We love taking photos. 

We download and buy apps that help us edit our photos to look brighter, sharper, and remove blemishes (or photobombers) – let’s say you like one app in particular. 

However, after you opened the app, you found yourself confused by the interface and unable to figure out even the feature or filter you wanted. This is user experience, or UX. 

Lucky for you, they have a helpline you can call, and their customer service representative responds quickly, is super helpful, and even gives you a free trial of their premium membership for a month as an apology. This is customer experience, or CX. 

This is just an example of good CX and bad UX, but it can work vice versa too. 

But what really is UX? 

User experience focuses on the people directly interacting with a single product/service. This can be a mobile app, software or website, or even a non-digital product. The focus in UX is usability of a product or service. UX designers analyse how enjoyable the experience of using a product/service is, and how easily or intuitively someone can learn to use it.  

And CX?

Customer experience is a big thing today. According to Forrester, customers will pay 4.5 times more if the CX is good, and companies expand five times faster because of it. 

UX is like a subset of CX. CX is much broader, and encompasses all the experiences a customer has with your brand. It’s important because whether it’s positive or negative influences the likelihood of a customer repeating transactions with you, as it also gives you an edge over your less customer-friendly competitors.  CX designers look at a customer’s perception of your organisation’s brand reputation, advertising, pricing, delivery methods, customer service, etc. 

Image Source: Every Interaction 

For a quick history lesson, the term “UX” was coined by Don Norman in the 1990s, while “CX” is a more recent term, only having started making the rounds in the last 12 years. A good digital marketing agency knows how to employ both effectively depending on unique company environments and needs. 

What are the differences between UX and CX? 

Quite a few. 

• Type of Research – UX designers are more well-acquainted with individual personas, while CX designers survey large groups. CX’s main focus is to boost your overall brand perception and customer loyalty, while UX looks at designing and observing users while they interact with that design. 

• Metrics – CX looks at how customers rate their overall experience with a company, using metrics like net promoter score (NPS), customer effort score (CES), or retention rate. UX designers’ focus on usability makes them look at app store ratings, how customers describe their experience with a product/service, etc. 

• Client Base – CX is more well-known in service industries such as retail and hospitality, while UX designers work for clients who need digital products redesigned or created. 

• Target Audience – CX targets people with purchasing power (customers), while UX designers pay attention to whoever will use the product or service, whether it’s a CEO, employees of a company, or business customers. 

It’s important to distinguish between UX and CX, especially if it’s to figure out what issues your brand is facing and whether you need to do an entire CX overhaul or simple UX tweak. 

How can UX and CX work together? 

Ultimately, UX and CX go hand-in-hand. They’re both focused on customer satisfaction during company interaction, because a bad experience with a product = a bad perception of the company as a whole. Similarly, if people don’t identify with your brand advertising and image, it’s unlikely they’ll even want to interact with the brand. 

UX improves CX. 

Create personas of customers, map out their various customer journeys, make feedback easy. As American business magnate Steve Jobs once said: 

“One of the things I’ve always found is that you’ve got to start with the customer experience and work backwards to the technology.”

— Steve Jobs

Let’s work together to make your brand better. Tribe of Brands can help you stay on top of trends to effectively navigate the complex waters of the internet. Our marketing agency can help you with further ideas on how to design world-class websites, seamless user journeys, and digital marketing campaigns.