Product Experience and Emotional Value in the Age of Experience Economy: Lessons from Labubu for ZenTao Project Management Software

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Introduction: From Emotional Consumption to Software Experience

Over the past decade, we have witnessed a shift in product value creation, moving from function-driven to experience-driven design. Today, consumers are not just buying products; they are purchasing emotions, stories, and identities. This phenomenon exists not only in B2C markets but also increasingly in B2B environments. The global success of Labubu, which leverages “blind box” mechanics, cultural storytelling, and anti-mainstream aesthetics, exemplifies the power of emotional connection in product design.

The question is: can business software, especially project management tools, achieve something similar? Can they offer emotional value while fulfilling strict business functions? ZenTao, a project management platform widely adopted by open-source communities and enterprise users, provides a valuable case study for answering these questions.

1. Functional Value and Emotional Value: A Dual Path for B2B Software

Although B2B software is generally expected to emphasize efficiency, completeness, and process governance, modern users such as project managers, developers, and product owners often work under complex conditions with tight deadlines and continuous collaboration. In this context, what they require is more than a tool; they need a system that delivers structure, control, and measurable outcomes.

Emotional value in this context is not merely sentimentality. It refers to the design capacity to resonate with user roles and working rhythms. ZenTao addresses this need on several levels:

• The interface is logically organized, with visual feedback mechanisms that reduce user anxiety.
• Modular customization allows teams to tailor workflows to their specific needs, minimizing friction.
• Agile methodology is embedded into the platform, giving users a strong sense of goal ownership and progression.

These features might appear technical, but they offer emotional anchoring points that help users feel in control and professionally empowered.

2. User Participation: From Blind Box Mechanics to Agile Practice

Labubu's blind box design is more than a playful gimmick. It creates a sense of discovery, tapping into users’ curiosity and desire for reward. This mechanic, based on uncertainty and surprise, builds emotional engagement and encourages repeat participation.

ZenTao serves a distinct audience that includes developers, testers, and managers. However, the underlying logic of user engagement remains similar. These users also seek systems that understand their specific roles and support them in staying focused amid the uncertainties of project environments. ZenTao meets these expectations in the following ways:

• User stories and iteration planning allow teams to move through ambiguity while maintaining structure.
• Burn-down charts and Kanban views help visualize progress and reduce uncertainty-related stress.
• Every collaborative action (like submitting bugs, claiming tasks, or giving feedback) reinforces a sense of ritual and collective progress.

These micro-interactions offer more than task completion. They deliver emotional confirmation that users are contributing meaningfully to the project.

3. Customer Journey and Emotional Triggers: Creating Immersive Experiences in Project Software

The customer journey model behind Labubu’s popularity, which includes awareness, interest, decision, and immersion, can similarly apply to enterprise software. The following analysis explores how ZenTao corresponds to each stage and engages users emotionally to drive adoption and retention.

Awareness Stage: From Problem Identification to Brand Recognition

Common triggers at this stage include:

• Project chaos due to inconsistent task or bug tracking methods.
• Expensive or overly complex foreign tools that do not support local language or workflows.
• Project managers urgently looking for tools that support both agile and waterfall methodologies.

The emotional tone at this stage is one of frustration and urgency. ZenTao addresses these emotions by presenting itself as a reliable alternative through localized documentation, community support, and proven case studies.

Interest Stage: From Feature Exploration to Trial Motivation

Users begin to explore specific questions:

• Does ZenTao support full lifecycle management?
• How customizable is the permission system?
• Can it integrate with other tools we use?

At this point, users are hopeful and curious. ZenTao’s detailed feature documentation, open-source edition, and side-by-side product comparisons support this curiosity and encourage users to download or deploy a trial version.

Decision Stage: From Trial Evaluation to Teamwide Implementation

During trials, teams experience:

• Ease of creating and breaking down projects.
• Precision in bug and issue tracking.
• Visual clarity in reports and progress metrics.

ZenTao is designed to be accessible for non-technical users while offering depth for developers. The emotional challenge here is internal resistance to change. ZenTao reduces this resistance by positioning itself not as a burden but as a professional assistant that simplifies project complexity.

Immersion Stage: From Daily Use to Cultural Integration

After adoption, emotional immersion becomes the key to long-term engagement:

• Each sprint completion is reinforced by ZenTao’s visual and reporting tools.
• Teams begin to rely on ZenTao for issue tracking, documentation, and retrospective analysis.
• Project managers use ZenTao dashboards to showcase progress during stakeholder presentations, enhancing their own sense of professional control.

This emotional immersion leads users from “using software” to “trusting a system.”

4. From Product Shape to Cultural Symbol: Building Identity through ZenTao

Labubu became a sensation because it was more than a toy. It was a cultural signal, a representation of anti-perfectionism, rebellion, and individuality.

Similarly, ZenTao is shaping its own cultural identity:

• A vibrant open-source community fosters collaboration and shared learning.
• Developer-friendly architecture makes it a favorite among tech teams.
• Its deep integration with local tools and workflows gives it the label of “national project management software.”

In today’s software landscape, characterized by a growing preference for domestic solutions and data sovereignty, ZenTao offers more than just functionality. It embodies a shared logic of efficiency and reliability, forming an identity grounded in professional pride and technological self-reliance.

Conclusion: Experience as Core, Emotion as Axis, Value as Outcome

The essence of the experience economy is simple: build trust through experience and convert trust into value. Labubu proved that “uselessness” can be a new form of artistic and emotional success. ZenTao proves that “usefulness” does not exclude emotional connection.

Every moment in the customer journey, from the first click on the website to the daily management of tasks, holds the potential to deliver more than just utility. It can provide structure, empowerment, and clarity. These are the emotional outcomes that B2B software must aim for in order to stay relevant in an increasingly human-centered economy.

ZenTao has already taken steps in this direction, showing that project management is not just about process, but also about people.