RSA : 7— Jobs to be Done

Upgrade your user, not your product. Don’t build better cameras — build better photographers.

— Kathy Sierra

The designers at intercom (intercom.com) use this illustration to show what is, and isn’t, important to customers.

A desire to evolve is at the core of our being, look around and see how far humans have come from their cave dwelling days.

Although there is some contention to the definition of a Job to Be Done, we preferred Alan Clement view as a JTBD as a theory to explain certain behaviour.

Theories explain how things got to be the way they are, they are used to explain two things:

1. Explain how things got to be the way they are
2. Enable prediction of what will happen

A Job to be Done is the process a consumer goes through whenever she aims to change her existing life-situation into a preferred one, but cannot because there are constraints that stop her.

— Alan Clement

The data model

Figure 1. The JTBD Data Model shows a process of how new market behavior is created. In this case, it shows how a JTBD is created and how it results in someone hiring solution(s) for it.

For the sake of brevity, I’m not going to go into too much detail surrounding the Jobs to Be Done data model but I’ll link the source here. In a nutshell, the data model is a great way to communicate, quantify, validate, and design for a Job to be Done.

The data we use in this model are Unmet Goals, Constraints, Catalysts, and Choice Set. When these four things come together with sufficient energy a Job To be Done gets created.

Unmet Goals — The Experiences We Want or Want More Of, but Can’t Get at the Moment

Constraints — What Prevents Us from Fulfilling Those Unmet Goals

Catalysts — Events That Create or Affect Unmet Goals, Constraints, and Choice Set

Choice Set — What Consumers Consider Hiring to Overcome Their Constraints, and Make Progress Towards Their Desired State

Job Stories

For our JTBD process we mixed Alan Clements and Intercoms process in order to create and validate our Jobs to be Done.

Intercom suggest this method to create a Job Story

When _______, I want to _________, So I can ____________.

1. Start with the high level job.
2. Identify smaller jobs that help resolve the high level job.
3. Observe how people solve the problem now (the job they currently use).
4. Come up with a Job Story to investigate the causality, anxieties, and motivations of what they do now.
5. Create a solution which resolves that Job Story.

High level Job Story

When I wake up in the morning, I want to feel a sense of purpose, so that I can live a meaningful life.

Lower level Job Stories

For our lower level job stories, we focused on our persona states as they moved from active, to survivor, to advocate

Active

When I wake up in the morning, I want to know how to escape my situation, so that I can rebuild my life

What is the problem we are solving and why

Escaping the sex industry is complex, difficult and fraught with peril. We want to build trust with women who are trapped in extreme circumstances and offer guidance and help on getting out safely and creating a better life.

How will we measure success?

Qualitative

• User research feedback

Quantitative

• Having a better communication network with active workers/prostitutes
• The increase in access to health services
• The number of people transforming into advocates
• Building a supportive community

Scope

Emergency tools

• Safe house/ shelter map
• Sending GPS location
• Hotline
• Add Emma to contacts
• Information on their rights and laws

Discretion

• Type & talk options
• Hidden notifications
• Fake app cover
• Emma in Whatsapp

Access to support services

• NGOs
• Healthcare
• Advocate

Survivor

When I feel anxious, I want to know how to overcome it, so that my trauma doesn’t define me

What is the problem we are solving and why?

Reconnecting with the self, healing from trauma and finding meaning in life are the most important aspects of recovery but the most difficult in many cases. A deep connection to life is the best way to ensure that a survivor doesn’t become re-victimised and can strive towards a more positive lifestyle

How will we measure success?

Qualitative

• User research feedback.

Quantitative

• Are their goals being met
• Is engagement consistent and long term
• How many users the app has

Scope

Advocate with similar background

Consistent access to services:

• NGOs
• Healthcare
• Therapy

Emotional intelligence skills:

• Self-awareness
• Self-regulation
• Motivation
• Empathy
• Social skills

Personalised health plan:

• Physical health
• Daily mental health
• Long term trauma recovery
• Life goals

Data tracking dashboard:

• User to visualise
• Therapist to make the most of the sessions

Advocate

When I finish my recovery, I want to be strong enough to talk about my trauma, so that I can help fight human trafficking

What is the problem we are solving and why

Survivors have been through it and lived to tell the tale. They are some of the most powerful advocates for change and they offer not only inspiration, but a great deal of insight into being brought into the process, escaping and walking the road to recovery. We want to utilise this incredible value to help women who are at the beginning of their recovery process to see the light at the end of the tunnel, as true empathy is one of the most effective forms of healing.

How will we measure success?

Qualitative

• User research feedback

Quantitative

• The number of advocates we have
• The impact they have on early survivors

Scope

• A secure data collection method for their story
• Confidence building tools
• Easy way to reach out to active workers

Four Forces

Rather than using the choice set analysis suggested in Alan Clements book, we decided to use Four Forces by the ReWired Group, they have identified four forces pushing and pulling customers away from making a purchase. It is used by Intercom in their book.

Push

The push of what is happening currently: “We’re not converting users at a rate that we’d like. We can’t afford to keep paying so much per month for this tool.”

Pull

The pull of a new solution: “If we switch to a new tool that has more features around conversion, we can start hitting our targets.”

Anxiety

The anxiety of what could happen: “What if the new tool doesn’t integrate as well as we’d like? We’ve tried three other tools for this job and none have been good enough.”

Attachment

The attachment to what you currently have: “We’ve got workflows and integrations set- up and it’d be a pain to get them set up again.”

Active

Survivor

Advocate

Job Workflow

When you understand the full workflow, you can focus on the most concise, painful subset your product solves, or alternatively the piece you can make more fun or interesting. Ask yourself — is my product a vitamin or a painkiller? — Find out where to add the most value in the workflow and where the product starts and ends.

We took our key persona Lina somebody trapped in the industry, and placed her in a context where she could interact with Emma through the three stages of her development.

Active

Job story 1 — When I wake up in the morning, I want to know how to escape my situation, so that I can rebuild my life

1. Lina meets her old friend and work colleague Jane in the street one day
2. They start talking and decide to go for a coffee
3. Jane tells Lina about her life since they last met and tells her about the progress she’s made since leaving the industry and her advocacy work
4. Lina is interested and Jane introduces EMMA into the conversation and tells her how she has helped her
5. She shows her:

• The emergency tools — GPS location with button and safe word activation
• Her progress and story which was tracked by Emma

6. Jane convinces Lina to download the app and she helps her set it up

7. Emma opens and guides Lina through the set up:

• GPS location with safe word and button triggers
• Hidden app
• Emma sends message to Whatsapp
• Adds Becky as an advocate

8. A few days later Lina is alone and she decides to open Emma and she begins to explore with a virtual tour and then customises Emmas appearance

9. While open, Emma messages Lina and they start a conversation, she is given access to some information that is important to her:

• Her rights and the law
• Getting professional help
• Aftercare
• Joining and interacting with the thriver community
• Backing up contacts

10. After a bad experience with a John, Lina decides to seek help

11. She opens Emma and first reaches out to Jane

12. Jane recommends that Lina starts logging her story and tells her to ask Emma for help with an exit strategy

13. Lina is prepared and is confident in escaping, she asks Emma to put her in contact with state services and she shares her story and makes the transition to survivor

Survivor

Job Story 2 — When I feel anxious, I want to know how to overcome it, so that my trauma doesn’t define me

1. Emma matches Lina to a therapist & meets her where she is and validates whatever she is feeling
2. The therapist, with the help of Emma create a personalised Care plan
3. Overtime Emma and the therapist learn more about Linas context & symptoms and can update the plan dynamically
4. Emma listens, tracks and displays Linas progress to help her gain better self-awareness & understand how her emotions can effect her
5. Once Lina has a better understanding, Emma begins to introduce her to skills to help her process and manage her emotions better
6. Lina’s advocate works with her to help motivate her and gain better social awareness
7. Lina utilises all these skills to help her confront & recognise her trauma, accept it, self author and finally let it go
8. Lina begins looking into her future without being tied down to her past and she can start looking for her purpose
9. Now Lina is no longer reliant on daily support, she feels valued and is gaining a deeper connection to life
10. She has become a thriver

Advocate

Job story 3— When I finish my recovery, I want to be strong enough to talk about my trauma, so that I can help fight Human Trafficking

1. Emma notifies Lina she qualifies to become an advocate
2. Lina decides to accept the training and get paired with an advocate mentor
3. She begins learning tools and the skills needed
4. Become an official certified Advocate
5. Emma notifies Lina that an active worker with similarities needs help
6. Emma connects Lina with Anna who is still an active worker and she shares her hero’s journey
7. Emma and the mentor guides her through the process of supporting her
8. Anna successfully become a survivor with Lina’s help
9. Lina feels real value and that her story has made a real difference in fighting Human Trafficking
10. After some time as an advocate Lina dedicates her life to fight Human Trafficking and begins working full time for Emma as an Advocate mentor and spokesperson/campaigning