What are user jobs?
A user job is the task that the user is trying to accomplish when they use your product or service. It is the fundamental reason why the user is interacting with your product or service.
For example, a user job for a social media app might be to "stay connected with friends and family." A user job for a search engine might be to "find information quickly and easily." A user job for a video game might be to "have fun and relax."
How to identify user jobs
There are a few different ways to identify user jobs. One way is to conduct user interviews. Ask users what they are trying to accomplish when they use your product or service. What problems are they trying to solve? What are their goals?
Another way to identify user jobs is to observe user behavior. Watch how users interact with your product or service. What tasks are they trying to complete? What features are they using?
Finally, you can also identify user jobs by analyzing user feedback. Look at customer reviews, support tickets, and social media comments. What are users saying about your product or service? What are their biggest pain points?
How to use user jobs in user personas
Once you have identified user jobs, you can use this information to create more effective user personas. For each user persona, identify the top three user jobs that they are trying to accomplish. This will help you to understand what is most important to your users and what you need to focus on in your product or service.
Example 1: if you are designing a new e-commerce website, one of the top user jobs might be to "purchase a product." You can use this information to design the website in a way that makes it easy for users to find the products they are looking for, add them to their cart, and complete the checkout process.
Example 2: The 70-year old woman living in a remote village, needs to be able to manage her chronic condition (diabetes) and receive regular checkups and medication refills. She also needs to be able to access healthcare services for other health problems as needed.
Here are some tips for using user jobs in user personas:
Be specific. Don't just say that the user job is to "use the product." Instead, be specific about the task that the user is trying to accomplish. For example, the user job might be to "send an email," "book a flight," or "create a new account."
Focus on the user's goals. What is the user trying to achieve by completing the task? For example, the user might be trying to stay connected with friends and family, save time, or have fun.
Be realistic. Don't try to cover every possible user job in your user personas. Instead, focus on the top three or four user jobs that are most important to your business.
By understanding user jobs, you can create products and services that are more useful and effective for your users.
