Customers hire services and products to do a certain job. Once people spot a job in their life they start looking for a solution, an offering that helps them to get the job done. Which offering they eventually hire often depends on the circumstances in which the job occurs. This workshop highlighted the importance of customers’ situations and contexts when creating new offerings. As circumstances are changing, people’s related needs and desired outcomes do too. Using the example of food-related services, the workshop at Service Experience Camp 2015 illustrated how all offerings fulfil the general need of feeding humans, but also which specific situations each service caters for. The workshop was run by Andrej Balaz, Hannes Jentsch and Martin Jordan on November 14, 2015 at Service Experience Camp in Kalkscheune in Berlin-Mitte.

1. Capturing
Contexts
A workshop with jobs-to-be-done tools
Service Experience Camp 2015
Andrej Balaz, Hannes Jentsch & Martin Jordan
A service for the very moment

2. BAC KG RO UND
Product, Innovation, Design
H A N N E S J E N T S C H ,
Design & Innovation
Consultant, Freelance
@Kaffeertrinken
M A R T I N J O R DA N ,
Experience design,
HERE/Nokia
@Martin_Jordan
A N D R EJ BA L A Z ,
Senior Service
Designer, IXDS
@Designamyte

3. 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

4. Ask & listen
to your neighbour
2
MIN
EACH

5. Which interesting food related
service did you start using this
year?
What ‘jobs’ is it doing for you?
What did do the job before?
WARM-UP
Uncovering jobs

6. Share with all of us

7. What is the
job of wine?
EX AMPLE
Let’s talk about
something pleasant …

8. Source: Laurence Veale / ‘The jobs wine is hired for’
https://medium.com/@laurenceveale/the-jobs-wine-is-hired-for-272a929ea8be
EX AMPLE
How most wines are
organised in wine stores

9. EX AMPLE
Organising the retail space around a
specific job: making dinner a little better
Source: Laurence Veale / ‘The jobs wine is hired for’
https://medium.com/@laurenceveale/the-jobs-wine-is-hired-for-272a929ea8be

10. EX AMPLE
Organising the retail space
for a second job: expressing appreciation
Source: Laurence Veale / ‘The jobs wine is hired for’
https://medium.com/@laurenceveale/the-jobs-wine-is-hired-for-272a929ea8be

11. Uncovering customer jobs helps understanding
their desired outcomes
Finding your real competition,
refining the market you are in
Rephrasing the messaging around your offering
to match the customers’ mental model & language
EX AMPLE
Take-away

12. What is Pocket’s
context of use?
EX AMPLE
Let’s look at a mobile service

13. EX AMPLE
Pocket: in the office
5 min, end of
lunch break

14. EX AMPLE
Pocket: in the office
Found article,
saved for later

15. EX AMPLE
Pocket: on the go
15 mins time
to bridge

16. EX AMPLE
Pocket: on the go
Review articles,
choose one

17. EX AMPLE
Pocket: at home
On sofa, 45
min free time

18. EX AMPLE
Pocket: at home
Deep read &
shared w/ others

19. Main job of ‘making me a smarter, better human’
carried through various contexts and situations
Limited resources & capabilities in regards of time,
space & cognitive capacities
Specific sub-jobs that need a hand-over
from one situation to another
EX AMPLE
Take-away

20. + + + + +
Situation
M
onday
M
orning
Rain
Alarm
didn’t
ring
Usuallygone
atthattim
e
Carin
repair
The better you can define the situation,
the better you can design the solution against
TOOLS & MINDSET S
Context for understanding situational needs

21. Goal-directed task analysis
to investigate needs depending on situation and goals
Situation
Raining
outside
Goal
Getting to
the office
Need
Getting there
in time
Need
Staying
dry
Situation
Hellish hot outside
Goal
Getting to
the office
Need
Not getting
sweaty

22. When
Where
Who
How
What
season
month
weekd
ay
daytime
occasionlocation
type
category
attrib.profile/mode
social
device
motion
useract.routine
traffic
facebook
c
ollec.
weather
Routinely used route
Routinely visited place
First time visit
Unknown area
Known area
…
Historical traffic around location
Congestion/incidents on route
Congestion/incidents around loc.
…
Visited by friends
Visited by me
Popular on facebook
Liked by friends
Liked by me
…
In
popular collection
In
m
yfriendscollection
In
m
ycollection…
FreezingCoolMild
Warm
Hot
Night
Day
Stormy
Snowy
Rainy
Foggy
Cloudy
Clear
Wetseason
Dryseason
Winter
Autumn
Summer
Spring
January
February
March
April
May
June
July
AugustSeptemberOctoberNovember
December
MondayTuesday
Wednesday
ThursdayFriday
Saturday
Sunday
Morning
Noon
Afternoon
Evening
Night
Sunrise
Sunset
…
At a planned appointment
Appointment scheduled in x hours
Leaving
In transit
Arriving
Early in month
Late in month (f.ex salary)
Commute
Travel
…
Outdoor
Indoor
Near POI of cat. XNear POI cluster of cat. XMoving towards X
Distance to destinationDistance to POI
…
On streetIn building
In/at venueIn park
On mountain
On water
…
Airport
Departm
ent store
Hotel
Cafe
Restaurant
ATM
Leisure
PTstation
Sight
Mall
Parkingspace
Junction
Highway
…
Pricerange
Openinghours
Availableparking
…
…
Commuter
CityDweller
Traveler
Age30-39
Age18-29
Age<18
Male
Female
…
Withanonymouscrowd
Withknownpeople
Alone
…
Roamingactive
Via3G
etc
ViaBluetooth
ViaWiFi
Desktop
Tablet
Phone
…
Ascending/descending
Trajectory/bearing/direction
DrivingWalkingStill
…
Using app since 1d/1w/1m
Calculated a route to/from
Reviewed
Shared to/byCollected
Searched for
…
Routine follow up action when x Situation
TOOLS & MINDSET S
Retool

23. Describe a
real user’s
need in
context
Validate
design
solutions
Communicate
the design task
TOOLS & MINDSET S
Job Stories

24. Formulate each job into a statement (or job story)
When I want to So I can
Situation Need Goal
TOOLS & MINDSET S
Job Stories

25. When I am on my island round trip where
I travel with a lot of stuff in a small backpack
and only unreliable connection to the Internet
I want to easily pick photos I took that day and
share them whenever I have the opportunity
So I can I can let my friends and family know
how I am.
TOOLS & MINDSET S
Job Stories

26. VALUE
Benefits for all team members
Product owners and managers know what kind of
products they are developing and who they are
competing with.
Developers know the context of the product and its
sprints, can prioritise better and see purpose.
Designers know the context and desired outcomes of
the user and can design against these accordingly.
QA engineers know the essential use and test cases,
can prioritise better.

27. “Often, because people are so focused on
the who and how, they totally miss the why.
When you start to understand the why, your
mind is then open to think of creative and
original ways to solve the problem.
”
QUOTE
— A L A N K L E M E N T, Product designer & engineer
Source: Replacing The User Story With The Job Story, Medium,
https://medium.com/the-job-to-be-done/replacing-the-user-story-with-the-job-story-af7cdee10c27

28. How might we create the best
dinner food service for urban
dwellers in special contexts?
EX ERCISE
Let’s get hands-on …

29. Get together in groups of 3,
and describe a very specific
evening dinner situation.
1 5
MIN

30. When I want to So I can
Situation Need Goal
Write 2 job stories

31. Share & Reflect:
Present

32. Pitfalls,
tips and tricks

33. Pitfalls
#1
Don’t write stories
too abstract.

34. Pitfalls
#2
Don’t formulate stories
too general.

35. Pitfalls
#3
Don’t include solutions
into stories.

36. Pitfalls
#4
Don’t include more than
one context and goal.

37. Pitfalls
#5
Don’t fantasise or
make your stories up.

38. Tips & tricks
#1
Think in struggles
rather than outcomes.

39. Tips & tricks
#2
Write it like in the 70s –
avoid mentioning tech.

40. Tips & tricks
#3
Start with the situation,
continue with goal, only then
turn to need. (GDTA)

41. Tips & tricks
#4
Split stories if find two goals
or more contexts.

42. Tips & tricks
#5
If you struggle in writing,
do further research!

43. FUR THER STUDYING
In ‘The Service Gazette’ #1

44. Thanks for
your interest and
for joining!
All infos about the Jobs-to-be-Done Meetup Berlin here:
http://meetup.com/Berlin-Jobs-To-Be-Done-Meetup/
And see you at a #JTBD meetup
nearby some time soon