Customizer experiences the Customization Journey — Emphasizing the tailoring of the solution to specific preferences or requirements.
Job: Customizing a solution or product
Job Steps
These are sub-objectives of the overall job following the 9 universal phases of Jobs to be Done. Each step is further supported by several performance metrics that customers use to measure success. These are what get prioritized in a survey.
Click Step ⬇️to Open Performance Metrics ➡️
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The ability to define and understand the specific requirements or needs that the solution or product must meet.
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The ability to locate and gather information about the different customization options available for the solution or product.
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The ability to prepare by choosing the right tools or resources needed for the customization process.
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The ability to confirm whether the desired customization can be achieved with the available tools and resources.
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The ability to create a detailed plan outlining the steps to be taken during the customization process.
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The ability to carry out the customization plan, making the necessary changes to the solution or product.
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The ability to keep track of the customization process, ensuring that it is progressing as planned.
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The ability to troubleshoot and fix any problems or issues that arise during the customization process.
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The ability to modify the customization plan based on the progress and any issues encountered.
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The ability to test the customized solution or product to ensure it meets the identified needs.
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The ability to conclude the customization process by finalizing and approving the changes made to the solution or product.
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The ability to evaluate the customization process, identifying areas of improvement for future customizations.
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Contexts
When jobs have too high of a context, insights tend to be less actionable - or at least relevant for certain stakeholders. These contexts provide a means for narrowing the scope of your research in a consistent and structured fashion. Certainly, more contexts exist, and can be addressed with a specific request.
Situations
While a group of people may be trying to get the same job done, the way the respond to needs-prioritization questions can be different. When we find statistical clusters of needs we need a way to describe why the group is different from another, not simply that that are different based on how they rate needs. Situations (aka Complexity Factors) that end users experience when they execute the job (or last executed the job) could be different, thus resulting in a different prioritization of specific performance metrics. One or or more situations could correlate to a segment, and it is recommend that follow up interviews are done with actual respondents within a segment to help you gain clarity, and verbatims you can use to construct your strategic storyline for the segment.
Situations/Complexities | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 |
Client's clarity on requirements | Vague and changing | Crystal clear | |||
Availability of specific materials or tools | Unavailable | Readily available | |||
Client's budget | Insufficient | Generous | |||
Timeliness of client feedback | Highly delayed | Prompt and timely | |||
Access to relevant technology | Obsolete or non-existent | State-of-the-art | |||
Level of client's engagement | Disinterested or uninvolved | Fully engaged | |||
Client's understanding of the customization process | Misinformed or unaware | Well-informed | |||
Flexibility in project scope | Rigid and unchangeable | Highly flexible | |||
Level of innovation required | Conventional and uninspired | Cutting-edge and creative | |||
Client's expectations alignment | Unrealistic or exaggerated | Realistic and achievable | |||
Stability of client's requirements | Constantly fluctuating | Stable and consistent | |||
Client's decision-making speed | Extremely slow | Quick and decisive | |||
Availability of client for consultation | Rarely available | Easily accessible | |||
Integration with existing systems | Highly incompatible | Seamlessly compatible | |||
Client's knowledge of available options | Uninformed | Well-researched | |||
Scale of customization required | Overwhelmingly complex | Manageably simple | |||
Client's receptiveness to suggestions | Resistant or closed | Open and welcoming | |||
Timeline for project completion | Unrealistically tight | Reasonably flexible | |||
Legal and regulatory compliance | Highly restrictive | Minimal or easily managed | |||
Client's geographical location | Inaccessible or distant | Conveniently located |
Ideal States
There are times when going deep into a job, job map, and success metrics is just too much of a gamble. Is it the right job to study? Ideal states give us a handful of indicators that can be used in addition to importance, difficulty, and frequency to understand which jobs groups of end users struggle with, and why.
Financial Metrics
The purchase decision-maker has a say in product selection, and costs relative to cash outlays, direct or indirect, are what they think about. These questions can only be answer by the person who makes those decisions. For consumers, many times you can included these in a core functional study. However, beware of business end users who simply use products that are purchased for them. They are not the right audience for these metrics.
- Minimize the cost of acquiring the necessary tools for customizing the product.
- Minimize the cost of training required to effectively customize the product.
- Minimize the cost of research needed to identify customization options.
- Minimize the cost of testing the customized product to ensure it meets the identified needs.
- Minimize the cost of resolving customization issues that arise during the process.
- Minimize the cost of documenting the customization details for future reference and replication.
- Minimize the cost of delivering the customized product to the relevant parties.
- Minimize the cost of maintaining the customized product over its lifespan.
- Minimize the cost of adjusting the customization plan when issues are encountered.
- Minimize the cost of monitoring the customization progress to ensure it aligns with the plan.
- Minimize the cost of finalizing the customization to ensure the integrity of the product.
- Minimize the cost of reviewing the customization process to identify areas of improvement.
- Minimize the cost of ensuring the customized product is easy to use regardless of the level of customization.
- Minimize the cost of ensuring the customized product is reliable and functions consistently.
- Minimize the cost of ensuring the customized product is aesthetically pleasing after customization.
- Minimize the cost of ensuring the customized product is compatible with existing systems.
- Minimize the cost of ensuring the customized product meets all regulatory requirements after customization.
- Minimize the cost of verifying the feasibility of the desired customization before starting the process.
- Minimize the cost of selecting appropriate customization tools to ensure efficiency and quality.
- Minimize the cost of identifying specific customization needs to ensure the end product meets expectations.
Related Jobs
When a core functional job is getting close to maturity, we have to look beyond steps or metrics and find other jobs the end user is trying to accomplish so we can help them. This provides an opportunity to not only get a job done better, but get more jobs done on a single platform (and potentially better).
Before Customizing a Solution or Product
- Identifying Customization Needs - Determine the specific requirements or needs that the solution or product must meet.
- Researching Available Customization Options - Gather information about the different customization options available for the solution or product.
- Selecting Appropriate Customization Tools - Choose the right tools or resources needed for the customization process.
- Verifying Customization Feasibility - Confirm whether the desired customization can be achieved with the available tools and resources.
- Designing Customization Plan - Create a detailed plan outlining the steps to be taken during the customization process.
During Customizing a Solution or Product
- Executing Customization Plan - Carry out the customization plan, making the necessary changes to the solution or product.
- Monitoring Customization Progress - Keep track of the customization process, ensuring that it is progressing as planned.
- Resolving Customization Issues - Troubleshoot and fix any problems or issues that arise during the customization process.
- Adjusting Customization Plan as Needed - Modify the customization plan based on the progress and any issues encountered.
- Testing Customized Solution or Product - Test the customized solution or product to ensure it meets the identified needs.
After Customizing a Solution or Product
- Finalizing Customization - Conclude the customization process by finalizing and approving the changes made to the solution or product.
- Reviewing Customization Process - Evaluate the customization process, identifying areas of improvement for future customizations.
- Documenting Customization Details - Record the details of the customization process for future reference and replication.
- Delivering Customized Solution or Product - Provide the end product or solution to the relevant parties, concluding the job.
- Monitoring Customized Product Performance - Regularly check the performance of the customized product to ensure it continues to meet the identified needs.
Emotional Jobs
Understanding how end users want to feel (or avoid feeling) in the context of getting the job done is important in several ways. First, understanding this helps to think about more abstract things things a user considers when actually performing the job (or access a service/journey). Second, these insights can be critical in messaging to your offer, which is something your marketing team will value.
Desired Emotions:
- Feel Creative: As a customizer, it is crucial to feel creative when customizing a solution or product. This emotion allows you to think outside the box and come up with unique solutions that meet the client's needs.
- Feel Confident: Confidence is key when making decisions about the customization process. This emotion ensures that you trust your abilities and can effectively communicate your ideas to the client.
- Feel Focused: Being focused is essential when customizing a solution or product. This emotion helps you pay attention to the details and ensures that you don't miss any important aspects of the customization process.
- Feel Motivated: Motivation drives you to do your best work. This emotion pushes you to meet deadlines and exceed client expectations.
- Feel Satisfied: Satisfaction comes from knowing that you've done a good job. This emotion is important for maintaining a positive attitude towards your work.
Undesired Emotions:
- Avoid Feeling Overwhelmed: As a customizer, you should manage your workload effectively to avoid feeling overwhelmed. This emotion can hinder your productivity and creativity.
- Avoid Feeling Doubtful: Doubt can prevent you from making decisions and taking action. This emotion can lead to delays and dissatisfaction with your work.
- Avoid Feeling Frustrated: Frustration can occur when things don't go as planned. This emotion can negatively impact your motivation and focus.
- Avoid Feeling Bored: Boredom can lead to a lack of motivation and creativity. This emotion should be avoided to ensure that you remain engaged and interested in your work.
- Avoid Feeling Unappreciated: Feeling unappreciated can lower your motivation and satisfaction. This emotion should be avoided to maintain a positive attitude towards your work.
When customizing a solution or product… | How important is it that you are able to… | How difficult is it for you to… | ||||
Not important | Neutral | Important | Not difficult | Neutral | Difficult | |
Feel Creative | ||||||
Feel Confident | ||||||
Feel Focused | ||||||
Feel Motivated | ||||||
Feel Satisfied | ||||||
Avoid Feeling Overwhelmed | ||||||
Avoid Feeling Doubtful | ||||||
Avoid Feeling Frustrated | ||||||
Avoid Feeling Bored | ||||||
Avoid Feeling Unappreciated |
Social Jobs
Ditto emotional jobs
Desired Perceptions:
- Be Perceived as Skilled - As a customizer, it's important to be seen as skilled in customizing solutions or products. This perception implies that you have the necessary expertise to tailor solutions to meet the client's needs.
- Be Perceived as Creative - Creativity is a key aspect of customization. Being perceived as creative suggests that you can think outside the box to come up with unique solutions.
- Be Perceived as Reliable - Reliability is crucial in any job. This perception indicates that you can be trusted to deliver quality work on time.
- Be Perceived as Detail-Oriented - Attention to detail is important when customizing a solution or product. This perception implies that you don't overlook any aspect of the customization process.
- Be Perceived as Professional - Professionalism is key in maintaining a good relationship with clients. This perception suggests that you handle your work with integrity and respect.
Undesired Perceptions:
- Avoid Being Perceived as Incompetent - Incompetence can damage your reputation as a customizer. This perception suggests that you lack the necessary skills or knowledge to customize a solution or product effectively.
- Avoid Being Perceived as Uncreative - Lack of creativity can limit your ability to come up with unique solutions. This perception implies that your work is generic and lacks originality.
- Avoid Being Perceived as Unreliable - Unreliability can lead to dissatisfaction among clients. This perception suggests that you cannot be trusted to meet deadlines or deliver quality work.
- Avoid Being Perceived as Careless - Carelessness can lead to mistakes in the customization process. This perception implies that you overlook important details.
- Avoid Being Perceived as Unprofessional - Unprofessionalism can harm your relationship with clients. This perception suggests that you lack respect for your work or your clients.
When customizing a solution or product… | How important is it that you are able to… | How difficult is it for you to… | ||||
Not important | Neutral | Important | Not difficult | Neutral | Difficult | |
Be Perceived as Skilled | ||||||
Be Perceived as Creative | ||||||
Be Perceived as Reliable | ||||||
Be Perceived as Detail-Oriented | ||||||
Be Perceived as Professional | ||||||
Avoid Being Perceived as Incompetent | ||||||
Avoid Being Perceived as Uncreative | ||||||
Avoid Being Perceived as Unreliable | ||||||
Avoid Being Perceived as Careless | ||||||
Avoid Being Perceived as Unprofessional |
How this was made
I used the tools that I’ve shared in my Jobs-to-be-Done Masterclass: Eliminating Jobs-to-be-Done Interviews with Artificial Intelligence ⬅️ to build this entire catalog.
While it did take some time, that’s because there are 16 journeys and the catalogs are comprehensive. You will not find anything like this in the JTBD practitioner world.
Consultants make their money doing things. Innovators automate things. I hope Customer Experience (CX) professionals are able to leverage this work to accelerate their own.
Purpose
Journey Mapping exercises typically end with a visualization of a make believe journey with a smattering of pain points expressed by a smattering of real people.
Have you ever wondered why you constantly have to redo these?
What I’ve developed above may not be absolutely perfect for your situation, but with a few tweaks it will stand the test of time as the backbone of your prioritization of customer needs, and the foundation of your strategic roadmaps far into the future.
We don’t study solutions, we study the jobs your customers are trying to get done as they experience the lifecycle of ownership within your ecosystem.
Simple as that.
Now, go run a survey. I’ll be incorporating some accelerators for that very, very soon.
Contact
Mike Boysen - Managing Director
Practical JTBD, LLC
www.pjtbd.com | http://jobstobedone.substack.com
678-824-2789 | info@pjtbd.com
Copyright
The entire catalog is covered under creative commons….
The Customer Journey 2.0 Toolkit © 2024 by Michael A. Boysen is licensed under Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International