action – The Note-Taking App Transformation

Consider a generic example similar to transformations seen in the market: A company initially developed a note-taking app focused on features like "faster note creation." Through JTBD interviews, they found the core job users were trying to get done was "ensure critical information from meetings is captured and retrievable so important decisions are well-informed and follow-ups are not missed."

The initial concept, focused on speed of entry, had a high Customer Effort Score for the actual job of retrieval and action. By re-focusing on the true job and its related needs (e.g., "locate specific meeting notes," "identify action items from notes," "share relevant note sections"), the team developed a more successful product concept. This shift, driven by JTBD product validation, prevented investment in a product that only superficially addressed the customer's real struggle. First Round Review often highlights such JTBD-driven pivots.

The Tangible Impact: Dramatically Reduced Risk, Radically Better Products

A structured, customer-job-centric approach to JTBD product validation minimizes assumptions and builds market-verified confidence before significant investment. This is how we aim to reduce product development risk for our portfolio companies.

• It ensures resources are allocated efficiently to build products with inherent demand. Mohara.co suggests a 90% positive response rate from a target audience in lean validation can be a strong indicator of success.
• Focusing on reducing Customer Effort Scores directly links product development to value creation.

Learn more about Our Process for Accelerating Growth.

Conclusion: Innovate Smarter, Not Harder, by Focusing on the Job

Applying the Jobs to be Done framework to product concept confirmation transforms innovation from a high-stakes gamble into a more predictable process of value creation. By deeply understanding and validating against the customer's true job and their struggle (measured by Customer Effort Scores), we enable our portfolio companies to build products that not only meet needs but also drive significant growth and superior equity returns.

To see how our platform can help your teams implement these strategies, Explore Our Platform for Equity Value Creation.

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)

Q1: What is JTBD product validation?

JTBD product validation is a process where new product concepts are rigorously tested against the customer's "Job to be Done"—the fundamental problem they are trying to solve or goal they are trying to achieve. It focuses on confirming that a concept helps customers make progress on their job more effectively and with less effort, thereby reducing the risk of developing products that don't meet real needs.

Q2: How does JTBD differ from traditional user testing?

While traditional user testing often focuses on the usability of features (e.g., "Is this button easy to find?"), user testing JTBD goes deeper. It assesses how well the product or concept helps the user accomplish their entire job. A feature might be usable but still not effectively help the customer make progress on their core job, which JTBD aims to find. We focus on Customer Effort Scores related to the job.

Q3: What are common concept testing methods used within a JTBD framework?

Common concept testing methods adapted for JTBD include in-depth qualitative interviews (often using "switch" interview techniques) with low-fidelity prototypes, observational studies focused on job completion, and quantitative surveys measuring perceived value for the job and impact on Customer Effort Scores.

Q4: How does using JTBD help reduce product development risk?

JTBD helps reduce product development risk by ensuring that innovation is focused on stable, unmet customer needs rather than fleeting feature requests. By validating concepts against the core job, companies can avoid investing in solutions that don't address fundamental customer struggles, leading to more efficient resource allocation and a higher likelihood of market success.

Q5: What role does Customer Effort Score (CES) play in JTBD product validation?

Customer Effort Score (CES) is a key metric in our JTBD approach. It measures the percentage of customers who report difficulty in getting a specific job step done (based on effort, speed, and accuracy). High CES indicates significant unmet needs. During product validation, we assess if a new concept can lower CES for critical job steps.

Q6: Can AI be used in JTBD product validation?

Yes, at thrv, our AI-powered platform is integral to our JTBD methodology. AI helps accelerate the analysis of qualitative data from customer interviews, identify patterns in unmet needs and job steps with high Customer Effort Scores, and translate these insights into actionable product roadmap decisions more quickly. Read more about Our Approach to AI in JTBD.

For further information on our services, visit thrv.com or explore our JTBD Training Programs. If you are a portfolio company executive looking to drive growth, Contact Us for a Discussion.