What job does your product do?

The job a product does is very different from what it does, and what it delivers. Thinking about a product as though it does a job gives us a way to think about what it competes with, and other things that can do that job just as effectively.

Wine is a great example. When we think about wine and what we might choose instead, we typically think about beer or spirits. This largely depends on the job wine is doing for us.

If the job of wine on that night is to help us deal with stress, the competitors aren’t just beer and spirits, they are exercise, a massage, a walk somewhere pleasant, a trip to the beach, a good book – the list is far larger. If the job of wine is to show that we have refinement and taste, the job might also be done with nice clothing, a high end car, a day on a yacht or tickets to an opera.

Thinking about the job a product does provides us with a different lens, and helps us think more widely about who we compete with and what our opportunities are.

Author: Karl Melrose

Thinker about how to think about information governance, economics, security, risk, technology and incentives. Out to solve every optimising problem, out to make sure my thinking gets better, every day. Information Governance, Management and Records Management at informationgovernance.blog. Random thoughts at karlmelrose.blog View all posts by Karl Melrose