{"id":"pm-jobs-to-be-done-statements","audience":"product-managers","category":"research","track":"research","technique":"examples","title":"Write jobs-to-be-done statements from interview notes","free":false,"task":"Your team wants jobs-to-be-done statements from last week's interviews to guide the next quarter. You need exactly 3 numbered statements in the form 'When [situation], I want to [motivation], so I can [outcome]', each under 30 words, plain text. Each must come from something a customer actually described, and none may name a product feature or solution.","materialLabel":"Interview notes (attached to your prompt automatically)","material":"Interview notes - Pantrywise (meal planning), 4 parents, Oct 2026\n\nCarla (2 kids, nurse, rotating shifts):\n\"Sunday is the only time I plan. If I don't plan by Sunday night, we eat takeout all week.\" Plans around her shift calendar.\n\nBen (3 kids, one with a nut allergy):\n\"Every new recipe I have to check every single ingredient for nuts. It takes forever, so we eat the same 6 meals.\"\n\nPriya (1 kid, works from home):\n\"At 5pm I open the fridge and have no idea what to make with what's there. Half a zucchini, some rice.\" Throws out a lot of food.\n\nMarcus (4 kids):\n\"The grocery trip is the worst. I forget things and have to go back.\" Shops Saturday morning, kids in tow.\nAlso said: \"Honestly an AI chef robot would be cool lol.\"\n\nTeam ideas (not from customers): allergen filter toggle, fridge-scan camera feature, smart grocery list.\nNote from Lee (research lead): JTBD statements describe the customer's situation and goal, not our feature. Last round we wrote \"When I use the allergen filter...\" and had to redo it.","rules":[{"type":"numberedItems","count":3},{"type":"plainText"}],"mistakes":[{"title":"Asking for 'JTBD'","why":"The AI writes long job stories with headings and sub-bullets for pains and gains.","fix":"Be exact: \"Exactly 3 numbered statements. Plain text.\"","checks":["numberedItems","plainText"]},{"title":"Not showing the shape","why":"Without an example, the AI drifts into 'Users need...' sentences.","fix":"Show it: \"1. When it's Sunday night and I haven't planned, I want to ..., so I can ...\"","checks":["r0"]},{"title":"Using team ideas as jobs","why":"The team's feature ideas are in the notes, so the AI writes 'When I use the allergen filter...'.","fix":"Add: \"Only customer situations. Never name a feature or solution.\"","checks":["r2","r1"]}],"promptHints":[{"label":"Shows the statement shape","patterns":["when.{0,30}i want.{0,30}so (i|that)","when \\["]},{"label":"Sets the number of statements","patterns":["\\b(3|three)\\b.{0,15}statement"]},{"label":"Keeps features out","patterns":["no (feature|solution)","not (our )?feature","never name","team ideas"]},{"label":"Grounds in customer words","patterns":["customer","only.{0,20}(notes|said|described)","interview"]},{"label":"Asks for plain text","patterns":["plain","no bold","no markdown","no formatting","no headings"]}],"hint":"Jobs describe the customer's situation, not your product. Show the AI the exact sentence shape and tell it to keep every feature out.","rubricLabels":["Every statement follows 'When ..., I want to ..., so I can ...'","Each statement is grounded in a situation a customer described (Sunday planning around shifts, checking recipes for nut allergies, using up what's in the fridge, or forgetting grocery items) and none uses the robot joke","No statement names a product feature or solution (no filter, toggle, scan, camera, app, smart list or AI), and there is no intro or explanation"]}