A Script To Kickstart Your Jobs To Be Done Interviews

1. When did you first realize you [needed something to solve your problem]?
2. Where were you?
3. Were you with someone?
4. What were you doing, or trying to do when this happened?

Just like securing a boat at sea, we begun by dropping our bow anchor by starting with the actual purchase; now, we want to drop our stern anchor to secure the timeline reconstruction.

We are trying to build the timeline (pictured above) which delineates the progress events our customer encountered on their way to the purchase.

1. Tell me about how you looked for a product to solve your problem.
2. What kind of solutions did you try? Or not try? Why or why not?

Because solutions such as buying hiking boots or getting boots resoled would have negated the need to buy new boots, they are in fact competitions to your product.

1. Did you ask anyone about what they thought about the purchase?
2. What was the conversation when you talked about purchasing the product with your <spouse/friend/parents>?
3. Before purchase did you imagine what using the product would be like? Where were you when you were thinking this?
4. Did you have any anxiety about the purchase? Did you hear something about the product that made you nervous? What? Why?

Asking someone to analyze why they did something can be tricky. People rarely understand why they did something, rather, they usually rewrite their memory into a story that flatters themselves.