Framework · Behavioral science
Jobs-to-be-Done and switch interviews
Customers hire a product to make progress in a specific situation. Switch interviews rebuild the timeline of a real purchase or churn and code four forces: push, pull, anxiety and habit. Cutting anxiety often beats adding features. A practitioner method with case-based support (grade D).
Plain label: why customers switchAlso known as: JTBD, forces of progress, switch interview, anxiety reducers, Moesta, Christensen
Core idea. A switch happens when the push of the current situation plus the pull of the new option outweigh anxiety about the new option plus the habit of the old way. Job statements read: "When [situation], I want to [motivation], so I can [outcome]." F07
Method. Interview 8-12 recent adopters and recent churners. Rebuild the timeline: first thought, passive looking, active looking, deciding, first use. Code the forces and the triggering events. The feeling just before the first thought is a strong internal-trigger candidate.
How it plugs in. Value: find the segment and the job. Discover: place anxiety reducers (guarantees, no card, free cancellation) and proof where visitors hesitate. Start: map anxieties onto onboarding, and old habits onto import tools and templates.
Evidence. Evidence grade D. Practitioner framework or anecdote: plausible, untested. Widely adopted, with few controlled tests of the method itself. Case numbers come from the authors' own accounts.
Limits
What we don’t claim
- This is a practitioner heuristic (grade D): test it in your own product before relying on it.
Sources
Clay Christensen's Milkshake Marketing · HBS Working Knowledge
Evidence grade D. Practitioner framework or anecdote: plausible, untested.Pull and anxiety (forces of progress) · JTBD Radio (Bob Moesta)
Evidence grade D. Practitioner framework or anecdote: plausible, untested.
Source IDs: F07
Book content is paraphrased, never quoted at length. Last verified October 24, 2026.
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