User Experience vs. Customer Experience

It is often debated about the differences between customer experience (CX) and user experience (UX), or even if there is any difference. Although "UX" is a term that has been around longer than CX, it was first coined by Don Norman in 1990. Customer experience is a more recent concept that has only begun to be recognized in the last twelve years. CX and UX are both essential for brand success. Each brings attention in different ways to designing thoughtful products and experiences. So, what is the difference? But how can they complement each other?

What's the customer experience?

Customer experience refers to the impressions, feelings, and beliefs your brand creates for customers during the buyer's journey. CX is the overall impression that you have made on your customers.

Let's say your customer has technical problems with your product. The customer submitted a ticket via your help desk portal and was able to speak with someone from your team about the problem. These are some CX questions that your customer might consider.

Was this process seamless from the beginning?

Was the customer support representative helpful and responsive?

Would you recommend this company to a friend or colleague?

CX refers to how customers perceive your brand. It is based on how they feel about your products and the people who interact with them. Our recent State of Customer Service Report reveals that 93% of service team members agree that customers have higher expectations today than ever.

It's the little things that make people shout about your company. The positive as well as the negative.

What's the user experience?

The user experience is the sum of all interactions between your product and end-users. Good UX makes customers happy, before, during, and after they use your product.

Your customer might have asked the following UX questions when using your help desk portal.

Does this website look visually appealing?

Does the information make it easy to find?

Is this website compatible with my phone or desktop?

UX elements, such as intuitive design and minimal product friction, fit into the larger CX picture. This means that you must create the best customer experience, from sales support to customer service.

Although UX and CX are complementary, they do not always solve the same problems. It is important to know the differences between them.

Are you ready to learn more about UX and CX? Let's get started.

Let’s understand user experience (UX),?

The user experience is about the interaction between users and a single product or service. Most often, the product is a website or mobile app. Some companies may also hire UX designers to develop non-digital products. UX design does not care about the interface or the latest model of the toaster oven. It focuses on the usability and ease of use of the product. UX designers often focus on how easy it is for people to use a service or how intuitively they can use it. UX designers are concerned with topics such as information architecture, visual hierarchy, and navigation. This comprehensive guide will provide a detailed explanation of UX design.

What's customer experience (CX), you ask?

CX (customer experience) encompasses all interactions customers have with a company, including a particular product or service. CX can be described as the envelope of user experience. CX is a term used by companies to assess and improve the customer's perception of their brand. CX considers the perceptions of customers about an organization's advertising strategy and brand reputation, customer service, pricing methods, product use, and overall sales process. This introductory guide to customer experience (CX) will provide more details.

What are some of the key differences between UX and CX?

While UX is a component of CX, there are some key differences that you should consider. This is especially important if your goal is to decide which field to pursue or how to enhance your existing design skills. Below are the key differences in UX: how you focus on your daily responsibilities, key metrics, and who your target clients and audience are.>/p>

UX vs CX: Daily responsibilities and focus

While user experience designers concentrate on a particular product's interaction, customer experience designers look at the entire experience of the consumer with the company. Remember that UX designers don't always focus on the purchaser or the user. Let's say, for example, that a CEO purchases software for his employees to use and interact with daily. CX designers would consider the CEO's experience in researching and purchasing the software. UX designers would concentrate more on how employees interact with the software.

Both the user experience and customer experience of designers do extensive research. However, UXers are more familiar with small groups of people and individual people, while CX designers survey larger groups. CX designers are focused on increasing brand perception and customer loyalty. They often come up with better marketing strategies, better communication strategies with customers, and better customer experiences. UX designers spend their time creating digital and non-digital products. They also observe users as they use the product and develop ways to improve it.

Interested in a career as a UX designer?

CX vs. UX: Metrics

CX designers have different metrics than UX designers to gauge their success. Customer experience professionals look at the customer's overall experience with a company to determine how many customers they have lost or gained over time. CXers measure metrics such as churn, retention, customer lifetime value, customer effort score (CES), net promoter score, and NPS. These metrics are used to measure customer satisfaction and customer loyalty. UX designers use metrics to evaluate the usability and user experience of a product. UX designers often review app store ratings and record how customers describe their experience with a product or service.

UX vs. CX: Client base and target audience

CX designers often work for retailers and other hospitality companies, as the term "customer-experience design" is still relatively new. UXers are often hired by clients who need to create or redesign a digital product such as a website or an app. CXers often target people with purchasing power, while UX designers focus on the users of the product or service.

What do CX and UX look like together?

Let's now see how UX/CX interact.

The customer experience is only as good as the user experience. Both CX and UX can be combined in many ways. Both CX and UX focus on the customer's satisfaction with the company. They both pay attention to different aspects of the customer journey. A user who is unhappy with a product will not have a positive perception of the company. Conversely, if a user is unhappy with a company's marketing or buying process, they are less likely to want to interact with the service or product offered by that company.

Understanding the key relationship between CX and UX can make a significant difference in a company's ability to grow its bottom line. An organization can't just have a great product. Forrester, a well-known business analytics and consulting firm, found that customers will pay more for a long-lasting relationship than for a product. Paying attention to customer feedback and how they rate the experience of buying it, contacting support, and terminating their use of it is key. This is why it's important to not only have a well-marketed brand but also to make sure that users can use the products they offer.

Both these fields are interrelated, so many companies are seeking people who can work in both. CX designers who can address customer complaints about the product they are designing will be more successful in increasing customer satisfaction than those who can't. A UX designer who is familiar with customer service and purchasing habits can often create a better interface or product. Both can benefit from knowing both fields.

UX vs. CX: Key Takeaways

Many brands struggle to differentiate themselves from their competitors in a highly competitive digital and non-digital marketplace. Both the UX/CX careers have seen a rise in popularity, proving the need for companies to spend more time studying their customers and users. While there might be some differences in the customer and user experience, designers who can empathize and understand both will create better products, better marketing strategies, and provide better client satisfaction.

Why Difference Matters

Why is the distinction between CX and UX important? One, it is important to distinguish between internal roles and responsibilities. The goal of your UX team should be to improve product usability.

Although usability is important for CX, positive brand experiences are the real measure of CX's success. Your business must have separate, but complementary strategies for each.

Happy customers are the result.

Let's now talk about CX and UX throughout the customer journey.

UX and CX: How They Work Together

Customer experience is only one part of the user experience. You won't likely be able to create a positive customer experience without good UX.

UX is for all products. CX is about people and products.

These concepts can be combined to create a seamless customer journey. You can map it if you are unsure of what the journey looks like. You can use customer journey maps to show how a person experiences your company from start to finish.

You can also use journey maps to assess the quality and effectiveness of UX and CX at each touchpoint. Take this example:

Are there any issues? Perhaps your app takes forever to load, and users are stuck in the middle of a task. That's UX.

What are your customers' feelings? Perhaps they feel loved and supported whenever they have a problem. They may also want to tell their friends about your brand. That's CX.

Customer experience is a culmination of UX and CX interactions throughout the customer journey. It helps customers feel about your company and products.

UX Examples

CX in Practice:

These are some tasks that a CX group might complete:

• Survey customers to get insight into their experiences with your brand.
• To identify and resolve recurring customer issues, review customer service tickets.
• See the sentiments of customers on social media to see how they feel about the brand.
• Develop strategies to retain customers.

UX in Practice:

• These are some tasks that UX teams might complete:
• Come up with ideas to make your app more interactive and enjoyable to use.
• Perform usability testing of a website to find obstacles users face when using a product or service.
• Revamp the visual appearance and feel of a landing page for a product or service.
• Make it more user-friendly by updating the information architecture of the user interface.