One secret entrance to the job to be done is how people hack your product. There’s the way you built a thing – using supply-side innovation to scratch an itch or whatever. But then there is the demand-side innovation of what people really want. This manifests as hacks, like desire paths.
Peloton saw people hack their own social groups on Facebook and then built social tags within the app.
Instagram saw people hack photos to show white backgrounds with text and build polls.
Josh Wardle saw people share their Wordle scores and built the feature into the app.
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There’s a cake icing tool called the “silicone icing spatula”. We bought this set, but any will do. Its “supply side innovation” is to ice baked goods. Its “demand side hack” is to scoop out jars.
Neither sauce, mayonnaise, nor store-bought icing can resist the sliding edge of this device. Tall container? No problem. Do you buy the peanut butter that separates? The good stuff but hard stuff. It becomes easy with this spatula.
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Buy a set of these to give away for the holiday. Not only is it a thoughtful gift, but it’s also helpful and the colors stand out among the sea of black kitchen devices in the spatula drawer.
The only way to get better at a thing is to do a thing. Practice active copywriting, think about business models, and notice the different aspects of jobs to be done in your life. Find ways people hack products. Notice unusual go-to-market strategies. Think about when the customer and consumer are different people. Consider how requests are different from actions.
The Waiter's Pad 