Customer-centric harmony: Unifying CX and UX

Customer experience and user experience teams can add value by collaborating around the customer journey. Here's how.

In 2024, customers expect seamless and connected journeys across all interactions with a business. According to Salesforce's State of the Connected Customer report from August 2023, a staggering 79% of customers expect consistent interactions across departments. However, a significant portion, 55%, feel like they're communicating with separate departments rather than one cohesive entity. This disconnect stems from the siloing of User Experience (UX) and Customer Experience (CX) teams, resulting in inconsistent journeys that can lead to lost revenue, decreased satisfaction, and increased churn.

Not only does this separation create friction for customers, but it also leads to inefficiencies within organizations. Double work becomes commonplace as CX and UX teams operate in isolation, sometimes on the same projects, such as user research, and other times simply with shared goals, such as reduced cart abandonment.

When these teams come together, they achieve what’s best for the business and for its customers: increased satisfaction, more repeat purchases, and greater long-term loyalty.

What do CX and UX have in common?

At its core, CX encompasses the entirety of the customer journey, focusing on relationships, lifecycles, and interactions across various touch points. On the other hand, UX concentrates on specific features or products and their singular interactions. Despite their differences, both disciplines share common ground. They both conduct customer research through interviews, surveys, and testing. They both optimize for customer success. Most importantly, they both work to understand customer needs and find the best ways to meet them.

How CX and UX come together at the Journey level

For a truly integrated customer experience, UX interactions must be designed within the context of the broader customer journey. In other words, CX and UX need to talk to each other and share information more. This may require a shift in mindset, process, and tooling within your organization. However, it’s worth it for teams to shift the focus from product-first to journey- and customer-first.

Becoming more customer-centric doesn’t have to be a complicated process, and the changes don’t have to take place all at once.

Some best practices you can aim for to integrate CX and UX:

• Schedule meetings between CX and UX leaders at regular intervals (1x per month, to start).

• Have representatives from both departments present in customer interviews and user testing sessions.

• Integrate user research and journey maps into a Journey Management platform, such as TheyDo, where you can record insights, opportunities, and solutions in one place.

Additionally, incorporating CX perspectives into product launches, design reviews, and prioritization frameworks ensures that customer needs are at the forefront of decision-making processes.

Over time, these small changes will add up to an overall organizational shift towards customer-centricity.

Examples of UX and CX working in collaboration

Banking mobile app

In banking, the UX team designs a user-friendly tool for transferring funds within a banking mobile app. Meanwhile, the CX team evaluates customer behavior to determine where within the app the feature should be placed for maximum visibility and accessibility. Together they work to reduce pain points: they prioritize features such as one-click transfers, seamless integration with mobile contacts, and ensuring users don't have to exit the app during the process.

By combining UX design expertise with CX customer insights, the banking app delivers a seamless and intuitive fund transfer experience, enhancing overall customer satisfaction and loyalty.

Healthcare provider

For an online healthcare provider, UX designs a user-friendly interface that allows patients to easily schedule appointments, view available slots, and receive reminders. Meanwhile, the CX team focuses on optimizing the entire patient journey, from appointment booking to post-visit follow-ups. They collaborate on features such as personalized appointment reminders, virtual waiting rooms to minimize wait times, and feedback mechanisms to gather patient satisfaction data. Both work to reduce the time from patient outreach to care outcomes.

E-commerce retailer

For an e-commerce retailer, UX designs product carousels and checkout flows. CX considers customer behavior and feedback, such as asking for more diverse models, keeping items in carts longer, guest checkout, or transparent pricing. They collaborate on how the user gets from the product page to checkout, reduce abandoned carts, and make the shopping journey simple and frictionless.

These collaborative efforts between CX and UX result in tailored solutions that enhance the overall customer journey.

The benefits of bringing UX and CX closer together

When UX and CX teams work together on customer journeys, they can make organizations more efficient and profitable. When journeys are not only beautiful and functional, but also human-centric, they drive customer loyalty and satisfaction, ultimately driving revenue growth.

Moreover, fostering a culture of teamwork and innovation among CX and UX teams reduces double work, simplifies processes and improves overall organizational performance. Centralizing customer data in shared workspaces like TheyDo facilitates seamless collaboration and ensures alignment across departments.

Incorporating customer journey management tools like TheyDo can facilitate collaboration between CX and UX teams, driving impactful changes that elevate the customer experience.

Try it out today with a ready-made customer journey template.