CX vs. UX: What’s the Difference?

You need to understand both for your business to succeed

Rafał Warniełło
Modus
Published in
8 min readAug 2, 2019

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Credit: Katarzyna Dziaduś, Illustrator at Netguru

CCustomer experience (CX) and user experience (UX) — these two terms mean fundamentally different (though complementary) things, yet are often used interchangeably by app, software, and website owners.

Story co-authored by Diana Woch, Senior UX Designer at Netguru.

The confusion comes from how we tend to define our clientele. Our users are our customers — so the user experience and customer experience must be equivalent, right?

Actually, no. UX and CX are two different concepts, and it’s essential to understand this distinction if your users/customers are to enjoy the best possible overall experience of your product and your brand.

So let’s clear things up.

What is user experience?

The concept of user experience is specific to your digital product, i.e., person’s experience with your app, software, or website. UX applies to the experience that a user/customer has when they interact with that product.

The design of your product and its interface — its usability, navigation, visual hierarchy, information architecture, etc. — combine to create a user experience that is either positive or negative for the product’s users. Thus, UX isn’t just about creating an intuitive interface and visually appealing designs; it’s about understanding and addressing the users’ entire customer journeys.

Accordingly, UX design is the process of designing products that are intuitive, easy to navigate, and enjoyable to use.

How to measure user experience

Measuring a user’s experience can be challenging as it is subjective and influenced by many factors. However, several methods can help to measure UX.

One way is to use analytic tools that provide quantitative data on how the product is performing and how users interact with it. Some key cx metrics include:

  • Success rate: The percentage of users who complete a goal within your product or reach a stage you want them to reach.
  • Error rate: The number of mistakes a user makes when completing…

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Rafał Warniełło
Modus
Writer for

I'm a Senior Product Designer with over 4 years of professional experience in UX/UI Design.