2.1.1 Customer jobs
The customer jobs block shows what customers are trying to achieve, for instance, opening a banking account or cleaning their house efficiently. Osterwalder et al. (2014) divided them into three types of customer jobs and three types of supporting jobs.
The three types of customers jobs:
- Functional jobs involve the task that a customer is trying to complete, or the problem they are trying to solve. For example, the printing of a large high-definition picture, or the booking of a table at a restaurant.
- Social jobs relate to improving the perception of a customer’s status among others. This may involve the achievement of a particular title or qualification, such as a language certification, or the acquisition of trainers from the latest collection of a famous brand.
- Personal/emotional jobs concern a personal or emotional state of mind. They can span from the entertainment provided by a trip to Disneyland Paris, to the more everyday wellbeing derived from a good spinning class at a gym.
Supporting jobs are more complex activities. They are more akin to the multi-sided business model type that was presented in Week 2. There are three categories of supporting job:
- Buyer of value jobs have to do with the process of buying value, such as the comparison of offers or the completion of a payment. For instance, the possibility offered by online booking websites and apps to compare different offers of hotels, flights, insurances, etc.
- Cocreator of value jobs involve the collaborative design of products or services offered by an organisation, such as publishing a video on YouTube, a story on Instagram or a review on Tripadvisor.
- Transferer of value jobs relate to the closing of a relationship, such as the disposal or recycling of a product. One example is the opportunity to sell products locally on Facebook Market.
These three categories of supporting job can be viewed as more or less important by customers. For example, consider the task of comparing different offers: this buyer of value job could be important in the choice of a restaurant, but is perhaps less relevant in the choice of a petrol station.
Activity 1
Have a look at this list of customer jobs relating to water filter jugs. Pair them up with the correct job category.
Using the following two lists, match each numbered item with the correct letter.
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Buyer of value job
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Functional job
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Buyer of value job
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Transferer of value job
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Social job
a.Drink water with low impurities
b.Reduce the use of plastic bottles
c.Find water filter replacements in a grocery stoe
d.Switch to a compatible filter
e.Compare prices of filters online
- 1 = c
- 2 = a
- 3 = e
- 4 = d
- 5 = b
Discussion
Can you think of any possible cocreator of value or personal/emotional jobs related to this product? It’s not always possible to come up with examples in every category, so when you can’t find one there’s no need to shoehorn something in.