UX vs. CX: What’s the Difference and How to Incorporate Both into Your Next Dev Project
You’ve probably heard the terms UX and CX before, but do you know the differences between the two? Have you ever wondered if they are the same concept, if one is a part of the other, or if they are completely different altogether?
This article will help you answer these questions and better understand the differences between UX and CX so that you and your team can apply them consistently without having any misunderstandings.
And because these concepts are becoming important parts of business language and strategy, having a solid understanding of UX vs. CX can help you build a better designed and more efficient service/product that attracts a significantly higher number of users.
User Experience (UX)
First, let’s talk about what UX means: User experience (UX) is a concept that encompasses all aspects of an end user’s interaction with a service, product, and all relevant interfaces. UX focuses on usability, navigation, and functionality in order to provide a meaningful experience for the user.
You can measure UX with a set of metrics so that you can have a quantitative focus point to calculate a product’s success and a user’s satisfaction. These metrics could be:
• Success rate: The percentage of users who completed the task set for them
• Error rate: The number of mistakes made by the user during the given task
• Abandonment rate: The percentage of users who left the task undone
• Task time: The percentage of time the user took to complete the task
• Quantity of clicks: The number of clicks the user made during the given task
You can balance these metrics in order to achieve the main goals of good UX:
• A platform that is fast and easy to navigate
• Tasks are easy to complete and require low effort
• Relevant information that is easy to find and understand
Customer Experience (CX)
Now, what does CX mean? Customer experience (CX) refers to every point of interaction that a user has with a brand, not just the interactions with the product or service. CX is not just about the actions the user has but also includes the feelings they have during their interactions and their emotional connection to the brand, from the moment they first acknowledge it, to when they have completed the task and how they will remember it.
You can also measure CX with certain metrics, using a quantitative focus point to calculate a product’s success and the user’s satisfaction. These metrics, based on the “big picture,” could be:
• Satisfaction: Level of satisfaction the user feels toward their interaction with the brand
• Net Promoter Score (NPS): A user’s willingness to recommend the brand to others
• Loyalty: Percentage of users that continue using the brand vs. competitors
Using these metrics, you will be better equipped to achieve the goals of good CX:
• A pleasant and helpful experience for users
• An excellent overall experience for users that they will enjoy and want to recommend
Now that you understand the differences between UX and CX, and recognize that each has both quantitative and qualitative attributes, it’s time to focus on how to make the best use of them in your next project. My advice is: just dive in!
The most important thing to remember is to not create a barrier between these concepts. In other words, do not think of UX and CX as two separate concepts, but rather as two essential components that when used in conjunction, help to center your project around the end-user.
When you begin your next project, start by thinking about who your end-user will be: what are their thoughts, needs, and feelings, and what problems will they face while using your product? Be emphatic; try to see things from their perspective first, so that you can identify a wide range of opportunities to improve your product. When you center your process entirely around the end-user and incorporate elements of both UX and CX into every step of your production process, you will ultimately create a product that your users will love (because it was made just for them).
UX and CX Final Thoughts
By now, you have probably deduced that UX is a subpart of CX. To further summarize, User Experience is the interactions and experiences a user has with a product or service, while Customer Experience is the whole deal: the user’s interactions, and what they think and feel towards the overall brand.
Ultimately, we are able to establish that good UX can be identified by a user in a matter of seconds, if the user accomplishes what they were looking for in the interaction and if they will continue to use it. Successful CX goes beyond this and serves as a method of differentiating your brand from others that have products or services that are similar to yours.
In conclusion, don’t let the perhaps confusing naming structure of these concepts stop you from diving in. Just remember that the most important thing is to put the customer first, be emphatic, and strive for an even balance between UX and CX in each project you take on.
If you are interested in knowing more about which methods allow you to have the best results in the practice of UX and CX, stay tuned for my next blog post on this important topic! Can’t wait? Learn more by checking out the following resources:
