Lemme start with a big brand fantasy, hope Versace has touched you somewhere. Entering a Versace showroom is an experience where you see every product is so elegantly placed with a perfect aroma that makes you feel the worth of buying their products. Plus there are attractive girls to attend all your queries (manipulating you with their mesmerizing smiles.) That’s the kind of Customer Experience (CX) everyone wants to have.
Now it’s time to try out your desired items they are manipulating you for. Everything is so perfect, the way you fantasize. That’s what the User Experience (UX) is for you.
Let’s demystify the world of UX and CX…
Adding more words to it; what makes you loyal to a brand and visit your favorite brand outlet more often – that’s what Customer experience(CX) is all about. Overall experience, Recommendations, product quality and post-buy services are the primary components to gauge the performance.
At the same time, when you are highly satisfied using their product, that’s user experience (UX) and can be measured by success and error rate, task completion time and usability etc.
While UX designers focus their efforts more on designing a better UX, they forget the significance of customer experience. From the time the customers know about the product, do a price comparison, read the reviews, and finally buying it; everything is customer experience. A few examples of CX and UX wheels that will make your car run:
Good Cop – Bad Cop
Whenever we go to the airport, it’s always the same messed up story. Waiting hours, long queues at immigration counters, security check-in rush… Whew!! But thank God for the airports with self-check-ins and fast-track immigration counters, where you can do everything yourself without any help from others. The machine guides the user perfectly about how to go with it and have a stress free process. That satisfies the user and a case of a good UX and good CX.
Instagram is an interesting example of good CX. You have all the great features to edit your picture and share it with the world. There’s no word limit, you can use ‘n’ number of hashtags, you have a lot of amazing ready-to-use filters, and blah blah blah… But there’s a different learning curve when you have just shifted from an Android phone. That’s a trouble due to the poor UX. But the Instagram website is a relief as you find clear-cut instructions on how it works for iOS. That’s a bad UX and good CX for you.
When you visit Amazon, you have everything, right from proper navigation buttons, well-organized product list, online chat assists to even the instruction to find your desired products. But what if your product is not there on the website contrary to their promise of having everything from A to Z. That is good UX and bad CX for you.
Now, how can you improve the CX? Here are few ways:
- Feedback: Communications with the customer should be always open and easy. The UX should be designed in such a way that call-to-action buttons help people in easily finding what they are looking for. Besides all this, make sure you reply to all queries within a decent span of time through chat options. Another important thing is to let the customers know, after resolving their issues. These small UX tips will create a connection with the brand, as they are always being heard.
- Well-combined channels: It’s good to have multiple channels for your product/service. But it’s also important to maintain all of them in a proper and regular manner. Whatever content you are providing on any of the channels, it should be consistent in all the others platforms as well.
- Team involvement: Make sure everyone’s involved in the customer forums and blog comments section. It’s just not the designers or content team, but sometimes experts need to address customer issues. The other teams as well should know what is being posted live, how it’s being received and what queries customers have.
A blend of both is all you need
There are only two scenarios; either the customers are satisfied, or they are not. There’s nothing in between. There’s a very thin line between UX and CX, but if you do a deeper research, you’ll find out there are many components that differentiate them from each other. But a better understanding and a blend of both can help you convert your customers really well and build a loyal database that ensures your company’s success.
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