Ted Vitale NJ | Jobs To Be Done

In the world of product management, there’s no shortage of frameworks, methodologies, and trend-driven strategies. Yet one concept continues to gain relevance not just because it's novel, but because it’s timeless: Jobs To Be Done.

Jobs To Be Done (JTBD) isn’t just another tool for your product toolkit. It’s a mindset shift—a way to break free from the habit of building features for features’ sake and instead focus on what users are actually trying to accomplish in their lives and work.

Whether you're creating enterprise software, internal IT tools, or customer-facing platforms, the question JTBD forces you to ask is simple but powerful:

What job is the user hiring this product to do?

The Heart of the Framework

At its core, JTBD proposes that people don’t buy products or services just because of demographics or personas. Instead, they “hire” solutions to help them make progress in a specific circumstance. These jobs are often functional (like generating a report), emotional (like feeling confident during a presentation), or social (like being seen as competent by a team).

When a product helps users complete the job effectively, they keep using it. When it fails, they “fire” it and look for an alternative.

Ted Vitale NJ, a product strategist and early adopter of JTBD in IT, often reminds teams that JTBD isn’t about what customers say they want—it's about understanding the context behind the need. “When we started mapping jobs instead of features, we finally stopped building tools that no one used,” he shared during a recent product leadership roundtable.

JTBD in IT: Why It Matters More Than Ever

Information technology environments are uniquely complex. Products are often built for internal users, involve legacy systems, and need to meet strict requirements around security, compliance, and integration. It’s no surprise that teams can easily become focused on process and infrastructure, losing sight of the people using the product.

This is where JTBD shines.

Take, for example, a team building an internal analytics dashboard for operations managers. A traditional product approach might start with feature requests: real-time data, custom filters, a better export function. But JTBD encourages the team to step back and ask what the operations manager is actually trying to accomplish.

Is the job “view a dashboard”? Probably not.

The real job might be something more meaningful: “Stay ahead of performance issues so I don’t get blindsided in a client meeting” or “Get a quick snapshot before my morning stand-up without digging.”

Ted Vitale NJ recalls a situation just like this. “The team was preparing to build out a complicated data export feature because users asked for it. But when we looked at the job, we realized the users were exporting the data just to manually highlight one number. What they needed wasn’t an export—they needed clarity.”

That insight changed the roadmap. Instead of building the requested feature, the team streamlined the dashboard to highlight key metrics and added a simple, one-click summary generator. Usage doubled within a month.

Moving from Personas to Progress

Personas have long been a staple of product development. They can be useful for understanding broad behavior patterns, but they often oversimplify user motivations. JTBD moves the focus away from what people are (roles, ages, industries) and toward what people are trying to do.

Two users from completely different industries might hire the same product for the same job. Likewise, two users with the same title might have entirely different jobs to be done, depending on their environment.

For teams building IT products—especially those used internally—it’s essential to understand that even “captive” users are trying to get something done. If the product doesn’t help them do it, they’ll find workarounds or disengage entirely.

Ted Vitale NJ has worked with several enterprise teams where employees were actively using external spreadsheets and shadow IT tools because internal platforms didn’t align with their actual jobs. “They weren’t trying to be difficult,” he explained. “They were just trying to make progress. And if our tools weren’t helping, they were going to find something that did.”

Applying JTBD: A Practical Example

Let’s say you're tasked with building a new knowledge base for customer support agents. The request is straightforward: searchable articles, tagging, version control. But before diving into wireframes and feature sets, you conduct a few JTBD-style interviews.

You discover that during peak hours, agents are overwhelmed. They’re not just looking for articles—they’re looking for quick answers they can trust when they’re on the phone with a customer. The job isn’t “read a knowledge base.” The job is “resolve a customer issue confidently in under 90 seconds.”

That reframes everything.

Now your roadmap prioritizes improved search relevance, real-time suggestions, and internal ratings that surface trusted content faster. You’ve aligned with the job—and made a product that will actually get used.

What JTBD Reveals

One of the most powerful aspects of Jobs To Be Done is that it helps uncover non-obvious user motivations. Users often articulate needs in terms of features because that’s what they think you can act on. But beneath the surface is a whole layer of emotional and situational context.

A user asking for more export options might be feeling stressed before monthly reporting. Someone requesting advanced filters might actually be trying to build a compelling narrative for leadership. Understanding the job opens the door to solutions that are more intuitive, efficient, and meaningful.

Ted Vitale NJ explains this elegantly: “The jobs lens removes ego from the product process. It’s not about what we think is impressive—it’s about what helps the user succeed in their world.”

JTBD and Agile: A Natural Pairing

For teams using Agile or Scrum, JTBD doesn’t replace your workflow—it enhances it. Backlogs still exist, stories still get written, and sprints still move forward. But instead of framing work by what needs to be built, JTBD reframes it by what needs to be solved.

It creates a more user-centered backlog, sharper acceptance criteria, and better prioritization discussions. When a team debates which feature to build next, the question becomes: Which job is most important right now? That kind of focus keeps product development aligned with outcomes, not just activity.

Measuring Success with JTBD

Success in a JTBD framework is measured by the user’s ability to make progress. If they complete their job faster, with more confidence, or with fewer steps—that’s success. It shifts metrics from vanity to value. Usage numbers, feature adoption, and task completion all become meaningful when connected to the job.

Ted Vitale NJ advises teams to track not only what users are doing, but how those actions relate to their intended outcomes. “If someone logs in but doesn’t get their job done, that’s not a win. JTBD keeps you honest about what value looks like.”

Looking Ahead: JTBD in a Changing Tech Landscape

As AI, automation, and platform complexity increase, the need for human-centered design is only growing. Jobs To Be Done ensures that as products get more powerful, they don’t lose sight of purpose. In fast-moving industries, the ability to frame progress in human terms—speed, confidence, trust, clarity—will be a competitive advantage.

Organizations that listen deeply, build thoughtfully, and connect to the job their users are trying to accomplish will lead the way. With product thinkers like Ted Vitale NJ championing this shift, the future of product management—and IT in particular—is moving toward greater empathy, sharper focus, and products that truly get the job done.