Before I discovered Jobs-to-be-Done, finding the “root cause” of the problem I was solving was difficult. So was boiling down a problem into a simple statement. How can I simply articulate this problem to the rest of my team? It turns out understanding the problem across several dimensions was required to really make progress. And asking why is one of the best ways of uncovering deeper needs of what customers are trying to do. There’s plenty of abstract research advice out there about uncovering causality, such as the “Five Whys”. But the following piece is all about aiming for the middle ground. To move through levels of depth in a conversation, but not too fast to miss potentially valuable insights. The key is to find the unique insight at each “Why?” before moving on. • • • For any declarative statement you might make, I can’t stop myself from asking “Why?” and then, I’ll ask “Why?” again. It’s an occupational hazard. So you bought an electrical drill? Why? Oh, because you want to hang some framed photos. Why do you want to hang framed photos? Oh, to make your home more personal. Why is making your home feel more personal important to you? When it comes to product design, there’s such a thing as getting down to the root problem too quickly. The value in figuring out the “Why?” behind things isn’t so much about the destination; it’s about the journey. This is especially true for customer interviews. Slowing down, taking your time with each layer of the “Why?”, exploring lots of different ideas together; it all makes your time together much more productive. And it yields far more interesting and usable insights. The productive layers of the conversation For any given behavior, you can dig as deep as you want. There are as many layers as you have time to discuss, each one relating to a deeper need. A deeper understanding of “Why?” 45