WORKING PAPER

Stand Out in Healthcare Using Jobs to be Done

By Stephen Wunker

Jobs to be Done helps healthcare innovators reimagine how they deliver value by:

Uncovering hidden motivations behind patient and provider decisions through the structured Jobs Atlas framework

Translating emotional and functional needs into clear design, pricing, and go-to-market priorities that guide innovation

Aligning diverse stakeholders—patients, clinicians, payers, and regulators—around shared goals to accelerate adoption and impact

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Summary

Stand Out in Healthcare Using Jobs to be Done provides a practical roadmap for healthcare innovators to uncover, prioritize, and act on what truly drives patient and provider decisions. Building on New Markets Advisors’ Jobs Atlas framework, it shows how to move beyond surface-level insights to design products, services, and care models that align with functional and emotional needs. Through a detailed case study and actionable guidance, the paper demonstrates how Jobs to be Done enables healthcare organizations to innovate with empathy, reduce adoption risks, and deliver offerings that resonate deeply in complex multi-stakeholder ecosystems.

OVERVIEW

Why Leveraging Jobs to Be Done Transforms Healthcare

Healthcare organizations often innovate from the inside out—guided by product capabilities rather than patient realities. Jobs to be Done (JTBD) flips this dynamic by focusing on what patients, clinicians, and payers are actually trying to achieve. It reveals the real motivations and emotional drivers behind decisions, ensuring innovations deliver meaningful impact. By viewing healthcare through customers’ Jobs, providers can design solutions that align with patient outcomes, operational goals, and regulatory constraints—reducing risk and increasing adoption across complex, multi-stakeholder systems.

JTBD helps healthcare innovators:

Uncover unmet needs hidden behind clinical and functional goals
Move from company-centric to patient- and provider-centered innovation
Design offerings aligned with real-world usage and behavior
Create growth strategies rooted in outcomes, not assumptions

How JTBD Differs from Other Research Methods in Healthcare

Key Differentiators of JTBD in Healthcare

Deploying Jobs to Be Done in Healthcare

How JTBD Differs from Other Research Methods in Healthcare

Traditional healthcare research methods often rely on surveys, focus groups, or satisfaction metrics that capture what people do—but not why. JTBD goes deeper, mapping the decisions, emotions, and trade-offs that drive real choices. By focusing on moments of use rather than attitudes, it helps healthcare teams see beyond surface-level feedback. JTBD’s power lies in decoding motivations that stakeholders struggle to articulate, translating complexity into clarity about what truly matters for innovation and adoption.

This approach differs because it:

Studies decision moments instead of reactions to products
Uncovers underlying motivations—not just demographics or psychographics
Identifies latent and unmet needs across patients, providers, and payers
Clarifies adoption barriers before solutions are built

How JTBD Differs from Other Research Methods in Healthcare

Key Differentiators of JTBD in Healthcare

Deploying Jobs to Be Done in Healthcare

How JTBD Differs from Other Research Methods in Healthcare

This approach differs because it:

Studies decision moments instead of reactions to products
Uncovers underlying motivations—not just demographics or psychographics
Identifies latent and unmet needs across patients, providers, and payers
Clarifies adoption barriers before solutions are built

How JTBD Differs from Other Research Methods in Healthcare

Key Differentiators of JTBD in Healthcare

How JTBD Differs from Other Research Methods in Healthcare

This approach differs because it:

Studies decision moments instead of reactions to products
Uncovers underlying motivations—not just demographics or psychographics
Identifies latent and unmet needs across patients, providers, and payers
Clarifies adoption barriers before solutions are built

How JTBD Differs from Other Research Methods in Healthcare

Key Differentiators of JTBD in Healthcare

Deploying Jobs to Be Done in Healthcare

How JTBD Differs from Other Research Methods in Healthcare

This approach differs because it:

Studies decision moments instead of reactions to products
Uncovers underlying motivations—not just demographics or psychographics
Identifies latent and unmet needs across patients, providers, and payers
Clarifies adoption barriers before solutions are built

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About The Authors

Steve Wunker

FOUNDER & GLOBAL LEADER IN JOBS TO BE DONE

Steve pioneered JTBD alongside Clayton Christensen and has led innovation work worldwide. He authored Jobs to Be Done: A Roadmap for Customer-Centered Innovation and four other books, and his thinking appears regularly in publications such as Harvard Business Review, Forbes, and The Financial Times.

WORKING PAPER

Stand Out in Healthcare Using Jobs to be Done

By Stephen Wunker

Uncovering hidden motivations behind patient and provider decisions through the structured Jobs Atlas framework

Translating emotional and functional needs into clear design, pricing, and go-to-market priorities that guide innovation

Aligning diverse stakeholders—patients, clinicians, payers, and regulators—around shared goals to accelerate adoption and impact

Download File