The Customer Research & Jobs to Be Done Book Gift Guide

It's that time of the year, and who doesn't love a book as a gift?

If you’re thinking about what to buy the business-inclined people in your life, or perhaps what to put in the team gift swap, here are a few of my favorite customer research and JTBD books.

Obligatory disclaimer: This is just my perspective and the books I’d reach for in particular situations. All of these books have other customer segments, too, so I don’t mean to imply they’re only good for these personas. Other people (including the authors of these books!) might very well disagree with my thinking.

Note on links: Many of these links are Amazon links, but they are not affiliate links. I’m linking to Amazon since it’s a common reference. I encourage you to order from your local bookstore (for example, via Bookshop.org for people in the US) where possible. Of course, check your local library for your own reading.

For your founder friends and people coming from a sales background

Demand-Side Sales, Bob Moesta.

This is the only other customer research book I’ve come across that includes transcripts of real customer interviews. It’s a must-read and should be on everyone’s shelf.

For your friend who runs a traditional small business

The Secret Lives of Customers, David Duncan.

Written by one of Clayton Christsen’s frequent collaborators, this book frames the concept of Jobs to Be Done via a story about a coffee shop. It’s the kind of JTBD book you can cuddle up with on a cold day with a warm mug and a blanket and finish in an afternoon.

For the current business major or recent grad

Competing Against Luck, Clayton Christensen.

This is required reading in a lot of MBA-level innovation and marketing classes, and will give them a head start if they read it now. If you’ve got an intern on your team or college student or recent grad on your list, this is the one I would grab for them.

(Also a great read for your manager or stakeholder in a different department if you’re in a big company!)

To give your team if you want to implement JTBD in 2023

The Jobs to Be Done Playbook, Jim Kalbach

If you’re a manager looking for a book to give your team, this is a great option. From my perspective, this is the introductory Jobs to Be Done implementation book. Kalbach does a great job balancing different views on JTBD and walking the reader through soup-to-nuts JTBD implementation.

As an overview, it doesn’t go too much in depth on particular topics, though, so a next step might be a book on interviewing (😉), quantitate data analysis, or customer journey mapping (my recommendations there: The User’s Journey or Service Design).

For your friend who just got a job as a junior product manager in a big tech company/product manager in a smaller tech company

Lean Customer Development, Cindy Alvarez.

Alvarez’s book draws heavily from her time as a PM at Yammer. This book shines in its anecdotes about getting stakeholder buy-in around research.

For the big company product manager who read and loved Inspired by Marty Cagan:

• Continuous Discovery Habits, Teresa Torres.

• Lean UX by Jeff Gothelf.

For your friend who just got a job as the sole UX (or even product) person at a sub-30 person company

The User Experience Team of One, Leah Buley.

A lot of UX books assume a large, well-resourced team… but not this one. It’s written with the small, scrappy, time-crunched UXer in mind. It’s a broad overview that hits on a lot of different topics and how you might fit them into a workday.

Its resource-constrained perspective also makes it a great read for indie founders who are interested in learning more about UX.

To make your UX researcher friend laugh

Doorbells, Danger, and Dead Batteries, Steve Portigal.

This is the one that will have UX researchers laughing and nodding their heads going, “oh, yup, I’ve been there!”

Amidst the amusing anecdotes, there are lessons for the seasoned researcher. It’s as informative as it is entertaining.

For your developer friend whose New Year’s Resolution is to start a side project

The Mom Test, Rob Fitzpatrick.

This book does a good job speaking to the developer would-be founder who is excited about their ideas. Many of the readers of my book from the indie SaaS world read this book previously, and I think that’s helpful as it introduces them to the concept of getting feedback. I sort of think of it as the 101 level of customer development for developer-founders, with my book as the level-up. If you wanted to give them my book as well, include a note recommending they read The Mom Test first.

For your friend who works for an agency and is curious about all of this user research stuff

Just Enough Research, Erika Hall.

Written from a consultant’s point of view, this book applies design research in a discrete project context. There’s value in here as well for those who work within companies.

For your UI designer friend who is thinking about becoming a UX researcher

Practical Empathy, Indi Young.

This is one of my own absolute favorite UX books, and really gets to the soul of why we do user research. For the designer who’s been feeling restless or constrained in their role and wants to get down to more of the why and who they design for, this is the book I’d give them.

For your friend who already read Deploy Empathy and wants to learn how to do in-person interviews

Interviewing Users, Steve Portigal. Particularly if they’re interested in learning how to do in-person interviews.

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Those are some of my favorites and the people I’d give them to. Of course, my own book Deploy Empathy makes a lovely companion to many of these books. 😊

What about you — any favorite UX, customer research, or JTBD books you’d add to this list?

Please comment with your own recommendations!