CX vs. UX: What is the difference?
Customer experience (CX) and User experience (UX) have similar goals but are managed by different stakeholders. Specifically, the shared aim is to improve things for the customer or end-user. Marketing typically manages CX and looks at the experience often through the lens of loyalty, personalization, customer relationship, and more. CX has its own metrics and software (with many vendors) called Customer Experience Management (CXM) software. UX does not have any unified UX management software. UX metrics are often qualitatively derived or follow established quantitative metrics already being tracked in the name of the wider CX.
(Ready for the video? scroll down for a full video of the recent CX vs UX Miniclass webinar: 40min)
So, what else is different?
CX professionals can often not be trained in Human Computer Interaction (HCI) or Cognitive Science methods which is where UX practices and standards come from. CX can be tracked by anyone, and many senior managers discuss or worry about the CX without understanding the nuances of user behavior, user flows, or the practice of user advocacy, in general. CX looks at a customer’s path across an experience and can be channel-agnostic, whereas UX tends to focus on a specific channel.
UX dives deeply into a channel (mainly digital) and solves a specific problem there– eg fix onboarding, improve conversion, improve navigation, etc. This is where CX and UX overlap because the CX team needs a good app experience, UX’ers are called in to make that work (eg. an ordering app flow that sends an alert when your order is ready to pick up). Next, CX is looking at how to personalize the welcome strategy in the physical space the customer will occupy (eg. a special car parking space or pick-up area for app-based purchases).
Where should CX and UX work together?
Taking a holistic journey-wide, omnichannel view of CX/UX is vital. Customers choose the channel of their choice, and they change channels (74%, 2020) and devices (66%, 2020), according to Salesforce research. This leaves no room for narrow CX or UX agendas or projects.
What can help? Service Design, by nature, takes a step back from a channel-specific solution and looks at the totality (that’s a systems thinking view) of the CX/UX, channels, and touchpoints (user or customer interactions with the company). Service Design also requires partnering across silos, making it the perfect collaborative approach to bringing CX and UX energies together.
See Masterclass: Leveraging Service Design techniques to connect cross-channel customer experience.
Sharing journey mapping creation and discovery, business goals, and metrics (unique to CX and UX outcomes) is the best way to work together. First, clarify the boundaries of CX vs UX, then work to service different aspects of the customer journey. Finally, measure and track weak areas and successes in a unified manner.
Watch the full Miniclass webinar- How CX and UX work together
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