How the Jobs-to-Be-Done Framework Gives Tech Leaders an Edge

This article was written by CEO Eric Giesecke of Planet DDS and originally published in Forbes.com.

Tech companies have never had more tools at their disposal for innovation. AI, automation and cloud-native infrastructure allow teams to build faster and ship more features than ever before. Yet despite all of this, a surprising number of products fail to deliver lasting impact. The reason often comes down to a misunderstanding of what customers actually need.

Too many teams assume customers buy software because of what it is—a workflow platform, a payments solution or a collaboration tool. In reality, customers buy software because of what it does for them. They are “hiring” a product to perform a specific job. When companies focus too narrowly on surface-level features, they miss the deeper outcomes customers expect.

This is where the jobs-to-be-done framework becomes invaluable. It shifts the conversation from “What are we building?” to “Why does this matter for the customer?”

Rethinking Customer Needs Through Jobs-To-Be-Done Framework

At its core, the framework asks leaders to define the underlying job that customers are hiring their product to perform. An oft-cited example comes from the food industry: People don’t buy ice cream only because it tastes good. On a hot evening, they may be “hiring” it for the social experience of gathering with friends or for the simple joy of treating their children. The job isn’t about dairy; it’s about connection, comfort or celebration.

The same applies in technology. Stripe isn’t just a payments processor; it’s a way for businesses of any size to launch, scale and manage global commerce without needing a full finance team. Salesforce isn’t just a CRM; it’s a way for organizations to unify customer data, align sales and marketing and create a single source of truth for growth.

By framing products this way, companies stop competing on feature lists and start competing on outcomes. That shift creates a moat that’s much harder for competitors to copy.

Why Features Alone Don’t Deliver Value

Many organizations are falling into the trap of chasing “shiny objects.” A customer makes a loud request or a competitor launches a flashy new tool, and suddenly, the roadmap shifts. The result is often a bloated product that’s complex to use, expensive to maintain, and disconnected from the real problems customers need solved.

I’ve seen this play out across industries: platforms that ship hundreds of features but require weeks of training; apps that dazzle in demos but frustrate in practice. The paradox is that more functionality often leads to less value when it overwhelms users.

The discipline of the jobs-to-be-done framework forces leaders to ask:

Does this feature make our customer’s job easier?
Does it remove friction in their daily workflow?
Does it align with the outcomes they’re hiring us to deliver?

If the answer isn’t clear, the feature doesn’t belong on the roadmap.

Misconceptions About What Customers Want

One of the biggest misconceptions in technology is that customers always want more: more features, more flexibility, more customization. In practice, most customers want the opposite: simplicity, predictability and integration.

If ice cream is one lesson, the next comes from menus. Think of popular chain restaurants. When customers are handed twenty pages of options, no matter how delicious the dishes may be, the experience can be overwhelming.

Similarly, when software provides endless configuration choices, customers struggle to realize value. They don’t want to design their own solution from scratch; they want a trusted partner to guide them toward the right outcomes. This is a critical shift for leaders: Customer-centricity doesn’t mean giving people everything they ask for; it means deeply understanding their goals and providing a clear, structured path to achieve them.

Putting The Framework into Practice

For leaders looking to embed this mindset into their organizations, three areas stand out:

Product development discipline: Every new feature proposal should be tested against the job to be done. If a team can’t articulate how the feature advances the customer’s core outcome, it doesn’t get built. This discipline prevents wasted investment and keeps teams focused on value.
Implementation and customer success: Too many companies act as order-takers, letting customers dictate every detail of configuration. The jobs-to-be-done framework reframes the relationship: The role of the vendor is not just to supply tools but to guide customers toward the outcomes they hired the product to achieve. That often means being prescriptive rather than deferential.
Leadership alignment: The framework only works if every function (product, engineering, sales and customer success) speaks the same language. Leaders should reinforce the idea that the product isn’t being “hired” to showcase features but to transform how the customer operates.

Lessons for Tech Leaders

The framework isn’t just a product strategy tool; it’s a leadership philosophy. For executives across industries, a few takeaways stand out:

Don’t confuse activity with impact. A long list of features may look impressive, but customers measure value by the outcomes your product enables.
Adopt a consultative role. Customers know their pain points, but they don’t always know the best solutions. Strong companies help bridge that gap.
Recognize the disruption curve. In every industry, incumbents risk being displaced by simpler, outcome-driven solutions. Understanding where your market sits on that curve helps you anticipate rather than react to change.
Build organizational discipline. Align your teams around the customer’s true job to be done and make it the filter for every investment decision.

Beyond Features, Toward Lasting Value

Technology changes quickly, but the principle of the jobs-to-be-done framework remains steady: Customers don’t buy software; they buy solutions to their problems. They’re not hiring your platform for its bells and whistles; they’re hiring it to save time, reduce friction and help them grow.

Those who focus on outcomes will thrive. Those who don’t may be left with features no one uses. So ask yourself: Are you building products that look good in demos or products that actually get the job done?

Request a Demo