The “job” of the local coffee shop

What Jobs-to-be-Done can teach us about the role of the local coffee shop in the lives of people who go there

This post was never supposed to be about coffee, but instead another topic altogether. Hitting a creative roadblock in the office, I instead elected to visit the local coffee shop down the street to get my work done.

The front counter at King Coffee in Tempe, AZ

I began to wonder, “why did I make this decision? Why am I even here? Why is anyone else here?”

I was by no means going there explicitly for the coffee. In fact, I grind beans every morning and take them to work where I brew them in an Aeropress. I don’t have to walk more than 10 steps to get a stiff mug of that sweet black gold (or as my granddad would say, “coffee that would put hair on your chest”).

So, I began to wonder what “jobs” my fellow coffee shop dwellers and I had hired the coffee shop for.

You see, there are actually a number of psychological drivers at play when we make any decision — factors that go deeper than simply wanting a cup of coffee. An emerging research methodology, called Jobs-to-be-Done, uncovers many of those drivers, which are referred to as “jobs.”

What is Jobs-to-be-Done?

Before we dive into the analysis, let’s talk about what exactly a “job” is, and how it is different from the job you perform at your workplace.

The decisions one makes for engaging with any service or product is actually comprised of many “needs” — or reasons why someone is “hiring” said product or service to complete a job. The framework we use to uncover these needs is called “Jobs-to-be-Done.”

Let’s take a recent project we completed at Cast & Hue where a healthcare research organization hired us to understand how to better message to patients, physicians, and other research stakeholders. We hypothesized that there were underlying behavioral drivers that would have an effect on whether someone would choose to engage with the research organization, and determined that a Jobs-to-be-Done (JTBD) approach would be ideal.

The JTBD research method is unique in that it is rooted in empathy-based interview techniques. We don’t stop at asking what someone did, but instead explore the decisions leading up to that action. When thinking about how to market to someone, these can often uncover hidden market opportunities.

To illustrate this point further, let’s dive into the decision of someone choosing to get work done at a coffee shop. Why might you think this is? The obvious answer would be that they want a coffee, but this is often far from the real reason why they choose to go to a café. In fact, many go to a coffee shop to drink a tea or enjoy a cold glass of lemonade! Here are just a few needs one may be fulfilling by spending an afternoon working at a coffee shop:

(Some of these are actually from interviewing another customer while I was working at a local coffee shop, showcasing some real-life needs.)

• They are fulfilling the need to feel more relaxed.
• They are fulfilling the need to meet their peers
• They are fulfilling the need to feel connected to their community
• They are fulfilling the need to escape a loud office
• They are fulfilling the need to inspire creativity
• They are fulfilling the need to find a date
• They are fulfilling the need to avoid interruption
• They are fulfilling the need to discover new music
• They are fulfilling the need to eliminate distractions
• They are fulfilling the need to showcase one’s personality
• They are fulfilling the need to feel a personal connection to one’s environment

If you were to take a poll of everyone in a coffee shop at any given time, no doubt many people would share needs similar to those. Additionally, we can further dive into why someone may choose to go to a coffee shop by looking at the competitors/alternatives that fulfill these needs. What are some reasons why someone may choose a coffee shop instead of a pub, park, or library?

A café may be more convenient or more socially acceptable than a pub, be closer to the office or less intimidating than going to a library, or it may be more comfortable than going to the park. Each of these options would fulfill the needs from above in a similar way, but yet there are a number of behavioral and psychological drivers that ultimately were at play in the decision to go to a coffee shop. None of which actually involved coffee.

Even once we get to the point where one has decided to go to a coffee shop, there are still considerations one must make. For example, going to a locally-owned coffee shop may fulfill the following specific needs:

• The need to feel less claustrophobic or get away from large crowds
• The need to feel a connection to the people (baristas) working there
• The need to support the local community

Anatomy of a “job” (need) statement

Using an example from the aforementioned research project, let’s explore one of the core outputs of Jobs-to-be-Done: a jobs statement. Take the following example:

When I need to be more productive, I want to go somewhere that takes me out of the daily routine, giving me fresh creative inspiration.

In this example, you’ll see three parts of the statement: the context, the action, and the outcome. Let’s take a look at each individually:

“When I need to be more productive, ”
This segment is an example of the context statement. This segment is important because it allows us to understand what an individual is doing when they have this specific need. The needs one has while trying to get work done and meeting up with friends may be different, and this context allows us to understand at what point a need is relevant.

“I want to go somewhere that takes me out of the daily routine, ”
This next segment is the crux of the job statement: the specific function or emotion one is looking to be accomplished. This is what we (ie. a product or service) should be fulfilling for the customer, and can influence new product decisions. Thinking back to the needs a coffee shop may be fulfilling, what are some ways a coffee shop may be able to fulfill the need to find a date? Events that encourage mingling come to mind, but I’m sure there are many more. Creating products that fulfill these emotions or functions can differentiate oneself from another company that may be identical on every other front.

“giving me fresh creative inspiration.”
Finally, we are presented with the outcome. This helps uncover the actual driver behind the need.. explaining why the individual even has this need in the first place. Thinking about someone why may leave the office to work at a coffee shop, the outcome may be that they are able to work more effectively, meet new people, or find creative inspiration.

Combined, these boil up to form a need statement — a direction that can guide one as they attempt to target the underlying motivating factors that influence why someone purchases a product or service or engages with an organization.

The switch framework

Armed with the job statements in-hand, we can begin to take a deeper dive into what the actual decision drivers are that lead someone to switch from one job to another. Even though two coffee shops, let’s say Starbucks and a local café, have great coffee, they attract two different clienteles. In fact, different people attend different locations depending on what needs they are fulfilling. What are the points at which someone may make the decision to switch to a new option?

This is called the “switch framework”, and can be described most succinctly as the median between two forces: pushes and pulls. These forces work in opposition: either keeping them with a particular option, or giving them reason to turn to a competitor to fulfill their needs.

Pushes are forces that encourage an individual to look to an alternative to what they are doing currently. There are two types of pushes: frustrations and appeals.

• Frustrations – Frustrations are those certain issues that an individual has with their current solution. For example, never being able to find a seat when one goes to get coffee. As the level of frustration increases, the amount of mental bandwidth devoted to putting up with a given product or service is increased, and this results in less bandwidth available to spend on actual tasks or to put towards enjoyment of a particular product. As frustrations build, one often finds themselves pushed towards finding a solution that better fits their needs.
• Appeals – Sitting at the opposite end — that of the competitor — are appeals. These can also push someone away from an existing solution, but instead stem from something the the existing solution isn’t fulfilling. Take for instance, a coffee shop’s clientele. The appeal of a local shop with a younger crowd may appeal to a college student moreso than the Starbucks across the street, pushing them to switch their loyalty to the new shop.

The other direction in the switch framework, pulls, are the forces that keep an individual with the product or service that they are already using. These are comprised of habits and anxieties.

• Habits – Habits are the subconscious decisions one makes that keeps one using an existing product. We all know what the concept of a habit is, but the reason why it’s important in this framework is that it’s strengths come from one’s innate desire to not expend unnecessary mental energy on searching for a new solution if all other needs are being met. If a coffee shop is conveniently located on the way to work, it’s unlikely that one will look for another location unless there is something pulling them away from said location (ie. a frustration or appeal).
• Anxieties – Our final force is that of anxieties. Anxieties are primarily comprised of the fear that an alternative would not fulfill their needs as well as a current solution would be. For example, one may think “What if that other coffee shop had weak coffee?”, or “what if that new place that opened up is too crowded?” These fears can be powerful because they keep someone from pursuing new solutions, and they can stay with someone for a long time. Think about this: how many people won’t try another brand of phone due to a poor experience their had with a competitor 5+ years ago? Companies can leverage anxiety to keep an individual from even considering a move in the first place.

Careers are more than a salary

We’ve illustrated a basic example of Jobs-to-be-Done: the local coffee shop. Now how might we apply this framework to our broader question: “why do people choose to work where they do?”

Companies are being disrupted right now, not only in their products and services, but also in their ability to hire and maintain talent. By understanding the motivating factors of creatives, it can influence strategic hiring decisions and help attract the best possible talent among the many companies competing for a given employee.

As part of an internal project, we will be conducting a series of interviews with folks from Cast & Hue and several other agencies, and providing the results here for you to see. You’ll see examples of what actually comprises an interview, what the interview analysis process consists of, and how we can quantify these results.

Next week we’ll take a deeper dive into these interviews and explore how we go about conducting a JTBD interview, how we analyze the interviews, and how we arrive at specific need statements. Be sure to give me a follow to ensure you don’t miss it!