This CX Mini Masterclass provides clarity on the difference between user experience (UX) and customer experience (CX). Show host and customer experience expert, Julia Ahlfeldt, provides a definition of each and then explains the roles of CX vs. UX teams and how their work can complement one another. If you are looking to understand the distinction between UX and CX, then this episode is for you.

Navigating the buzzwords

User experience (UX) is a buzzword in the business world. It's sometimes confused with customer experience. As the field of customer experience continues to gain momentum, it’s important to understand how other disciplines like user experience fit into the picture, so that CX professionals can effectively collaborate with these teams and help business leaders understand what’s what.

Customer experience and user experience are related. We could think of them as cousins and good friends. Related, but still different. If we want to make a comparison between customer experience and user experience, the most logical place to start is with a definition of each.

Understanding CX

On CX Day, the CXPA released a great video with a definition of customer experience. The definition that I use is similar to the CXPA. I cover this in detail in episode 14, but as a quick refresher, we can think of a brand’s customer experience as all the ways that a consumer interfaces with that particular brand. Customer experience is the combined effect of things like touchpoints, products, service support, communication, plus a whole bunch of other things.

While the definition of a brand's customer experience is all encompassing, we must remember that as customers move through their lives, their individual journeys will include experiences beyond the confines of just one brand. Customer journeys don’t happen in a vacuum, they happen in the real world where people talk with their friends, read online reviews and interact with any number of other entities before or after they interface with your brand.

Defining UX

I'm pleased that the CXPA has provided some clarity around the definition of CX. The professional community needed this clarity, and it's probably safe to say that the UX community could benefit form the same. There are a wide range of definitions out there. One of the most commonly referenced definitions is from the International Organization for Standardization (ISO). They've defined UX as a person’s perceptions and responses resulting from the use and or anticipated use of a product, system or service. We could also interpret this as how a customer feels about every interaction they have with what’s in front of them while they’re using it.

CX vs. UX

While UX and CX both pertain to a person’s interactions and their responses, user experience tends to look at this through the lens of an interaction with a particular system or touchpoint. And in practice, user experience assessment or user interface design normally hone in on an individual’s interactions with a specific thing. This makes UX essentially a subset of CX, and it explains why user experience maps often feel like a zoomed in look at a particular facet of the customer journey.