Jobs to be Done Interview Assignment
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Harvard Business School Online

Jobs to be Done Interview Instructions

Disruptive Strategy

Overview

A major key to discovering customer jobs to be done is to observe and interview consumers. For this assignment introduced on page 2.1.1 of the course), you will do a one-on-one interview with someone you know. To complete the assignment you will: 

  • Identify a purchase that they made within the past 90 days. If possible, choose a purchase that was over $100.
  • Interview them to discover what "job" they were trying to fulfill when they "hired" that product or service.
  • Dig deep to get to the core—find out the real reason they "hired" the product or service!

Throughout this interview, you are searching for causality. You want to discover the moment they first had the thought that they needed to purchase a product or service. Strive to discover the specific dilemma they were trying to solve in that moment.

Interview Instructions

Interview someone you know about a purchase they made in the last 90 days that involved meaningful decision-making. Your goal is to uncover the “job” they were trying to get done. Focus on the problem they were solving, when they first realized the need, what triggered the purchase, and what alternatives they considered. See page 2.1.1 of the course for further important details on how and when to conduct the interview.

How to Submit

You'll submit your findings via the Assignments tab on the program dashboard. You'll be required to:
  1. Upload an image representing the product or service that was purchased by the person you chose to interview (JPG or PNG format).
  2. In the text box, write in the job that you feel your partner was trying to get done, and share any insights you learned about how to discover jobs to be done. Enter your plain-text write-up (a few thoughtful paragraphs) in the text box. Include:

    - A summary of the job they were trying to get done
    - A description of the product they chose and why
    - Any insights you gained about how to uncover customer jobs

Example Interview Questions

Here are some examples of questions that may be helpful. These are not a script. These questions are meant to help open the conversation, so you will have to continue to dig deeper by asking other questions.
  • Do you remember the first time you thought about buying a (product)?
  • Tell me about the first time you had a thought: ‘I need to find a new solution.”
  • What problem or dilemma were you trying to solve when you bought the (product)?
  • Tell me about the old _____(mattress, cell phone, etc…). Why didn’t you buy the same thing again?
  • When you bought this (product), what other options did you consider?

These questions are directly from "Jobs-to-be-Done: The Handbook" by Chris Spiek and Bob Moesta. For more in-depth training on how to conduct these jobs to be done interviews, feel free to purchase a copy of this book.
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