an evolution of jtbd
Functional product challenges are VISIBLE, and Jobs-to-be-Done has helped innovators to help customers to accomplish their goals.
HOWEVER, Jobs-to-be-Done has been limited in addressing emotional needs because there was a missing link: IDENTITY.
The Jobs-to-be-Done Pyramid addresses this gap, unifying FUNCTION, EMOTION, AND IDENTITY in a unified framework.
Companies have struggled to innovate because they remain stuck in a dilemma. Should our innovation focus on the buying experience, on usability, or on what it helps the customer to accomplish?
While experienced Jobs-to-be-Done practitioners could sort through this, the verbal nature of JTBD made it difficult to apply.
The JTBD Pyramid solves this for innovators, markets, and executives with VISUAL MAP of what their markets desire.
learn to:
1. Build products that serve not just serve tasks - but identities
2. Segment customers by motivation
3. Understand emotional resonance and loyalty drivers
4. Translate customer conversations into structured innovation opportunities
5. Apply The JTBD Pyramid to strategy, marketing, sales, and design with new tools such as The Jobs-to-be-Done Pyramid™ Analysis and The Jobs-to-be-Done Navigator.
The Jobs-to-be-Done Pyramid™ builds upon a base of FUNCTION, with Product and Core Jobs, the traditional focus of JTBD.
But to build loyalty and delight, we also have a new job domain, IDENTITY, with Role Identity and Image Identity Jobs.
Finally, we have EMOTIONAL jobs at the apex, which have been defined with more precision than classical JTBD, to just represent a customer's emotions and feelings.
About the author
William “Scott” Burleson is the creator of The JTBD Pyramid™, a framework that brings clarity to what truly drives customer behavior—across function, emotion, and identity. He is the author of two books on Jobs-to-be-Done: The Jobs-to-be-Done Pyramid™ and The Statue in the Stone.. He runs LearnPM.pro, a site dedicated to helping product managers think with greater structure and strategy.
Scott’s background spans manufacturing, product management, software, and customer research. At John Deere, he led the strategy for the 1-Series tractors—one of the company’s most successful products. As a former Director at the Strategyn Institute, he learned directly from JTBD pioneer Tony Ulwick and has since taught and applied the methodology across industries.
Today, Scott serves as Chief Product Officer at The AIM Institute, where he develops innovation tools, teaches workshops, and advises leaders on how to grow by understanding what customers truly seek—not just what they do, but who they wish to become.
