web01.fireside.fm Thu, 16 Apr 2026 08:21:38 -0500 Fireside (https://fireside.fm) The How This Works show - Episodes Tagged with “Jobs To Be Done” https://www.howthisworks.show/tags/jobs%20to%20be%20done Fri, 03 Jan 2025 03:15:00 -0500 Talking shop with 100 people about their work and associated craft — exploring what they actually do, why they do it that way, and what changed along the way. Host Skipper Chong Warson sits down with folks to understand what's going on in their world right now. Season two explored product, design, and facilitation. The third season follows people actively building things right now. New episodes every few weeks. Part of How This Works co. en-us episodic What do people actually do all day? Skipper Chong Warson Talking shop with 100 people about their work and associated craft — exploring what they actually do, why they do it that way, and what changed along the way. Host Skipper Chong Warson sits down with folks to understand what's going on in their world right now. Season two explored product, design, and facilitation. The third season follows people actively building things right now. New episodes every few weeks. Part of How This Works co. yes subject matter experts, learn, learning, subject matter expert, expert, experts, amateur, professional, stories, story, lessons, lesson, work, home, education, educate, passion, passions, day in the life, walk in someone else's shoes, expertise, craft Skipper Chong Warson skipperchong@me.com Aaron Young https://www.howthisworks.show/031-aaron-young b362ec95-e2fe-4b50-a2bd-22d44a66bda0 Fri, 03 Jan 2025 03:15:00 -0500 Skipper Chong Warson full 2 Skipper Chong Warson In this episode, Skipper talks with Aaron Young about "switch interviews," one component part of the jobs to be done framework 59:36 no Skipper chats with Aaron Young, founder of Switch Insights, breaking down the concept of "switch interviews" — a lesser known methodology that reveals the contextual moments leading customers to change products or services, emphasizing the importance of understanding the "why" behind customer behavior rather than just the "what." He explains that while companies often think they know why customers switch, a directed interview can reveal the complex, messy reality of customer decision-making, encompassing factors like grievances, magnetism, and effort underneath and surrounding the change. * You can listen here or wherever you get your podcasts: https://www.howthisworks.show/031-aaron-young (https://www.howthisworks.show/031-aaron-young) * Or on Youtube: https://youtu.be/vNEZi_RaSN4 (https://youtu.be/vNEZi_RaSN4) During the show, we talk through: * The evolution of switch interviews, from Aaron's early discovery of the methodology (while observing Jobs to Be Done expert Bob Mesta) to his specialization in this approach after seeing its unique ability to reveal customer insights that traditional research misses * Two case studies of "switches" — Aaron's personal journey moving from Washington D.C. to Atlanta, which unfolded over several years with multiple decision points, and a wedding dress business that used switch interviews to understand why brides choose at-home try-on experiences * The critical difference between how companies typically view customer decisions (as single moments) versus the reality revealed through switch interviews: a complex journey involving factors like grievances with current solutions, attraction to new options, and the effort required to change * Why traditional demographic-based personas often fall short, and how switch interviews help create more meaningful customer segments based on the progress people are trying to make in their lives * The challenge of "hubris" in understanding customer behavior — how companies often think they know why customers make changes, but miss the crucial contextual details that switch interviews can uncover * As businesses increasingly turn to technological solutions, Aaron expresses concern about over-reliance on AI for understanding customer behavior, noting that artificial intelligence might miss the nuanced contextual details that human-conducted switch interviews are uniquely positioned to capture * His belief in the importance of verbs over nouns in career satisfaction Stay tuned until the end where Skipper tells Aaron about Stephen Colbert's oatmeal rum-soaked bing cherry cookie recipe, which Colbert (yes, him) says is so irresistible you'd "step on a baby's finger for one." Special Guest: Aaron Young. switch interviews, customer behavior, product switching, service switching, Jobs to be Done, customer research, decision making, customer insights, qualitative research, Bob Moesta, Switch Insights, customer journey, product development, customer experience, contextual research, business strategy, customer retention, customer acquisition, behavioral analysis, market research Skipper chats with Aaron Young, founder of Switch Insights, breaking down the concept of "switch interviews" — a lesser known methodology that reveals the contextual moments leading customers to change products or services, emphasizing the importance of understanding the "why" behind customer behavior rather than just the "what." He explains that while companies often think they know why customers switch, a directed interview can reveal the complex, messy reality of customer decision-making, encompassing factors like grievances, magnetism, and effort underneath and surrounding the change.

During the show, we talk through:

  • The evolution of switch interviews, from Aaron's early discovery of the methodology (while observing Jobs to Be Done expert Bob Mesta) to his specialization in this approach after seeing its unique ability to reveal customer insights that traditional research misses
  • Two case studies of "switches" — Aaron's personal journey moving from Washington D.C. to Atlanta, which unfolded over several years with multiple decision points, and a wedding dress business that used switch interviews to understand why brides choose at-home try-on experiences
  • The critical difference between how companies typically view customer decisions (as single moments) versus the reality revealed through switch interviews: a complex journey involving factors like grievances with current solutions, attraction to new options, and the effort required to change
  • Why traditional demographic-based personas often fall short, and how switch interviews help create more meaningful customer segments based on the progress people are trying to make in their lives
  • The challenge of "hubris" in understanding customer behavior — how companies often think they know why customers make changes, but miss the crucial contextual details that switch interviews can uncover
  • As businesses increasingly turn to technological solutions, Aaron expresses concern about over-reliance on AI for understanding customer behavior, noting that artificial intelligence might miss the nuanced contextual details that human-conducted switch interviews are uniquely positioned to capture
  • His belief in the importance of verbs over nouns in career satisfaction

Stay tuned until the end where Skipper tells Aaron about Stephen Colbert's oatmeal rum-soaked bing cherry cookie recipe, which Colbert (yes, him) says is so irresistible you'd "step on a baby's finger for one."

Special Guest: Aaron Young.

Links:

]]> Skipper chats with Aaron Young, founder of Switch Insights, breaking down the concept of "switch interviews" — a lesser known methodology that reveals the contextual moments leading customers to change products or services, emphasizing the importance of understanding the "why" behind customer behavior rather than just the "what." He explains that while companies often think they know why customers switch, a directed interview can reveal the complex, messy reality of customer decision-making, encompassing factors like grievances, magnetism, and effort underneath and surrounding the change.

During the show, we talk through:

  • The evolution of switch interviews, from Aaron's early discovery of the methodology (while observing Jobs to Be Done expert Bob Mesta) to his specialization in this approach after seeing its unique ability to reveal customer insights that traditional research misses
  • Two case studies of "switches" — Aaron's personal journey moving from Washington D.C. to Atlanta, which unfolded over several years with multiple decision points, and a wedding dress business that used switch interviews to understand why brides choose at-home try-on experiences
  • The critical difference between how companies typically view customer decisions (as single moments) versus the reality revealed through switch interviews: a complex journey involving factors like grievances with current solutions, attraction to new options, and the effort required to change
  • Why traditional demographic-based personas often fall short, and how switch interviews help create more meaningful customer segments based on the progress people are trying to make in their lives
  • The challenge of "hubris" in understanding customer behavior — how companies often think they know why customers make changes, but miss the crucial contextual details that switch interviews can uncover
  • As businesses increasingly turn to technological solutions, Aaron expresses concern about over-reliance on AI for understanding customer behavior, noting that artificial intelligence might miss the nuanced contextual details that human-conducted switch interviews are uniquely positioned to capture
  • His belief in the importance of verbs over nouns in career satisfaction

Stay tuned until the end where Skipper tells Aaron about Stephen Colbert's oatmeal rum-soaked bing cherry cookie recipe, which Colbert (yes, him) says is so irresistible you'd "step on a baby's finger for one."

Special Guest: Aaron Young.

Links:

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