---
title: "Zhao Bo of New Distribution: Why You Haven't Truly Understood the User's Job-to-be-Done (JTBD)"
description: "We spend our entire lives solving our own problems—financial, health, emotional, intimate family, life relationships, self-existence, social, etc. In general, the problems people need to solve can be divided into eight dimensions: 1. Survival dimension: (body, safety, resources) 2. Relationship dimension: (intimacy, belonging, ranking) 3. Ability dimension: (skills, execution, growth) 4. Narrative dimension: (meaning, goals, values) 5. Emotional dimension: (experience, regulation, patterns)..."
author: "赵波"
publisher: "New Distribution"
email: "zhaobo258@gmail.com"
telephone: "+8615854817671"
published: "2025-12-13"
categories: "Dealer Operations"
language: "en"
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original_source: "https://mp.weixin.qq.com/s/ay8v9wX0yBxBeo9A-zrxBw"
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attribution: "New Distribution — https://xinjignxiao.com/en/articles/zhao-bo-of-new-distribution-why-you-haven-t-truly-understood-the-user-s-e62207be/"
citation: "赵波. “Zhao Bo of New Distribution: Why You Haven't Truly Understood the User's Job-to-be-Done (JTBD).” New Distribution, 2025-12-13. https://xinjignxiao.com/en/articles/zhao-bo-of-new-distribution-why-you-haven-t-truly-understood-the-user-s-e62207be/"
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---

# Zhao Bo of New Distribution: Why You Haven't Truly Understood the User's Job-to-be-Done (JTBD)

> We spend our entire lives solving our own problems—financial, health, emotional, intimate family, life relationships, self-existence, social, etc. In general, the problems people need to solve can be divided into eight dimensions: 1. Survival dimension: (body, safety, resources) 2. Relationship dimension: (intimacy, belonging, ranking) 3. Ability dimension: (skills, execution, growth) 4. Narrative dimension: (meaning, goals, values) 5. Emotional dimension: (experience, regulation, patterns)...

We spend our entire lives solving our own problems.
Financial problems, health problems, emotional problems, intimate family, life relationships, self-existence, social, etc.
In general, the problems people need to solve can be roughly divided into eight dimensions:
> 1. Survival dimension: (body, safety, resources)
>
> 2. Relationship dimension: (intimacy, belonging, ranking)
>
> 3. Ability dimension: (skills, execution, growth)
>
> 4. Narrative dimension: (meaning, goals, values)
>
> 5. Emotional dimension: (experience, regulation, patterns)
>
> 6. Identity dimension: (who am I)
>
> 7. Existence dimension: (finitude, freedom, nothingness)
>
> 8. Metacognitive dimension: (self-observation, self-iteration)
These eight dimensions are not in a progressive relationship but coexist in people's life scenarios. Some are explicit, such as hunger and anger; some are implicit, such as meaning and scarcity.
Let's expand and clarify these eight dimensions:
1. Objective Dimension: Basic Problems of Survival
This dimension is the basic objective existence of people: if one doesn't solve it, the rest cannot be discussed:
1. Body: health, sleep, energy, pain management, aging
2. Safety: stable income, housing, risk avoidance, crisis response
3. Resources: where money comes from, how to spend it, how to stabilize and not fall
This layer's problems are people's most basic needs. Its essence is "survival."
2. Relationship Dimension: Connection Problems of Humans as Social Animals
Once fed, people start asking, "How do I get along with others?"
1. Intimate relationships: love, being loved, fear of intimacy, lack of love, family roles
2. Social relationships: belonging, being seen, being recognized, ranking, sense of identity
3. Conflict and boundaries: how to express, how to refuse, how not to be led by others
This layer's essence is "how I exist in the eyes of others."
3. Ability Dimension: Instrumental Self Problems
People begin to pursue "usefulness," like upgrading a character's skill tree.
1. Professional ability: ability to earn money, ability to be scarce
2. Learning ability: understanding, reasoning, review, transfer, growth mechanisms
3. Execution ability: planning, discipline, habits, anti-interference, anti-procrastination
4. Resource integration: time management, relationship management, information management
This layer's essence is "what can I do."
4. Narrative Dimension: Meaning, Goals, and Life Direction Problems
The stronger the ability, the more one asks, "What is the purpose of doing all this?"
1. Life goals: who do I want to become, what do I want to achieve
2. Meaning system: why do I exist, what am I creating
3. Values: what do I think is important, what is the basis for my choices
4. Narrative unity: whether the past me, present me, and future me are connected
This is a wall everyone hits hard between ages 30–45.
Its essence is "why do I do these things."
5. Emotional Dimension: Inner Experience and Emotional Regulation Problems
People are not rational machines; more often, they are driven by emotions.
1. Anxiety, fear, anger, shame, loss of control
2. Happiness, excitement, anticipation, satisfaction, peace
3. Emotional patterns: avoidant, controlling, people-pleasing, aggressive
4. Inner child: trauma, scarcity, expectations, compensation
This layer's essence is "how do I feel about myself."
6. Identity Dimension: The Root Problem of Self-Identity
This is the "matrix" of all problems.
1. Who am I? Who am I not? Who do I want to become?
2. Role system: child, parent, partner, professional, creator
3. Self-consistency: real self vs. social self vs. ideal self
4. Mirror mechanism: how I understand myself through others
If identity problems are not solved, all external problems will repeat in cycles.
7. Existence Dimension: The Deepest Philosophical Problems
This layer usually emerges late at night, during crises, or major turning points.
1. Finitude: life is finite, how should I choose?
2. Freedom and responsibility: choices mean costs, can I bear them?
3. Nothingness: meaning doesn't exist, so how do I create meaning myself?
4. Death: when the end is certain, how should I design my path?
This is "why do I live."
8. Metacognitive Dimension: Self-Regulation and Observer Problems
Standing at a higher level to look at oneself, like the "second-floor observer" you often mention.
1. Metacognition: how do I observe myself?
2. Self-system structure: how emotions, narratives, abilities, and values influence each other
3. Bias calibration: am I deceiving myself? Do I have blind spots?
4. Script editing: can I rewrite my life script?
This is "how do I understand, design, and iterate myself."
How is this different from Maslow's hierarchy of needs?
Maslow is like arranging human needs into a "five-story pyramid," from physiological, safety to love, esteem, and self-actualization, going upward.
The eight dimensions discussed now are more like a "multidimensional structure that can penetrate up and down," both vertical and horizontally interactive. It is not a pyramid but a topological structure, not a triangle but a spider web.
The difference between the two actually outlines the evolution of modern human psychological structure.
Next, let's delve into the differences between these eight dimensions and Maslow:
1. The Philosophical Foundations of the Overall Frameworks Are Completely Different
Maslow is based on "need satisfaction theory": only after satisfying the previous layer will one pursue the next.
The eight dimensions are based on "problem-driven theory": people spend their lives continuously solving problems, which are nested, mutually influential, and can even appear in reverse order.
Simply put, Maslow focuses on "needs being satisfied"; the eight dimensions focus on "the system being adjusted."
The pain of modern people lies in: needs are satisfied, but problems do not disappear.
2. Maslow is "static needs"; the eight dimensions are a "dynamic system"
Maslow is like a "freeze-frame":
Physiological → Safety → Belonging → Esteem → Self-actualization.
But the state of contemporary people is not so orderly.
  * A person earning 30,000 yuan a month with heavy mortgage pressure may struggle at the "esteem layer";
  * A young person with emotional stability but no money may fall into nothingness at the "existence layer";
  * A top career person may still be stuck in the confusion of the "identity layer."
The characteristic of these eight dimensions is that problems do not occur in order but happen simultaneously and drag each other. This better matches the inner tug-of-war of modern people.
3. The Eight Dimensions Add a "Meta-Structure" That Maslow Did Not Touch
Maslow's top layer is "self-actualization," but it does not explain how the self forms, observes, or rewrites itself.
The eight-dimensional model adds two things Maslow completely lacks:
1. Identity dimension (who am I)
Maslow does not discuss "self-structure"; he only discusses "self-desire."
But the crisis of modern people often comes from:
Which "me" am I exactly?
How do ideal self, social self, and real self integrate?
Why do I have such needs?
2. Existence dimension (nothingness, freedom, finitude)
Maslow did not touch existentialism; he only talked about growth, not nothingness.
But today's problems are more like:
It's not that I have no choices, but that there are too many choices;
It's not that I lack resources, but that meaning is insufficient.
3. Metacognitive dimension (self-observation, self-regulation)
Maslow stops at "getting satisfied."
The eight dimensions propose "how to see oneself, how to rewrite oneself."
This is the direction of psychology moving toward philosophy, spirituality, and systems theory.
4. The Eight Dimensions Emphasize the "Emotional System" Rather Than "Status and Esteem"
Maslow's fourth layer is "esteem and status."
The eight dimensions pull out emotions as a separate layer:
Anxiety, shame, anger, anticipation, happiness, satisfaction...
Inner child, emotional patterns, reaction mechanisms
Because the problem of modern people is not "lack of esteem" but "emotional dysregulation."
Especially young people overwhelmed by the internet, information overload, and traffic culture, their hardest part is "how to stabilize the heart," not "how others see me."
5. The Eight Dimensions Are a "Self-Operating System Model," Usable by Brands, Organizations, and Education
Maslow is suitable for theory; the eight dimensions are suitable for tools. This framework can directly guide:
Brand narrative: from solving pain points → solving identity → participating in meaning
Education design: from skills → narrative → metacognition
Retail products: from needs → scenarios → emotions → identity
Business strategy: from efficiency → value → narrative structure
Maslow cannot do this; it is too "psychology textbook-like." The eight dimensions are like a "human system operation map."
In short, the difference between them is:
Maslow is more like geology, with layered structures, but contemporary populations' problems are topological: multidimensional. Maslow explains "what people need." The eight-dimensional model explains "why people live this way." Maslow is "hierarchical satisfaction." The eight dimensions are "structural coupling." Maslow is "static needs." The eight dimensions are "dynamic self-generation."
I believe the eight dimensions are already more suitable than Maslow for explaining contemporary people's psychology, desires, anxiety, and meaning crisis.
If we view people's problems as layers, it's easy to think of user problems as linear (solve A first, then B); but if we view them as "dimensions" and a "spider web," it becomes a dynamic system where touching one part affects the whole.
For example, with "not wanting to go to work," two people's problems are not singular; they are often multidimensional and linked, and the same problem has completely different solutions.
Case A: A newly graduated intern "doesn't want to go to work"
Physical dimension (9 points): commute too far, insufficient sleep, extreme physical fatigue.
Resource dimension (8 points): salary not enough, survival anxiety.
Ability dimension (7 points): skills lag, don't know how to do the job.
Other dimensions (1 point): identity and existential meaning not yet considered much.
Graph shape: a flat triangle concentrated at the bottom (survival and skills).
Solution: raise salary, move closer, learn SOPs. Money can cure all ills.
Case B: A director earning a million yuan a year "doesn't want to go to work"
Physical dimension (2 points): comfortable life, personal trainer and fitness.
Ability dimension (1 point): work is easy, no challenge.
Narrative dimension (9 points): feels work is meaningless, doesn't know what he's consuming life for.
Identity dimension (8 points): disgusted with the hypocritical mask of "executive," longs to return to being a "creator."
Emotional dimension (7 points): long-term emptiness, depression from boredom.
Graph shape: an inverted triangle spike concentrated at the top (meaning and self).
Solution: money doesn't work, promotion doesn't work. He needs to "rewrite the script" or "take a leave to find himself."
The same appearance of "not wanting to go to work" ≠ the same problem. The appearance is just the entry point; the spider web is the cause. So: if you use the solution for A (raise salary) to solve B, B will feel insulted;
If you use the solution for B (talk about meaning) to solve A, A will think you're painting a pie in the sky.
Intern "doesn't want to go to work":
Bottom collapse type (survival + ability).
Solution should fall back to transportation, salary, SOPs, skill growth.
Million-yuan director "doesn't want to go to work":
High-dimensional tear type (narrative + identity + existence + emotion).
Solution must be "rewrite life script + identity reconstruction," not adding money.
This is the characteristic of the "spider web map": it rejects "headache treat head," but makes a structural interpretation of the user's job-to-be-done.
Moreover, looking at problems from multiple dimensions, you'll find that any dimension problem will cause a "resonance" that affects the whole.
When relationship dimension problems occur, like a breakup, it quickly transmits to other dimensions:
The vibration reaches the "emotional layer": producing immense sadness and a sense of abandonment.
The vibration reaches the "identity layer": if you bind your self-worth to your partner, you'll ask, "Without him/her, who am I?" Identity collapses.
The vibration reaches the "physical layer": insomnia, heartache, decreased immunity.
The vibration reaches the "meta layer": you start reflecting, "Why do I always fall for this type of person?" This is a moment of awakening.
So, a superficial "breakup problem" is actually a "compound problem" covering five dimensions.
A counselor or a brand that can solve problems must see where the epicenter of this web is and where it resonates.
I often tell clients: modern people's problems are not about lacking something, but about the self-system being out of balance after world overload.
How can modern marketing understand and apply this eight-dimensional problem system well?
Understanding modern marketing, if you still treat consumers as "people who buy things," you're still using the previous era to solve current problems.
But the contemporary era is a post-figurative era; the experience of predecessors cannot solve the problems of an affluent society. Modern marketing is not about selling products but solving the psychological and existential problems of humans across eight dimensions. Products are just the entry point; brands are narratives; marketing is "tuning" the deep structure of people.
What enterprise problems can this eight-dimensional perspective solve?
1. Survival Dimension: Solve "Can I survive?"
This is the most basic layer, but not low-level; it is the foundation for FMCG, convenience stores, beverages, and food.
The marketing task for enterprises is to reduce risk, improve efficiency, reduce decision costs, and provide stability and security for customers.
For example:
> Genki Forest sells "0 sugar" not for health, but because the fear of gaining weight is about lower risk;
>
> Convenience stores' immediate availability means "I don't have to make complex choices," so they must sell big brands to enhance store quality;
>
> The core of Bounty paper towels is not softness but "won't make mistakes."
The survival layer corresponds to logical, rational, and efficiency-oriented user needs; marketing also pursues safety, objectivity, and rationality.
2. Relationship Dimension: Solve "What is my relationship with others?"
The core of contemporary marketing lies here. What brands most often do is help users construct identity relationships: belonging, identity, ranking, group identity, all in this dimension.
Intuitive examples:
• Jiangxiaobai Guolifang: "emotional wine," "I'm still young";
• Jinxing Maojian: the hometown pride of Henan people;
• Luxury goods: not objects, but "group passwords";
• Xiaohongshu's viral products are essentially "I want to be seen."
Marketing actions are to create a "we-feeling," manufacturing belonging symbols, group passwords, and invisible identity recognition.
3. Ability Dimension: Solve "What can I do? Can I become more useful?"
This is the territory of instrumental marketing.
The brand's task at this layer is to enhance the user's sense of capability, making them feel "stronger" because of using your product.
For example:
  * Notion is an "organization capability enhancement device";
  * Keep is a "self-management capability strengthening tool";
  * AI office software is an "external plug-in that makes you ten times more productive."
Users in the ability dimension are not buying services but "upgrade points."
4. Narrative Dimension: Solve "Why do I do these things? What is my story?"
Modern brands must enter a higher-level value narrative dimension, otherwise they can only compete on price.
Narrative-layer marketing is responsible for constructing for users: goals, meaning, direction, worldview.
Examples:
• Jinger Liquor in short videos sells not liquor but "without a man, I can also live happily";
• Saturnday Coffee sells not coffee but "a lifestyle that maintains independent style";
• Xiaomi evolved from cost-performance to "life improvement narrative";
• lululemon is the overall narrative of "a better me," not yoga pants.
Brands that succeed in the narrative dimension become part of the user's life script.
5. Emotional Dimension: Solve "How do I feel about myself?"
Almost all viral products on Douyin and Xiaohongshu come from this layer. The core is: emotional regulation, instant gratification, emotional peaks, and capturing flickering needs.
Examples:
• "No ambition" → emotional release;
• Milk tea → instant emotional regulation tool;
• Pop Mart → "tiny but lasting happiness."
Marketing actions become: capture hot spots → resonate emotions → stimulate action.
This is also the hidden code of all viral products: hot culture + salient symbols = memory anchors.
6. Identity Dimension: Solve "Who am I?"
This is the true source of brand value. All strong brands are "identity builders."
• Apple: creators;
• Moutai: successful people;
• Bape: trendy tribe;
• Tesla: tech pioneers.
Marketing at this layer does: provide users with an identity model they can wear and apply in life. Identity is more stable than needs, more solid than price, and more enduring than function.
7. Existence Dimension: Solve "Why do I live?"
Brands that truly change industry patterns touch this layer.
• Huawei: "the will to survive" constructs a national narrative;
• Meilisen and Samyang Foods cross borders with national pride;
• Nike's "Just Do It" is not just inspirational; it's an existential proposition;
• Coca-Cola's "Open Happiness" is an existential narrative.
Marketing at the existence layer is not advertising; it's "meaning manufacturing."
Such brands make users feel: I'm not buying a product, but a life philosophy.
8. Metacognitive Dimension: Solve "How do I observe, design, and iterate myself?"
This is the most modern and hardest layer, achieved by very few brands. It points to self-awareness and self-regulation.
Examples:
• Meditation apps (Calm) teach users to observe emotions;
• Apple Watch lets users manage health behavior patterns;
• ChatGPT provides users with "life metacognitive dialogue."
Metacognitive marketing is not "telling users who to become," but "empowering users to become designers of their own version."
I believe this is the ultimate form of next-generation brand competition.
Applying these eight dimensions to marketing:
1. Survival: I help you save time and reduce risk
2. Relationship: I make you seen and recognized
3. Ability: I make you stronger
4. Narrative: I give you direction
5. Emotion: I make you better in the moment
6. Identity: I tell you who you are
7. Existence: I provide you with meaning
8. Metacognition: I make you the master of your own life
A brand's mission is to choose which dimension of user problems to solve. And the larger the area a brand occupies, the more dimensions it covers, the stronger it becomes.
We can look at the "spider web shape" differences of two coffee brands to see their ecological niche in users' minds.
Luckin Coffee
Main dimensions: resource layer (cheap), physical layer (refreshment, convenience), ability layer (efficient access);
Shape: sharp-angled graph focusing on efficiency and survival;
User psychology: "I want to survive, I want high efficiency."
Starbucks
Main dimensions: relationship layer (third place), identity layer (white-collar symbol), emotional layer (comfort);
Shape: graph focusing on social and experience;
User psychology: "I want connection, I want to feel good about myself."
Blue Bottle / Specialty Pour-over
Main dimensions: narrative layer (craftsman spirit, bean stories), existence layer (aesthetic experience, slow ritual);
Shape: high-dimensional graph focusing on spirit and aesthetics;
User psychology: "I want to confirm my taste, I want to feel life in this moment."
Conclusion:
Brands today must deeply design their own shape to precisely fit the missing shape of their target users. This is called the psychological version of "PMF" (Product-Market Fit) — "PSF" (Product-Soul Fit).
The definition of PSF can be more precise:
PSF = the overlap area of the user's "problem polygon" and the brand's "value polygon."
Large overlap → "This brand really understands me."
Complete mismatch → "You're right, but it has nothing to do with me."
Summary:
Traditional marketing sells "function." Modern marketing sells "emotion." Advanced marketing sells "identity." Future marketing sells "meaning" and "self-iteration ability." These eight dimensions are the "operating system" for future brand building and consumer psychological insight.
How to use this eight-dimensional map
Three usage methods
Usage 1: For crowd insight, don't ask "what do you want," but ask "which dimension hurts most"
Don't ask: "What features do you most want the product to have?"
Instead ask: "What troubles you most now: surviving, getting along with others, handling work, or figuring out who you are?"
Upgrade questionnaires and interviews from "need lists" to "problem topology."
Usage 2: For brand positioning, don't choose a single selling point, but choose a "shape"
Don't say: "I am 'healthy + cheap + tasty.'"
Instead say: "I focus on covering three dimensions: survival pressure, emotional regulation, and identity recognition."
This is designing brand shape, not piling up selling points.
Usage 3: For growth strategy, return from "acquisition/conversion" to "problem restructuring"
Every operational action corresponds to a fine-tuning of one dimension.
  * Price promotion → alleviate resource dimension scarcity;
  * Co-branding/community → alleviate loneliness in relationship and identity dimensions;
  * Educational content/usage scenarios → strengthen ability dimension completion;
  * Brand story/founder narrative → repair narrative and existential meaning;
  * Community co-creation/user stories → lead users to metacognition (self-observation and iteration).
In this way, marketing is no longer "running activities," but:
Using a series of tension-adjustment actions to transform the consumer's spider web from a "torn state" to a "bearable state."
**Final Words**
At this point, this eight-dimensional framework reveals a deeper law:
Human behavior often does not directly solve problems but engages in "dimensional compensation."
When a certain dimension (such as "being loved" in relationships, "self-confirmation" in identity, "sense of meaning" in existence) is chronically deficient, we instinctively shift energy to other dimensions (such as "resources" by desperately earning money, "ability" by crazy involution, "emotion" by seeking instant stimulation) to gain temporary balance and pain relief.
This compensation mechanism is precisely the hidden driving force behind much modern consumption. We are not buying the product itself, but a "misaligned solution" to fill a hole in another dimension.
If a brand only sees compensatory behavior (like conspicuous consumption) and amplifies it, it is just an efficient supplier of anesthetics; but if it can identify the true "epicenter" behind user behavior and provide gentle awareness and repair possibilities, it has the opportunity to leap from a "transactional relationship" to a "healing relationship."
This leads to a key question: If compensation is a hidden driving force, what is its relationship with what we often call the "user's job-to-be-done (JTBD)"? And how can we use this "surface-inside relationship" to truly understand and design products and brands that reach people's hearts?
We will continue to explore this later: "The Economics of Compensation: Why Are Modern People Using the Wrong Tools to Complete Tasks?"


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## Citation metadata

- Publisher: New Distribution
- Author: 赵波
- Published: 2025-12-13
- Canonical: https://xinjignxiao.com/en/articles/zhao-bo-of-new-distribution-why-you-haven-t-truly-understood-the-user-s-e62207be/
- Original source: https://mp.weixin.qq.com/s/ay8v9wX0yBxBeo9A-zrxBw

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