Customer experience (CX) refers to all interactions that a person has with a brand, while user experience (UX) refers to a person’s experience while interacting with aspects of a brand. CX can also be associated with all of the customer’s brand interactions and encompasses aspects of UX.
Although CX and UX are similar, they have distinct differences. Understanding the differences between CX and UX can help businesses create clear marketing campaigns to better target their audiences and improve their customer experience.
What is customer experience (CX)?
CX centers around how the customer feels when interacting with a business’s brand. A positive CX would mean that the customer’s interaction has created a positive perception of the business. If a customer has negative interactions with the business, they will form a negative perception.
CX encompasses all interactions that the customer could have, including:
Essentially, CX includes all aspects of the customer’s interaction with the business.
To have effective CX, businesses must be cohesive and show customers that they are united in giving customers positive experiences. Effective CX aims to give customers positive experiences with the business, from purchasing a product or service to interacting with the business on social media.
Examples of customer experience
A customer, Jane, visits the website of a business that she follows on social media. The business posts relatable content on social media, and Jane is now interested in purchasing products from the business.
While browsing, she finds the website easy to navigate and can get all of the information she needs. The website design is clean, and Jane finds herself relating more and more to the business. However, she has a question about one of the products sold.
Jane calls customer service to find an answer to her question. The first representative she speaks to is unable to help answer her question, and Jane is put on hold. She waits for ten minutes before being transferred to another representative. She repeats her question and is transferred to a different department.
After several holds, Jane gives up and doesn’t purchase the product from the business. The business both succeeded and failed in CX.
This story provides examples for:
Good customer interaction through social media;
Effective and straightforward website design;
Poor customer service.
The business earned a potential customer by uniting their effects in social media and website design. However, the business failed to provide good CX when the customer called to speak with business representatives. Overall, the customer’s poor experience with representatives led to doubt about the company as a whole.
This story shows the importance of consistent CX in every department of a business. Neglecting CX in one department can undermine the effectiveness of other departments.
Elements of good customer experience
CX is essential to gaining lifelong customers who return to purchase business services for products. For effective CX, businesses need to display:
Dependability;
Brand consistency;
Reputation;
Quality;
Engagement.
Businesses should analyze aspects of their CX that might fail a customer’s expectations. For example, having an intuitive, integrated e-commerce platform will help the customer better navigate purchases and expedite the fulfillment of their orders. Additionally, using customer portal software will ensure that the customer has control over their CX.
Businesses should also put effort into ensuring that their social media, website, and customer service all provide the same seamless experience for the consumer.
What is user experience (UX)?
UX is part of CX and focuses solely on the user’s interaction with the product or service. Good UX ensures that the customer can navigate web pages with ease and find what they are looking for. It promotes brand awareness through tested web pages and pleasing product designs.
While CX focuses on the customer’s experience with the company as a whole, UX ensures the usability of the product or site. A well-designed website will build credibility for a business through its efficiency.
Like CX, UX can build trust and customer retention. On the one hand, if customers find that the site is easy to maneuver, they are more likely to return to the website to use the service or purchase the product. On the other hand, customers who are frustrated by a website will click away and find a new website to answer their questions.
Because UX is a part of CX, it has a similar goal — to ensure that the customer has a good experience when interacting with the business.
Examples of user experience
A consumer, Grant, visits a website and finds that the page is easy to maneuver and aesthetically pleasing. He decides to download the app and sign up for the business’s subscription service. Within a few clicks, he downloads the app.
Grant opens the app; however, the app doesn’t match the description on the business’s webpage and fails to live up to his expectations. Grant cancels his subscription and looks elsewhere for a replacement.
This example shows great web design, creating flawless UX. The customer can easily maneuver the web page, which gives the brand authority through its simplicity. However, when the customer turned to the app, it failed to live up to the expectations, failing the last step of UX.
The story provides examples for:
Good web design;
Poor app design.
All aspects of web design and product design must work together to gain the customer’s approval and appreciation. If the product design met the customer’s expectations gained from the great web design, the business would have succeeded.
Elements of effective user experience
Good UX practices will help earn a customer’s respect and ensure customer retention. Aspects of good UX include:
Strong website design;
Cohesiveness between web design and product design;
Customers should be able to find information quickly and easily — an aesthetically pleasing site doesn’t promise customer satisfaction if they can’t find what they’re looking for. Additionally, both the website and the product must offer the same promises. Customers are easily frustrated when receiving a product that doesn’t live up to their expectations.
Provide the experience your clients want.
Find out what buyers are looking for in our B2B Buying Process Report.
