Run a Jobs-to-be-Done switch interview

Switch Interviews: Reconstructing the Moment of Decision

Switch interviews are the best tool in discovery research for understanding why people actually change products. Unlike traditional surveys, they reconstruct the specific decision — not the abstract preference. JTBD.info's foundational writing and Teresa Torres' continuous discovery practice both treat the switch interview as the most reliable source of JTBD data — the four forces (push, pull, anxiety, habit) map onto observable behavior in the timeline.

How the Run a Jobs-to-be-Done switch interview Prompt Works

The prompt walks customers backwards through their switch decision from first use to first thought, mapping every answer onto the four forces. The "single most emotional moment" output captures the struggling moment — the point at which the customer was most motivated to change — which is the highest-signal input for product positioning.

When to Use It

• Customers are converting and you don't know why.
• A new segment is becoming a buyer and you need to understand the decision.
• Positioning needs to shift and you need fresh switch data.
• A pricing change is being considered and you need the buying trigger.
• You are setting up a continuous discovery cadence.

Common Pitfalls

• Walking forward from the first thought. Reverse-chronology interviews produce richer recall. Start from first use, go backward.
• Missing the anxiety and habit forces. Push and pull are easy to extract; anxiety and habit are what explain why most people don't switch.
• One interview as evidence. One switch interview is a story. Five to seven switch interviews reveal the pattern.

Sources

• What is Jobs-to-be-Done? — JTBD.info
• Continuous Discovery Habits — Product Talk (Teresa Torres)
• Opportunity Solution Tree — Product Talk (Teresa Torres)
• Assessing Product-Market Fit — Silicon Valley Product Group