Step 0: JTBD Check

Before moving onto any solutions, feature enhancement or innovation lets try to answer a few questions based/inspired by JTBD Framework just to make sure I am on the correct path and solving for the right problem.

If I am able to answer these few questions without guessing or reverting to any ideas, solutions or features then it is safe to say that the problem is very well understood and what I stated in the previous phase’s end is the true-final crystallized and well-framed problem statement.

  1. What job is the user really trying to accomplish ?
  2. Who is doing it, and what matters to them in that moment ?
  3. When and where are they facing this struggle ?
  4. What’s the real cost of not solving it ?

Answers -

  1. Now, for a loyal free user → after a certain amount of time spotify becomes an important part of life to whom they have given a lot of their time and attention; an app which they have admired and used a lot since quite a few years atleast. This feels like a good amount of commitment to them and it is very obvious from a human point of view to have a psychological need of getting atleast something back from a relationship in which he/she has invested a great deal of time. This raises the key issue of ads acting as interruptions after a certain period of time which initially weren’t as much of a big problem as it seems now. Even in statements obtained from surveys and interviews — I found people are constantly complaining about the “pattern of ads” as well. This was found a lot among loyal free users.

    In a nutshell -

    “The job user is trying to get accomplished is obtaining a feeling of comfort by the means of music. through a platform which they have made an essential part of their life now.”

  2. Now the answer 1 pretty much gives the answer for this question as well. Who = loyal free users. What matters = comfort, escape from worldly problems and hence any interruption ruins their purpose of seeking peace/comfort through the platform.

Conclusion so far -

This feels more like now an expectation mismatch after unconscious habit formation.

  1. When and where = no particular specific time and place in this context , can be in any of the random daily workflow depending on user’s situation mentally and physically.
  2. The cost of not solving this particular problem is - gradual decrease in engagement from the free user base which could very slowly & over a long period of time cause the free user base to completely vanish, hence, also breaking the conversion cycle of free → premium users which usually take place after habit formation after a lot of time → and finally, this would saturate the premium user base as well causing the number of users to stabilize and cease the growth of revenue very gradually with time.

<aside> ✨

Net JTBD:

When I desire to listen to music either in background or intentionally on any random day in my life in order to achieve a mental node I desire a smooth emotional and cognitive flow and interaction without any friction.

</aside>

Now, actually things have taken a different turn - I won’t need to rigorously study and understand the nuances of revenue model to think about the solutions (which was the situation beforehand) - but rather will only need an idea about it.