How to balance User Experience and Customer Experience

There is a difference between the experiences of users and the experience of a customer. In most of the cases, it has been found that the designers are able to satisfy the users, but not the customers. The process of customer experience begins when they bargain the price of the products, to while they use it, to when while they go to customer service center to fulfill their needs. While a designer designs a product, they need to understand the requirements of the customers as well as predict what they can want in future. In order to understand it, one needs to understand the difference between user and customer experience.

User Experience:

The UX can be termed as the experience of the customer or user with specified products, a particular software, app or website. The interface’s design-its usability, information architecture, learnability, navigation, visual hierarchy, comprehension etc all combine for creating UX, it can be negative or positive. The role of a UX designer is to design the product in such a way that will solve problems of customers in an enjoyable and efficient manner.

Customer Experience:

Customer experience has far greater scope than user experience. It can be defined as a customer’s experience with all the products of a particular brand, not a specific one. All products, as well as all channels of a brand, come under the umbrella concept of customer experience. It also includes what is the concept of the user about the brand.

The factors that it includes are the following ones:

Customer Service

Brand Reputation

Advertising

Sales process

Product delivery

Fairness of pricing

Each individual item’s UX

Differentiating between CX vs. UX

The difference can be illustrated with two instances.

Bad User experience and Good Customer Experience

For example, it can be said that you prefer photo editing and buy an app for this purpose. You prefer the particular app because it provides the entire feature that you want from the app. But, while you begin the app you find that the entire interface of the app is very much confusing and you are not able to handle it.

Fortunately, they have their customer service number. While you call there, a friendly service provider picks up the phone and tells you in detail manner how to access the app. Now, everything is clear to you. Besides this, they provide you with a credit of $30 for your trouble.

It is an example of bad user experience but good customer experience. As the interface of the app was very confusing, you were puzzled how to handle this. For this as a user, your experience is not good. But, your other expectations from the brand- free credit and the customer service are fulfilled.

On a contrary, the opposite can happen.

Good Customer Experience and Bad User experience

You do not have time to go to the airport to buy airline tickets. For this, you prefer to buy online tickets. You think that it will be easier to download an app then browse it and the tickets. You did not have an experience of using these kinds of apps before. But, you find that the app is very user-friendly. The interface is self-explanatory, navigation is clear and it loads very fast, for all these, you are able to book the ticket in ten minutes.

When you go to the airport, you find that the scenario is different from what you have expected. The booth where you check-in is understaffed as well as the long is unnecessarily long. The behaviors of the attendants are not friendly. On the other side, you find it very much insulting while the staffs throw your baggage around. Even you are not happy with the service that they offered on a flight.

One characteristic of the brand that is the app makes you satisfied. But you are not happy with other services that they offered you. Undoubtedly, the user experience of the app is fine, but the services damaged the total customer experience. The bottom line of the story is that you have spent money on the brand but you do not get satisfactory service from them.

In order to satisfy the customers, one brand needs maintain the consistency between the customer experience and the user experience.

Ways user experience improves customer experience

Feedback from customers:

Make the communication with you easy for your customer. While the customers face any issue, they contact with customer care service. After resolving their issues, feedback can be taken from them.

Providing feedback:

Taking feedback is not enough; they need to provide feedback of the management team. While they will find that the managerial team is concerned about their issues, they will be confident about the services of the brand.

Combining channels:

A brand needs to combine all channels of their services. If there is any lake in the service, customers will lose belief in the brand. For instance, a bank can send instant messages to users when their account will be debited.

Providing context throughout the team:

Customers are not directly involved in the process of product design. But, they can be involved in the indirect manner. Designers can ask for the feedback of the customers on feasibility as well as explain their roles to fulfill product promise.

There is a slight difference between the customer experience and user experience but they are interlinked with each other. By improving one, another can be enhanced and achieved.