With experience in both UX and CX domains, I frequently encounter questions about the distinctions between the two. This blog delves into the primary differences between customer experience and user experience, uncovering how they collaborate to generate synergy within a business.
In 1993, Don Norman, founder of the Nielsen Norman Group and former Apple VP, created the phrase “user experience” (UX). The term “customer experience” (CX) was first used by Tony Hillson of Service Design in New Zealand more than two decades later.
However, according to Nielsen Norman Group, the initial meaning of user experience was akin to what is now known as customer experience, and the term user experience has grown to reflect a more particular and functional type of interaction. For a long time, they have referred to customer experience as user experience.
While user experience and customer experience are not new terms in the digital age, they are frequently mistaken and used interchangeably. While not mutually exclusive, we can see some significant differences between customer experience and user experience, along with how they go hand-in-hand in an organization.
Customer experience comprises all interactions a person has with your brand. It might be judged in terms of overall experience and probability to continue use or suggest to others. According to Techjury, businesses that focus on enhancing customer experience see an 80% increase in revenue. Likewise, 86% of customers are willing to pay extra for a better customer experience. Hubpost’s State of Customer Service Report demonstrated that 93% of service teams think that customers now have higher expectations than ever before.
User experience refers to how people engage with your product and the experience they receive from that interaction. Usability, navigation, information architecture, learnability, and visual hierarchy are some of the factors that influence user experience. Remember that users are not always customers. To illustrate, website traffic are users, which also includes customers and visitors. That’s why any digital products provide free plans in the hopes that they would convert to paying customers.
Whatever the terms originally meant, we can now clearly distinguish customer experience and user experience in terms of the target audience, objectives, activities, measurement, and industry niches. Here are the details:
Although businesses can gain from improving customer service and user experience, campaigns often have different target audiences. Customer experience professionals serve individuals with purchasing power, whereas user experience specialists cater to those who utilize the product.
Customer experience focuses on pleasing customers at every level of the brand experience. On the contrary, user experience goals are centered on enhancing product design and usability from start to finish.
Due to the aforementioned goals, user experience activities may involve the following:
Customer experience activities turn out to be broader. In addition to the user experience practices listed above, customer experience professionals are also in charge of:
There is no one-size-fits-all method to measure the consumer experience. However, as previously mentioned, it boils down to how pleased your customers are and how likely they are to refer you to a friend. Below are some customer experience measures to consider:
Unlike customer experience, user experience necessitates measurement of your products’ usability. Some prominent metrics for measuring it are:
Customer experience is commonly associated with service-oriented businesses such as retail and hospitality. Conversely, user experience is more directly tied to companies that create digital experience with digital products such as websites and apps. While both areas can be both present industries, it is critical for businesses to create synergies between them.
Customer experience and user experience are both centered around the satisfaction level that a customer has while interacting with a business; both pay attention to different aspects of the overall customer experience.
If customers are dissatisfied with a product, they are unlikely to have a positive perception of the business as a whole. If, on the other hand, they are unhappy with a company’s marketing or purchasing journey, it is likely that they won’t want to interact with a product or service supplied by that brand.
Since the ultimate objective is to keep a consistent image and message across the whole customer experience, which is increasingly digital, excellent user experience across all platforms is essential to customer experience. After conducting in-depth surveys with 396 corporate decision-makers, Forrester discovered that 63% of businesses surveyed intended to improve the customer experience through enhancing the online customer experience. In other words, they intended to increase their customer experience through improved user experience.
Companies may guarantee their consumers’ ultimate happiness and contentment by improving their user experience, which in turn enhances their total customer experience, and by doing this, they are also building a long-lasting and customer-centric competitive edge.
In todays business landscape, leveraging and creating synergy between User Experience (UX) and Customer Experience (CX) is crucial for success. While distinct in their objectives and audiences, these disciplines collaborate to shape the overall perception of a brand and its products. By aligning their efforts, sharing insights, and adopting a customer-centric approach, organizations can unlock the full potential of UX and CX to drive customer loyalty, growth, and lasting competitive advantage.
