How McDonald’s Milkshakes Taught Us to Ask the Right Questions

Not Just a Taste Test: What McDonald’s Got Wrong with Their Milkshakes

When McDonald’s tried to boost milkshake sales, they did all the usual corporate stuff: customer surveys, focus groups, data analysis and tweaking the product itself—flavor, thickness, price, you name it. They knew what people expected of a great milkshake. But guess what? Sales didn’t budge.

What went wrong? They focused on what customers liked about the milkshake but completely missed the real question—why were customers buying it in the first place?

The Milky Commute Fix No One Saw Coming

McDonald’s brought in Harvard professor Clayton Christensen to crack the case. His team ditched the usual assumptions and started watching customers in the wild. After spending 18 hours in a McDonald’s, they discovered that over half the milkshakes were being sold before 8:30 a.m. The customers? Lone commuters, grabbing their shake and heading straight out.

So, why the milkshake? Because it kept them full during their long, boring commutes. It lasted the whole drive, wasn’t messy, and fit perfectly in their cupholder. McDonald’s wasn’t competing with other milkshakes—they were competing with bananas, bagels, and anything else that could make a tedious commute bearable. And they didn’t even know they were winning.

This is where the lightbulb moment comes in for us product managers: Everyone has a “job to be done”, and your product is there to help them get it done. Your real challenge? Figuring out what that job is and who’s hiring your product to do it.

Asking the Right Question Paid Off

After McDonald’s figured out the real reason people were buying milkshakes—those long, boring commutes—they shifted their approach. Instead of focusing on flavor tweaks, they made the milkshakes even more convenient for morning commuters. They made them thicker so they lasted longer, easier to grab on the go, and promoted specifically for the breakfast crowd.

The results? McDonald’s saw a 7% increase in morning milkshake sales within just a few months, according to a case study shared by Clayton Christensen in Harvard Business Review.

By solving the right problem—helping commuters with their “job to be done”—McDonald’s tapped into an entirely new market and made milkshakes a key player in the breakfast game.

How PMs Figure Out What Users Really Want

As a product manager, it’s easy to get caught up in features, interfaces, and endless iterations. But all those tweaks mean nothing if you’re not solving the right problem. Your mission is simple: understand the “job” your users need your product to do.

McDonald’s missed the mark by focusing on what people liked about the milkshake. Instead, they should have been asking, What job are people hiring this milkshake for?

When you understand what your users truly need to achieve, you can align your product’s features, design, and roadmap to meet that need. Ignore it, and you’ll waste time on the wrong solutions.

Your Shortcut to Real Solutions

Understanding the job to be done is the first step, but how you frame that understanding matters, too. A good problem statement is like your North Star—it guides your team toward meaningful solutions. A poorly framed problem statement? That’s a one-way ticket to wasted time and effort.

Let’s dig into how to write problem statements that actually get your team moving in the right direction.

Symptom Chasing: The Wrong Way to Solve Problems

Problem: “Our users aren’t clicking the ‘Sign Up’ button. Let’s make it bigger and change the color.”

Why it’s wrong: This is classic symptom-chasing. Sure, people aren’t clicking the button, but why? Maybe they’re not even getting far enough in the flow to see it, or maybe there’s confusion about what signing up even means.

What’s missing: You need to ask, what job is the user trying to do? Maybe they’re overwhelmed by too much information before the signup step. Or maybe they’re unsure what value they’ll get from signing up.

How to fix it:

• Run user tests: Watch where users drop off in the flow. Maybe the issue isn’t the button but the process leading up to it.

• Survey users: Ask if (and why) they hesitated at the sign-up step. Were they unsure of the next steps? Was the offer unclear?

• Simplify the flow: Instead of focusing on the button, test a streamlined sign-up process with less friction.

Getting It Right: Solving the Real Problem

Problem: “Our users are abandoning their carts halfway through checkout. We need to figure out why they’re dropping off.”

Why it’s right: This problem statement zeroes in on why users are abandoning the cart. Instead of assuming the issue is the button, it digs deeper into the user’s experience to find the real cause of friction.

Next steps:

• Analyze data: Look at when users are leaving—after shipping costs? At payment info? Identify where the friction lies.

• Ask users: Send a quick post-abandonment survey. Maybe the total price surprised them, or maybe they didn’t trust the payment options.

• Streamline for mobile: Check how mobile users are experiencing the checkout flow. Optimizing the process with fewer steps or mobile-friendly payment methods like Apple Pay can reduce abandonment.

A Product Manager’s Secret Weapon—Understanding the Job to Be Done

At the core of great product management is this: Every user has a job to be done. Your task is to figure out what that job is and make sure your product delivers. Instead of getting caught up in features or surface-level problems, dig deep to understand the real motivations behind your users’ actions.

Craft problem statements that reflect the outcome your user is after, not just the quick fix your team can implement. When you build around the real “job to be done,” your product becomes more than just another tool—it becomes something your users can’t live without.

How to Write Problem Statements That Matter

Here’s how to make sure your problem statement is focused on the right job to be done:

1. Is it focused on the user’s need? Make sure it’s about what they want to achieve, not what you think needs fixing.

2. Does it describe the problem, not the solution? Avoid jumping straight to fixes. Let the statement focus on what’s wrong, not how to solve it.

3. Is it measurable? Can you track success and know when the problem is solved?

4. Does it address the root cause, not just the symptoms? Dig deep and find the real reason users aren’t engaging or converting.

5. Is it open-ended? Leave room for creative solutions. A great problem statement should inspire, not box in.

The Takeaway: Solve the Right Problem

Product managers don’t just manage features—they solve problems. But to do that effectively, you’ve got to make sure you’re solving the right problem. Understanding the “job to be done” is your secret weapon. It’s not about the button color or the demo script—it’s about why users are engaging with your product in the first place.

So next time your product doesn’t hit the mark, take a step back. Ask yourself: What job is my product really doing? And for whom? Answer that, and you’re well on your way to building something your users truly need.

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