Most journey maps end up admired in a workshop and then quietly forgotten. The problem is rarely the effort that went in, it is that the map shows what people do without explaining why. This post covers how building maps on Jobs to be Done and Switching Forces can turn a static artefact into a working tool teams actually use, drawing on a recent project experience.

Some charities treat donor engagement as a storytelling problem. It often isn't. Using Jobs-to-be-Done and Switching Forces, to show why people give and understanding the real job, and the value each donor is looking for, reshapes the giving experience itself, not just the message.

We recently helped a client turn their Ideal Customer Profiles from flat, two-dimensional descriptions into rich, empathy-led personas their sales and marketing teams could actually use. This guide shows how Jobs-to-be-Done and segmentation take an ICP beyond who to target and into why a buyer moves, and how to win them.

Despite good intentions, User Personas often fall short of ambitions, lacking both the empathy to inspire meaningful inspiration and the clarity to guide confident decision-making. But Personas as a concept are not lacking, it’s all down to execution and effort. Read our guide for creating human-centred, outcome-focused User Personas that boost empathy and drive action.

In the age of generative AI, Synthetic Personas have surged in popularity as a quick, cost-effective way to visualise, bring to life and even engage in research ‘with target audiences’. However, this comes with big risks and can fall short on some of the key reasons why research is commissioned in the first place: Evidence, Empathy and Insight.

Category Entry Points (CEPs) has quickly become the go-to theory underpinning much of today’s thinking and research on brand growth. But brands should stop and reflect on whether it’s actually the right framework for their category. We take a look at categories where CEPs can be incredibly effective but also those where an alternative approach, based around the Jobs to Be Done (JTBD) may be the better solution.