The term experience in marketing is being thrown around like a hot tamale. Businesses are increasingly focusing on personalized and memorable user experiences to retain and gain customers.

85% of businesses say they are providing personalized experiences to consumers.

Two acronyms stand at the core of this strategy: UX (User Experience) and CX (Customer Experience).

While often used interchangeably the difference between user experience and customer experience are distinct and when combined, can significantly influence a business’s success:

• UX focuses on making sure people are effective and satisfied using a product or service. It involves designing elements to be easy and intuitive to use – everything from how it looks to how it works.
• CX focuses on the overall journey and how customers feel about a brand as a whole. It involves every single interaction from first discovering the brand, to purchasing, to getting support afterwards.

We’re covering the nuanced relationship between CX and UX and how harmonizing both leads to remarkable business outcomes.

You'll learn:

1. What is the relationship between customer experience and user experience?
2. What is difference between UX and CX?
3. What does CX stand for in design?
4. How can UX and CX work together?

What is the Relationship Between Customer Experience and User Experience?

The relationship between UX and CX is like a partnership.

UX describes single customer interactions, which together, forms the overall CX.

Good UX makes CX better, by making sure every time a customer uses a product or service, its easy, fun, and does what they need.

On the other hand, a good CX plan looks at more than just these singular moments. It also thinks about how customers feel, engage across channels, and the impression they have throughout their whole journey with a brand.

Both are vital, in fact - 73% of customers call CX a driving force in their purchasing decisions.

Despite their interconnectedness, it's important to distinguish between UX and CX.

What is Difference Between UX and CX?

The "ux cx difference" primarily revolves around their scope and focus within the customer journey.

UX looks at a single entity – like a website, mobile app, or digital product – and distinctly concentrates on usability, design, and the direct interaction with a product or service.

Contrastingly, CX looks at the big picture. CX includes service encounters, brand reputation, cross-channel engagement, post-purchase, and overall satisfaction with all aspects of a brand – involving multiple departments from marketing to after-sales support.

While UX can be measured through usability testing, conversions, and user feedback. CX is assessed through broader metrics, such as net promoter scores (NPS) and customer satisfaction surveys.

What Does CX Stand for in Design? UX in Design?

The distinction between an experience designer vs ux designer is thus a matter of scale and scope.

While UX designers concentrate on the details that enhance usability and enjoyment of a product or service, CX designers aim to create a cohesive, positive experience across all customer touchpoints.

They both rely on a ton of data to get right – from customer service responses, to website bounce rates, to customer churn.

Let’s take a look at cx design and ux design focus areas:  

CX designer’s focus on:

• Customer journey maps that outline every step of the customer’s journey, from initial awareness to post-purchase interactions.
• Service design of elements to ensure service delivery meets customer expectations across every interaction e.g. in-store experiences, customer support interactions, and the overall service delivery process.
• Brand experiences ensure designs and experiences are consistent with the brand’s values at every touchpoint.
• Feedback and loyalty programs to gather customer feedback and enable creation of loyalty programs and improved processes to enhance customer retention.

UX designer’s focus on:  

• User interfaces (UI) through which users interact with products or services.
• Usability by conducting tests and research to make sure the product meets the users’ needs effectively and efficiently.
• Information architecture by optimizing the structure and organization of information in apps or websites to ensure users can easily find what they are looking for.
• Interaction design, looking at interactive elements of a product, like buttons, gestures, and animations, to create a smooth and engaging user experience.
• Accessibility by making sure ALL users can easily use and enjoy the experience.

How Can UX and CX Work Together?

UX and CX clearly share a common goal: customer satisfaction.

Both start with a deep understanding of the customer’s needs, goals, and challenges and learnings from either arena can apply to improve the other.

For example, feedback from usability testing (UX) can lead to improvements in customer support processes (CX), ensuring that issues are resolved more efficiently.

Businesses looking to merge UX and CX should focus on:

• Understanding their customers: Deep dive into customer needs, preferences, and pain points.
• Breaking down silos: Ensure that insights and data flow freely between departments.
• Continuous optimizations: Use customer feedback and metrics to refine experiences continually.
• Design, experience, and technology best practices: Invest in the right strategies, tactics, tools, and brand elevations to enhance UX and drive overall CX improvements.

Follow the following best practices to enhance both UX and CX.

How to make UX and CX work together:

• Listen to your users: Start by finding out what your customers like and what they don't. Use what you learn to make both the small details (UX) and the big picture (CX) better.
• Set common goals: Make sure everyone is on the same page about making your customers' experience smooth and enjoyable from start to finish. This means your UX (how easy and delightful your product is to use) and CX (how customers feel about your brand overall) plans should match up with what your business wants to achieve.
• Keep improving: Always ask your customers how you're doing and use their feedback to make things better. This means tweaking both the nitty-gritty details and the overall experience.
• Work together: Get teams from different departments to work together. This helps make sure that everything from your website to how you handle customer calls is working towards making your customers happy.

As technology evolves and customer expectations rise, the lines between UX and CX will continue to blur, making their integration a strategic imperative for companies aiming for success.

The Future of UX and CX Working Together

The key takeaway is to acknowledge that a good user experience influences the overall customer experience, therefore making both concepts inseparable in order to meet and exceed the expectations of your customers.

Ready to improve your customer experience strategy? Whereoware is a digital experience agency shaping superior experiences that not only meet but exceed our customers' expectations, contact us to learn more.

‍