Identify opportunities in a crowded market
Jobs to be Done can also help you identify opportunities, even in what seems like a saturated product space—take restaurant reviews for instance. You might have thought that Yelp and Google Maps had the market cornered when it came to finding restaurants. But then along came The Infatuation.
Yelp — Cuisine based
You probably use Yelp when you’re looking for the best Thai food in the city. Yes, it has filters for prices, “good for groups” and a map to see the location. But it was designed to be oriented around cuisine and that seems to be generally how people use it. The restaurant ranking based on location is also pretty handy.
Google Maps — Location based
You probably use Google Maps when you’re looking for a restaurant based on location. Say, if you’re meeting a friend after work for a drink and want to meet halfway (those were the days!!!). Or if you are going to a show and want to grab a bite nearby beforehand (cue the “when I was your age” stories about going to crowded public spaces).
The Infatuation — Situation based
If you haven’t heard of The Infatuation you’re missing out. They made their mark on the New York restaurant scene by creating situational dining guides. They didn’t set out to unseat Yelp, but the founders were constantly helping friends find the perfect restaurant to meet their future in-laws for the first time. Or letting people know where to sip margaritas on a rooftop bar.
Side bar: Co-founder & CEO Chris Stang is full of great ideas on how to achieve rapid growth in scrappy way. The Infatuation took on a bunch of endeavors that couldn’t scale in the long term, but forged incredible relationships with early users, including Text Rex—a text service people used to ask for specific recommendations. Now it’s a paid offering, but at the beginning it was free the service was an iPhone that Chris bought and him and some co-workers answering texts via iMessage.
Using the lense of JTBD you can see how there is space for three seemingly similar products because they serve completely different jobs.
