Business software works best when it helps people complete the job they came to do—not merely the single task a feature performs. Designing around that job means understanding its steps, handoffs, tools, and conditions, then improving the part that genuinely gets in the way. It does not mean every workflow should be automated or moved into one application.
Start with the job, not the feature request
A feature describes what software can do. A job describes what a person is trying to accomplish and what a successful result looks like. Microsoft Research frames Jobs-to-be-Done (JTBD) around those objectives and the circumstances in which people pursue them. Jim Kalbach’s definition, quoted by Microsoft, calls a job “the process of reaching objectives under given circumstances.”
That distinction changes the questions a product team asks. Instead of beginning and ending with “What feature should we build?”, ask “What are people trying to get done?”, “Why would the customer buy our product or service?” and “What does done look like to them?” Microsoft Research explains that jobs can be described at different levels; the useful level depends on the design problem. A job is not defined by the software used to complete it. For note-taking, for example, alternatives might include paper, sticky notes, email, dictation, or several applications. The relevant competition is every way people can get the job done, not only products that resemble yours. Microsoft Research’s JTBD overview describes this framing.
Customers may also adapt a product in ways its designers did not expect. Des Traynor, as quoted by Microsoft Research from Intercom on Jobs-to-be-Done (2017), puts it this way: “Customers will always surprise you with the creative ways they use your product. They don’t do it deliberately – they’re just adapting your product to their needs.” Those adaptations are worth investigating: they can reveal a need the feature list does not capture.
Place the feature at the right level of the workflow
GitLab’s JTBD handbook distinguishes three useful levels. A main job has a clear end state; small jobs describe the process for reaching it; micro-jobs are component tasks. In its example, “Buy a new home” is the main job, “Put in an offer on a house” is a small job, and deciding how much to offer relative to the asking price is a micro-job. The same distinction helps business software teams see whether a requested feature addresses a whole objective, one workflow step, or just a detail within that step. GitLab’s JTBD handbook explains the terminology.
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Do not assume that a request for a micro-job represents the entire need. A capability for approving an invoice, for instance, might be one small part of a broader objective such as paying a supplier accurately and on time. The example is illustrative, not a claim about any particular company’s process. The design question is whether the feature helps the person progress through the larger job, including what happens before and after they use it.
Map what happens around the interaction
A workflow is more than a sequence of screens. It includes what starts the work, the information people need, who acts, what they pass to someone else, which tools they use, what exceptions arise, and how they know the job is complete. Treat these as questions to investigate with the relevant users, not requirements to assume in advance.
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Context and tool boundaries can change what a workable solution looks like. Autodesk Research studied why people deliberately switch among separate applications to complete a task, considering tool, user, workflow, and content as reasons for switching. Its work, presented for the Graphics Interface Conference 2023, involved interviews with 15 knowledge workers and five product teams and produced an initial taxonomy of switching reasons. That qualitative sample supports examining tool switching; it is not a population estimate or proof that switching has a particular productivity cost. Autodesk Research’s study of tool switching describes the work.
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For a specific product, investigate whether people rely on spreadsheets, email, paper, another application, or manual coordination at particular steps. A handoff or tool change may be a real source of friction, or it may be a deliberate choice that works well for the people involved. The evidence does not establish that replacing these practices or consolidating them into one application is always better.
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Turn workflow understanding into a design decision
The following sequence is a practical synthesis of the JTBD and tool-switching ideas, not a standardized method published by the sources. It helps teams move from an abstract feature request to a testable design decision.
- Write the desired end result in the user’s language. Make the main job concrete enough that the people doing it can recognize whether it is complete.
- Map the small jobs between trigger and outcome. Describe the process steps and the micro-jobs within them. Include what starts the work and what happens after the proposed feature is used.
- Record the relevant context. Identify roles, information, handoffs, tools, exceptions, and changes in working conditions that may affect the steps.
- Compare the proposal with current alternatives. Look at existing software as well as paper, email, spreadsheets, and manual workarounds. Ask what those methods accomplish and where they fall short.
- Locate the actual breakdown. Determine which step or transition causes difficulty. Avoid adding a new step or automation where an existing practice already works effectively.
- Choose an observable success signal. Microsoft Research suggests usability as a direct measure and identifies usage or engagement, app perception, help-seeking, and reported emotion as possible signals to compare before and after a design change. Select signals relevant to the job; they are candidates, not a universal scorecard or guaranteed outcome.
Microsoft Research notes that its JTBD overview does not explain how to design qualitative and quantitative research to derive job statements. Teams should not treat a framework or this sequence as a substitute for gathering evidence from the people and circumstances relevant to their product. The framework simplifies reality and must be adapted to the purpose.
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Compare approaches by how well they support the whole job
When deciding between a feature-focused design and a broader workflow approach—or between two different workflow designs—compare them on dimensions tied to the target job. There is no universal weighting scheme in the cited sources; the right emphasis depends on the users and work involved.
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Outbyte Driver Updater FREEScan for outdated or missing drivers - takes under a minuteDriver Scan →Outbyte PC Repair FREEClear out junk files and repair common Windows errorsFree Scan →| Dimension | Question to ask |
|---|---|
| End-to-end job coverage | Does the option support the larger objective as well as the feature-level task? |
| Workflow fit | Does it handle the steps, handoffs, and micro-jobs people actually perform? |
| Context fit | Does it work in the circumstances in which the job is done, including relevant changes in context? |
| Tool compatibility | Does it accommodate useful existing applications or manual methods, or create avoidable switching and transfer work? |
| Evidence of success | Can the team observe changes in usability, engagement, user perception, help-seeking, or reported emotion after the design intervention? |
These dimensions make the trade-offs explicit without presuming the answer. A design that covers more steps may be less suitable if it disrupts a useful existing workflow. A narrower feature may be the right choice if it addresses the real breakdown cleanly. Intercom’s search-result summary offers limited corroboration for this caution: trying to solve too much of a customer’s working day can conflict with existing workflows. The linked PDF was not fully inspected, so this point should be treated as a caution rather than a settled finding. Intercom’s Jobs-to-be-Done PDF.
Use evidence carefully
There is no robust named statistic in the cited source set establishing a general productivity or revenue gain from workflow-centered design over feature-centered design. Autodesk’s interview sample is qualitative and cannot establish how common switching is or quantify its cost. Likewise, usability, engagement, perception, help-seeking, and reported emotion are possible measures—not proof of business impact on their own.
The title covers no specific business function, industry, company size, buyer, or workflow. Therefore, it cannot establish that a particular integration, compliance capability, automation, or KPI is required. Those decisions depend on the actual job, users, and operating context. Microsoft Research presents JTBD as a framework rather than a complete account of reality, and says the appropriate level of analysis depends on the design problem.
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