CX Design in less than 700 words

Customer Experience (CX) refers to customer experiences with a particular brand. That is, it focuses on the touchpoints that exist before, during and after the purchase process, with the objective of designing user-centric strategies to delight customers at each stage of the Customer Journey.

Index

• What is Customer Experience?
• Difference between CX and UX
• CX Design Benefits

The relationship between a company and its customers is based on different types of interactions through different touchpoints or channels. These interactions can be both positive and negative experiences and, depending on the type, this will determine the quality of the relationship with the user.

Basically, CX design is about creating simple and efficient processes that facilitate positive customer experiences.

Difference between Customer Experience (CX) and User Experience (UX)

Although similar, User Experience (UX) design is a process carried out to create products that provide positive experiences to users, considering variables such as design and function, while Customer Experience (CX) design refers to a comprehensive optimization of the customer's experience with the brand, considering the entire customer process. That is, from the moment a need or problem arises, through the search for information and options, until the decision and the purchase is made.

At each stage of the process, the customer will come into contact with the brand in different ways and through different channels, going through the main business processes such as marketing, sales and customer service. These moments are relevant to the customer experience and are the ones that should be analyzed by the CX design team to determine points for improvement.

CX Strategy

CX is highly dependent on each person's perception, so, to a certain extent, it is subjective. However, organizations must create strategies that allow them to respond to their customers' needs, at the right time and in the right channel, with the right information and the expected effectiveness. Companies must engage their customers in a way that makes them feel valued, not only by solving the problem, but also by exceeding their expectations.

This deep understanding of the customer is achieved through different tools, for example:

• Buyer persona: semi-fictional representation of the ideal customer, based on a demographic and attitudinal profiling of the market segment.
• Customer Journey: methodology that allows understanding the customer's buying process.
• Empathy: first stage of Design Thinking, which allows to understand the user for whom value is created.
• Empathy Map: tool that allows profiling the customer according to 6 aspects related to their senses, needs and frustrations.
• Value Proposition Canvas: made up of 2 segments – customer profile and value map – the Value Proposition Canvas identifies the main needs of the buyer persona to determine the product or service that satisfies them.

<<Know More:  Importance of customer experience design>>

Benefits of CX Design

• Understanding the customer process represents a fundamental piece for companies, since understanding the journey and each stage of it allows them to generate strategies and actions that enhance the relationship between the customer and the brand. With CX design, the Customer Journey can be optimized to alleviate user frustrations and increase positive reactions at each stage of the process.
• Since customers come into contact with the brand through different touchpoints, with CX design and an omni-channel approach, you can create consistency across all channels involved, ensuring a seamless, effective and positive experience.
• According to Harvard Business School, 95% of purchasing decisions are made based on emotions. With CX design, companies know their customers and their buying processes, therefore they can connect emotionally with users, anticipating and satisfying consumer needs.