Spend any time with a marketer these days and you’ll likely hear the term “User Experience.” It’s a buzz phrase that’s catching on in nearly every industry imaginable, but that doesn’t keep it from being frequently misunderstood. And if a company attempts to measure user experience via a user experience survey, it can mistake and misuse the information it learns in ways that ultimately impact the bottom line. Take a look at two really important facts about user experience surveys you might not have known:
User Experience Surveys Are Not the Same as Customer Experience Ones
According to the International Organization for Standardization, user experience (UX) is defined as “a person’s perceptions and responses resulting from the use and or anticipated use of a product, system or service.” Thus, the better experiences a user has with a product, the better a company is doing in terms of that product’s functionality and usability and satisfying its customers.
But user experience is not the same as customer experience. Customer experience (CX) is a wider encounter between a customer and business that includes all interactions around one particular brand (not one particular product). In this way, UX is part of the overall CX, but CX involves a lot more.
It’s important that companies figure out which part of their business needs evaluating when choosing whether or not to send a user experience survey. For instance, they might send a user experience survey to evaluate a new website. Such a survey would utilize more easily quantifiable questions that rate one particular aspect of a company (in this instance, the company’s website) and not seek to evaluate (as much) a user’s perception of the company at large. A CX survey, on the other hand, might include a variety of questions, both closed-ended and open, that provide multiple ways for a respondent to assess the brand as a whole, rather than according to one particular part. Being able to specifically target (product vs. brand) what is doing well and what isn’t, as well as why, is important for businesses wanting to make the most of their research dollars.
But They Should Be The Same as Human-Centered Ones
While user experience surveys are not the same as customer experience surveys, both should be human-centered ones. Utilizing a human-centered design simply means that you have taken into account people’s experiences, thoughts and opinions when planning out how to meet their needs. A good user experience survey should be a human-centered one that considers the personal backgrounds and perceptions of its respondents. This makes it easier (and more likely) for people to give you the data you need.
Need Clarification?
User experience. Customer experience. Human-centered design. The semantics can seem vague and too similar for much concern. But the nuances provide valuable details that can increase user and customer satisfaction, as well as a product’s standing the marketplace. Contact our team at Communications for Research (CFR) to learn how and when to use each to positively impact your business’s bottom line.
