JTBD interview guide builder

A Claude skill that writes a full JTBD moderation guide around the Moesta timeline interview, including the probes that get someone back to what actually happened.

Study designJuly 2, 2026

Download the skill

Enter your details to download the skill file.

What it does

A JTBD interview reconstructs one decision in forensic detail. You find someone who switched recently, locate the day the idea first entered their head, and walk the sequence forward from there through passive looking, the event that made it urgent, active looking, the purchase and first use. It runs like a documentary shoot, where you chase dated events and the people who were in the room. Moesta and Christensen popularised the format in Competing Against Luck, and you'll also see it called a switch interview or a timeline interview.

This skill writes the guide for one specific study. Give it your product, the switch you want to understand and who you're speaking to, and it lays out the opening that gets someone into recall mode, the timeline walkthrough in order, the probes for the moment an answer arrives as a generalisation, and a close that tests whether you got the sequence right. Facilitation notes sit beside the questions. A cold prompt returns a list of reasonable questions. This returns something you can moderate from after half an hour of prep.

What you get back

  • A moderation guide in running order, from consent and warm-up through to the close.
  • The timeline walkthrough as questions, keyed to first thought, passive looking, active looking, decision and first use.
  • Probes under each stage, with a note on the kind of answer each probe is meant to break open.
  • Facilitation notes in the margin: what to do when an answer turns into a generalisation, and where silence does more work than a follow-up.
  • A timing plan, with the sections to drop if the session runs late.
  • A prompt list for surfacing the other people involved, so you can chase who else was in the decision.

Install it in Claude, ChatGPT, Copilot or Gemini

The same skill file works in all four. Pick your tool for the steps.

Install in Claude

  1. 1

    Download the skill

    Fill in the short form to get the .skill file.

  2. 2

    Add it to Claude

    In the Claude app go to Settings → Capabilities → Skills and upload the file. In Claude Code, run the npx command shown after the form, or drop the folder into your project's skills folder.

  3. 3

    Just ask

    Ask in plain language. Claude picks up the skill on its own when the request matches.

How to use it

Once it's installed, ask in plain language. Your AI follows the skill's method when the request matches.

Example prompt 1
Build me a JTBD guide for people who moved from spreadsheets to our billing product in the last three months.
Example prompt 2
Add probes for the anxiety force, mine are too weak in section three.
Example prompt 3
Cut this guide to 45 minutes and tell me what I gave up.

What it won't do

It won't run the interview, and the guide only pays off if you follow the person when the sequence takes an unexpected turn. It also can't recruit for you. A timeline interview needs someone who switched recently enough to remember the week it happened, and finding those people is screening work that sits outside the guide.

Questions

How does a JTBD interview differ from a discovery interview?

A discovery interview asks about needs and behaviour in general. A JTBD interview stays inside one decision and rebuilds it in order, with dates, events and the other people involved. The method rests on that sequence, which is why the guide is shaped as a timeline.

How many of these interviews do I need?

Fewer than most study plans assume. The forces start repeating quickly, so the usual stopping point is when consecutive interviews stop producing new ones rather than a number set in advance.

Can I use it for decisions that aren't purchases?

Yes. Any switch works: adopting an internal system, leaving a job, changing a process a team has used for years. Tell the skill what the switch is and it builds the timeline around that event instead of a transaction.

More skills

See all skills