The JTBD Market Definition Canvas
Entrepreneurs can avoid unnecessary pivoting and churn with a powerful approach to market definition.
The problem with market definition
Many aspiring entrepreneurs doom themselves to failure by making a fatal mistake before getting out of the gates. It has to do with the way they define the market they are targeting for pursuit. While a clear and precise market definition is a prerequisite for success, an effective process for defining a market is often missing from the innovator’s toolkit.
Lean Startup, for example, is one of the most popular methodologies out there. However, it takes for granted that entrepreneurs know the best way to define the market they are pursuing — which turns out to be a questionable assumption.
In a recently conducted survey, we found that 70% of product teams do not agree on the best way to define a market.
What’s interesting is that entrepreneurs use various, seemingly random classification schemes to define the markets they serve. Some innovators choose to define markets around a product, for example, the vacuum cleaner market or the espresso maker market. Others choose to define markets around verticals, such as the financial services market or the healthcare market. We’ve seen markets defined around demographics (the people over 45 market), technologies (the brain sensor market), customer activities (the fitness market), and product portfolios (the heavy equipment market), just to name a few.
The point is, the market definition process is obscure, random, and often left to chance. Unfortunately, as a result, entrepreneurs can inadvertently choose to define markets in ways that cause them to pivot, churn, and fail.
Let’s explore how this can happen in the innovator’s journey.
The Lean Startup methodology first asks entrepreneurs to interview many potential customers within their “market” to discover the customer’s unmet needs and to establish a product/market fit. This usually requires dozens of interviews, which can take months.
As entrepreneurs deepen their understanding of the customer, they might choose to alter their product concept, target a different vertical, demographic, or customer activity, or incorporate a different technology into their solution.
Here’s the problem:
Depending on how they originally define their market, making one or more of these changes can inadvertently alter the original market definition, which in turn changes the “market” they are targeting and invalidates the needs they have captured.
Here’s the consequence:
They enter a recursive process in which they are iterating on the market definition, customer needs, and the value proposition simultaneously, with no logical way to exit. This frustrating experience can take the wind out of the sails of any startup.
Take, for example, the experience of Ted Thayer, a current Strategyn employee. In a past assignment, he used the Lean Startup methodology to help commercialize an offering based on a wearable sleep-stage detection technology. As Ted says:
“Before we began the Customer Development process, we attempted to define the market we were targeting with the product we had in mind. We debated if we should define it as the ‘productivity’ market, the ‘sleep technology’ market, or the ‘sleep disorder treatment’ market. We weren’t sure if we should define the market narrowly, broadly, around the technology it employed, or around event and treatment detection.
“Right off the bat, we abandoned the idea of defining it as the ‘productivity’ market because this ambiguous definition made the market feel unapproachable. The ‘sleep disorder treatment’ market, we concluded, was too narrow a market focus, as the product we had in mind had additional possibilities. So, we defined our market as the ‘sleep technology’ market, as this aligned best with our thinking.
“As we conducted our customer interviews, we eventually discovered that different groups of people, e.g., sleep apnea patients, business travelers, those who are sleep deprived or have insomnia, etc., had different problems and needs, each requiring a different solution and value proposition. This finding introduced uncertainty into the process. We were unsure where to focus and concluded that we must have defined the market too broadly. We tried to redefine the market around demographics but found the same divergent responses. So, after several additional weeks of research, we pivoted again, this time choosing a disease-based definition of the market. This, too, proved to be equally ill-defined.
In retrospect, we failed to define the market optimally before we began needs discovery. Consequently, we spent months doing customer discovery research, and the startup had nothing to show for it.”
It’s a regrettable outcome. One that every innovator wants to avoid.
To reiterate, when the way a market is defined is left to chance, innovators, like Ted, can end up iterating on the market definition, the customer’s needs, and the product value proposition all at the same time, causing a never-ending, recursive loop of pivots, churn and frustration.
Just as you wouldn’t iterate your destination as you are trying to plot a course, entrepreneurs should avoid iterating the market they are targeting while at the same time trying to establish product/market fit. Innovators don’t create markets; they create products to serve markets. Thus, the market must be defined and validated in the innovation equation before moving to needs discovery and product definition.
What is required is a process for defining a market that reduces uncertainty, reduces iteration in the effort to establish a product/market fit, and aligns the team around the business objectives and the results.
How should a market be defined?
Markets must be defined using words, and those words should preferably convey valuable information to innovators, assisting them in their startup efforts. We’ve spent a good number of years asking ourselves what constitutes the “perfect” market definition. This is what we concluded:
A market should be defined in such a way that…
- It becomes a constant in the product/market fit equation, not a variable. It does not change as the study of that market unfolds.
- It is stable over time. It does not go away when different solutions or technologies come along, thus making it a valid long-term focal point for value creation.
- It is unique from any other market, making it distinguishable and unambiguous.
- It does not assume a product or a solution. Rather, it is defined in problem space.
- It indicates who the targets are for value creation — making it clear which group of people to focus on.
- It makes the discovery of customer needs quicker, more effective, and less costly.
- It reveals all sources of competition, making disruption and other surprises less likely.
- It is relevant to and aligns the entire organization, e.g., sales, marketing, development, etc.
Given this set of characteristics, how should a market be defined?
To answer this question, let’s consider an underlying economic principle that explains why people buy products and services in the first place. This principle forms the foundation of what has become popularized as Jobs-to-be-Done Theory.
According to Jobs Theory, people buy products and services to get a “job” done.
A job is defined as a task people are trying to accomplish, a goal or objective they are trying to achieve, a problem they are trying to resolve, something they are trying to avoid, or anything else they are trying to accomplish. This theory opens the door to a new way of thinking about how a market can be defined.
Since people buy a product or service to get a job done, when looking at a market through this lens, a market is best defined as: a group of people and the job they are trying to get done.
For example, parents (a group of people) who are trying to “pass on life lessons to children” (a job-to-be-done) constitute a market. As do surgeons (a group of people) who are trying to “repair a torn rotator cuff” (a job-to-be-done), and in Ted’s case, clinicians (a group of people) who are trying to “diagnose the cause of a patient’s sleep disorder” (a job-to-be-done).
When defined through a jobs-to-be-done lens, a market meets the criteria for the “perfect” market definition. Through this lens, thousands of unique, distinguishable markets exist. They are stable over time, focus on what people are trying to accomplish rather than solutions, offer a fixed, stable focal point for analysis, and form a solid and valuable foundation for understanding customer needs.
Most importantly, a market defined in this manner will not change as the study of that market unfolds, which dramatically cuts back on the number of iterations and pivots when using the Lean Startup and other methodologies. This is made possible because the market is optimally defined before engaging in customer needs discovery. Consequently, the innovator can jump directly into understanding the customer’s “problem” by thinking about customer needs through a jobs-to-be-done lens.
Are “new” markets really new?
It should be noted that innovators are also able to use this lens to more effectively define and study markets that are typically classified as new and disruptive. For example, people often talk about the cryptocurrency market as a new market, but is it really? It depends how you define “market.”
If you choose to define a market around a new product or a new technology, then, by definition, the “cryptocurrency market” would be considered new. But if you define the same market through a jobs-to-be-done lens, the story is very different, as consumers (a group of people) have for centuries been trying to intermediate the storage and exchange of value over time (the job-to-be-done).
When looking through a jobs-to-be-done lens, cryptocurrency is simply a new offering in a pre-existing market. Similarly, Uber, Netflix, electronic evidence discovery, cloud computing, smartphones, online learning, Airbnb, Spotify, Google Maps and many other products considered disruptions are in fact new offerings in pre-existing markets.
Why does this matter? When it comes to conducting needs discovery, your potential customers will struggle to articulate needs for a product that does not yet exist. But when you ask them about their job-to-be-done, customers can state with precision their needs associated with getting the job done better, making needs discovery faster and more effective.
We have decades of experience defining markets and customer needs through this lens and with great success. This approach is part of a strategy and innovation process called Outcome-Driven Innovation (ODI), which many of the world’s most sophisticated companies use to enhance their innovation efforts. Using this methodology leads to success rates that are five times the industry average. Why? Because right up front it focuses a company on what matters most — helping its customers get their jobs done better.
To help you define your market through this lens, we have created the Jobs-to-be-Done Market Definition Canvas. In conjunction with Steve Blank (see his post here), the pioneer of the Lean Startup methodology, we want to make this canvas available to all innovators who want to avoid unnecessary pivoting and churn.
Instructions for using the canvas are included below, and the canvas can be downloaded here. We hope that it contributes to the success of your startup, corporate venture, or product team and adds to your skill set as an innovator.
Don’t let the way you define your market cause your startup to fail.
The Jobs-to-be-Done Market Definition Canvas
If you have a product in mind for your startup, you have already assumed a market but may not have formally defined it. The Jobs-to-be-Done Market Definition Canvas is designed to help you define the market you are in or have chosen to serve through a Jobs-to-be-Done lens.
The canvas lets you start by defining your market in solution space and guides you to redefine it in problem space as [a group of people] + [the job they are trying to get done].
The Market Definition Canvas is designed to accommodate both B2C and B2B applications. While it is optimized to define single-sided markets, it can be used twice to define both sides of a double-sided market. For component manufacturers who sell to OEMs or who are at the top of a long distribution chain, a canvas can be completed for each constituent in the distribution chain, including the end-user, as each constituent has its own unique job to get done.
Let’s explore, step by step, how the canvas can be used to define the market you have chosen to serve.
1. Traditional market definition
What is the product/service/idea you seek to innovate?
The market definition exercise starts with something you’re familiar with — a product focus. We ask, “What is the product, service, or idea you’re looking to innovate around?” We use this as the grounding point, as the subsequent steps will help transition you from a product view to a jobs-to-be-done view of your market.
2. Job executor determination
Who’s using the product to get a job done?
The transformation begins with this step. Ask yourself, or people on your sales and marketing teams, who’s using your product (or who would use your product once released) to get a job done? The goal of this step is to reveal the diverse set of potential product users. So, list all the categories of people who use or would use the product of interest to extract its value. Keep in mind; we are focused here on stating the job executors. Do not list out influencers, economic buyers, people who support the product throughout its lifecycle, or other customer types, just job executors.
For example, Bosch used this approach when trying to enter the North American circular saw market (yes, they began with a product-based market definition in mind). They concluded that finish carpenters, framers, roofers, general contractors, electricians, and plumbers use circular saws. Notice they did not use the formal job titles of the job executors; instead, they listed the categories of people who use circular saws.
3. Abstracted job executor
What overarching term can be used to classify all the categories of people using the product to get a job done?
With a list of all the distinct categories of people using, or potentially using, your product, next, you want to define the one overarching term that can be used to classify or describe all these people as a single group. Remember, we are defining a market as a group of people + the job-to-be-done. When defining the group of people, try not to use an actual job title. Instead, look for an all-inclusive term that encapsulates all job executors, usually a higher-level, generic term.
The Bosch team, for example, abstracted roofers, framers, plumbers, finish carpenters, etc., into a higher-level category using the term “tradespeople.” In other words, the “group of people” using circular saws was conveniently referred to as tradespeople.
For those of you producing consumer product goods, the job executors are often referred to simply as “consumers.”
4. Job executor
The group of people (job executor) is defined as:
You may have come up with more than one way to describe the “group of people.” Here you will make and document your final choice. Choose a label that fittingly represents all types of people using the product, service, or idea you have in mind. For example, you may choose the term surgeons over cardiac surgeons, or tradespeople over tradesmen to be more inclusive. Other examples include educators over teachers, accountants over tax preparers, or consumers over adults.
It is important to define the “group of people” before defining the job-to-be-done, as you will be interviewing representatives of the group to determine, from them alone, the way they define the job they are trying to get done.
5. Function of the product
What “job” does the product/service/idea you want to innovate help the job executor accomplish?
Products don’t have jobs-to-be-done; people do. But to uncover the targeted group’s job-to-be-done, it is often helpful to start by understanding what function/job the product you have in mind performs.
To make this determination, you can work with your product team, or preferably you can go directly to the “group” of people (defined in step 4) and ask the question:
What does/will the product or service we have in mind help you accomplish from a functional perspective?
Collect and cull the responses into a single statement according to this formula:
The product will help the group of people [verb] + [object of the verb] + [contextual clarifier (optional)].
For example, a kettle may be used to “heat + water + to the desired temperature,” or a dental drill may be used to “contour + the shape + of a tooth.”
Keep in mind; this isn’t the customer’s job-to-be-done — it’s the function or the job that the product gets done, which is often only part of the job the customer is trying to get done. For example, while people may use a kettle to “heat water to the desired temperature,” the overall job they are trying to get done may be to “prepare a hot beverage for consumption.”
The goal of the market definition canvas is to help innovators uncover the job-to-be-done as perceived by the customer, not the product developer.
6. Other products used and their functions
What other products do people use in conjunction with the product?What “job” does each of the other products get done?
To get a feel for the entire job your customer is trying to get done, ask them what other products they use immediately before, while, and immediately after using your product/service.
For example, when tradespeople use a circular saw to “cut wood,” what other products are they using in conjunction with a circular saw? Perhaps they are also using a T-square, a measuring tape, sandpaper, and (or) a pencil.
List the products they use in conjunction with the one you have in mind.
Next, document the functions / jobs that each of these other products gets done for the group of people. Use the same format used previously: [verb] + [object of the verb] + [contextual clarifier (optional)].
The Bosch team, for example, determined through customer interviews that while the function of the circular saw was to “cut wood” (a job statement), that tradespeople were using a T-square to ensure they “make a cut in a straight line” (a job statement), and that they were using a pencil to “mark the cut path” (a job statement).
7. Abstracted job statement
When looking at the market through the job executor’s eyes, what core functional job do they say they are trying to get done?
Putting all the pieces together helps reveal the customer’s ultimate job-to-be-done at the right level of abstraction. Assume your product is getting part of a job done. Assume people are using these other products to complete the entire job-to-be-done.
You want to define your customer’s job-to-be-done in a way that includes your product’s function (job) and rationalizes why customers are using all these other products as they cobble together a complete solution. The Bosch team, for example, determined that tradespeople are using a circular saw along with other products so they can “cut wood in a straight line” (the abstracted job statement).
A financial services firm determined that accountants use tax preparation software in conjunction with other products so they can “formulate and execute a tax strategy for a client” (the abstracted job statement).
The reason for defining the market at this level of abstraction is so you can evolve your product over time to help customers get more, and eventually all, of their job done — preferably before competitors do.
Defining a market in this manner offers the innovator a built-in path and vision for growth — tied directly to what customers are trying to accomplish.
Remember, complete steps 5–8 employing customer interviews and make sure you encapsulate the job of the product you have in mind in the abstracted job statement. If the job of the product is not represented, you have abstracted the job statement to too high a level. This will ultimately prevent you from capturing customer need statements that will help inform the improvement of the product you have in mind.
8. Customer’s Job-to-be-Done
Now that you have your customer’s job abstracted appropriately, you can document that job in this box. If you have multiple versions of the job statement, work with job executors to gain consensus on the best version.
With this, the Market Definition Canvas is completed, and your market is defined for you through a jobs-to-be-done lens.
Your market = Group of people (Step 4) + Job-to-be-Done (Step 8)
With your market clearly defined around a stable point of value creation, you are in a strong position to iterate quickly during your Lean Startup process — and more reliably succeed in your market.
The Jobs-to-be-Done Market Definition Canvas ensures your innovation initiative starts off on the right foot. To learn more about Jobs Theory and Outcome-Driven Innovation, check out the following resources:
● Free E-book and audiobook: Jobs-to-be-Done: Theory to Practice
● The Official Jobs-to-be-Done Playbook
● Jobs-to-be-Done Theory: A Framework for Understanding Customer Needs
Market definition versus market selection
As an innovator, you may be starting the needs discovery process with a product already in mind as discussed above, in which case a market (group of people and a job) has been assumed, but not formally defined through a jobs-to-be-done lens. This requires the innovator to engage in a market definition exercise before moving on to needs discovery.
On the other hand, the innovator may not be assuming a market up front, in which case the innovator must engage in a market selection exercise before moving on to needs discovery.
Three scenarios are common, each dictating a different approach to market selection.
- If you are starting with a technology in mind, the markets you can consider for entry are constrained by the jobs the technology gets done.
- If you are starting with a targeted group of people in mind, the markets you can consider for entry are constrained by the jobs the group of people are trying to get done.
- If you don’t have a group of people or a job in mind, then your market selection activity is unconstrained.
Strategyn has created a market selection tool to help innovators evaluate the attractiveness of markets through a jobs-to-be-done lens. It can be downloaded here.
Your starting point, and the associated constraints, will determine what approach you take to market definition or selection as shown in the table below.
Lastly, I want to offer a special thanks to Ted Thayer for his contributions to this article and to the creation of the canvas.
Learn more: download a FREE PDF or AUDIO version of my latest Jobs-to-be-Done book, JOBS TO BE DONE: Theory to Practice.
In addition, you can now access ODIpro, our online innovation strategy platform, where you can:
- Get certified in putting Jobs Theory and Outcome-Driven Innovation (ODI) into practice.
- Apply the process to your markets using Strategyn’s latest tools and templates.
- Align your team around a winning product strategy.
To learn more about Strategyn’s consulting offerings and customized programs for innovation, go to Strategyn.com.
