JTBD Switch Interview

Structured interview tracing a customer's recent decision to switch products, revealing the job they hired the new solution for and the push/pull forces that drove the change.

Process

Key Fields

Question it answers	What functional and emotional job was the customer hiring the product for? What finally drove the switch?
Participants & timing	15-25 recent switchers · 1-1.5 hours per interview · 4-6 weeks
AI compatibility	AI transcribes interviews and extracts job/struggle candidates; interpretation of push/pull forces requires human judgment.
Output	Switch moment timeline, job/struggle/tradeoff matrix, strategic recommendations

Use when

Competing for switchers from a specific competitor
Pricing or positioning decisions depend on perceived value
Feature prioritization should be driven by job outcomes
Market has clear switching barriers or costs

Skip when

Target customers show no switching behavior
Product is a new category with no prior alternatives
Switching was driven by external factors (contract end, forced migration)

Common Mistakes

Interviewing adopters instead of switchers

Asking "why did you choose us?" gets an adoption story, not a switch story. Interview people who moved FROM a competitor AND people who left your product for a competitor.

Asking about features

"What features made you switch?" misses the real job. Listen for the struggle, the moment of decision, and the compromises the customer accepted.

Ignoring anxieties

Participants highlight positive reasons but stay silent on lingering doubts. Dig explicitly into what they had to accept or remain worried about after switching.