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CX vs UX: what is more important

The customer experience (CX) and user experience (UX) are two popular buzzwords in the customer service industry. People's most common misconception about these two things is that they are one and the same—they aren't.

17 January, 2022
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The customer experience (CX) and user experience (UX) are two popular buzzwords in the customer service industry. People's most common misconception about these two things is that they are one and the same—they aren't.

Customer experience has traditionally been thought of as a company's interactions with their customers, whereas user experience is more about the individual's interaction with a product or service. Some people have even argued that user experience should be called "customer experience" because it covers both sides of the equation. Other people argue that there are many types of experiences, including marketing, web design, service design, and so on, all of which can be seen as part of customer experience but not necessarily user experience. Let's dive deeper into the CX and UX worlds to grasp the difference between them because there is a distinct one.

CX UX explained

Customer experience refers to how customers feel about their interactions with your company's products or services.

It includes both what they do and what they think. Customer Experience (CX) can be defined as "all aspects of the service or products that are perceived by customers". A company's customer experience (CX) is the sum of all interactions a customer has with that company. CX includes any communication, such as phone calls, emails, or social media posts, that a person might have with the company. A person may also interact with a company by visiting its website or viewing ads.

User experience refers to how customers feel about using your company's product or service.

It includes only what they do, not what they think. User Experience (UX) refers to everything related to how someone interacts with a product—from the physical elements like buttons and screens to design and interaction decisions like navigation flow and feedback prompts. User experience can be assessed through usability testing and other methods.

They also differ customer experience is a holistic view of the entire journey, from the time a person first hears about a product to when they purchase it. User experience, on the other hand, focuses on how people interact with a company's products or services.

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CX Specialist vs. UX Specialist

The customer experience (CX) is more than just an emotional response but includes all aspects of the end-to-end journey. CX designers focus on how customers engage with your company at every touchpoint. Customer experience designers will also do research, but their primary focus is on implementing changes within an organization to improve customer satisfaction - such as improving processes, responding quickly.

UX vs CX Specialist
UX vs CX Specialist

While customer experience designers work on how people interact with companies, User experience designers work on how people interact with technology. UX designers will focus on UX research and design in order to create a better understanding of how people use products and services in their everyday life. They will then work closely with developers in order to ensure that the product or service being created meets these needs.

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Is CX more important than UX?

Or is UX more important than CX? In the past, UX and CX were not considered to be important for a company. However, as technology continues to evolve, companies now realize that both these fields are becoming more and more necessary for success.


There is Nick, who is going to purchase a book. Nick chooses an online book store. UX design is excellent: the website is easy to navigate, findable and accessible, the payment process is flawless. Nick orders the book. But after more than two weeks of waiting, after emails with no response, always always busy customer support line, Nick just cancels the order. Will Nick order a book there again? No, even the best UX does not justify bad CX.

Nick chooses another online book store. But its layout is so cluttered, the site is all but easy to navigate, and he even does not manage to find the book needed because of the slow website. He doesn't order a book - the book store loses a potential client because of bad UX.


So the answer to what is more important sounds like: both are important equally. Both UX and CX are important for companies because they allow them to understand their customers better and make changes accordingly. They will also help your business grow because you'll know what your customers want and will be able to deliver this knowledge through your products.

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CX metrics vs. UX metrics

The importance of measuring both customer and user experience cannot be stressed enough. For example, suppose your website has an average conversion rate of 5% for visitors who complete the purchase process. In that case, you can analyze what percentage of those users had an excellent customer experience. If this number is below 10%, it may be time to reconsider your marketing strategy.

CX and UX can be used to gauge how well your company achieves its objectives. For example, if you want to increase revenue, you need to know what drives people to purchase from your business. If the answer is that good CX drove the purchasing decision, then you will know where best to focus your improvement efforts.

The first thing to note about measuring customer experience is that there are many ways this can be done. It's not just about asking customers what they think, as other factors such as social media posts and reviews should also be considered when determining how well a company is doing with its customers.

UX metrics are focused on measuring how well a product is designed, while customer experience metrics measure how satisfied customers are with their interaction with your company. Examples of UX metrics include:

  • Time-on-task
  • Task completion rates
  • Session duration
  • Bounce rate
  • Number of sessions per visit
  • Pages viewed per visit and conversion rates

Final thoughts

Both CX and UX have the same goal: to provide a seamless, easy-to-use product that solves problems for customers. As many companies know, it's crucial to create a positive experience for customers in order to get them engaged with your brand. This can be done by using CX and UX design principles that go beyond just creating an aesthetically pleasing layout or having good content - they also involve understanding what motivates users and customers, making interactions clear and easy, and connecting people with the businesses.

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author

CEO and Founder of Merge

My mission is to help startups build software, experiment with new features, and bring their product vision to life.

My mission is to help startups build software, experiment with new features, and bring their product vision to life.

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