THE FOUR LAYERS OF CUSTOMER EXPERIENCE
Photo by Gustavo Fring from Pexels
BX, CX, UX, EX… What's the difference?
When it comes to talking about a customers 'experience' there are many terms thrown around; Brand Experience, Customer Experience, User Experience and more.
These experiences all play a role in shaping the customer's holistic experience and whilst they overlap to a degree, each category of experience serves an individual purpose and has its own unique tools, techniques and delivers customer and business value.
This article seeks to explain the different types of experience and how they fit together.
Experience as layers
The easiest way to think about customer experience is through a series of layers - with the Brand Experience layer forming the outermost layer, that envelops the total experience - what outsiders see. This is followed by the layer that the customer experiences and finally the innermost layer; the user's experience.
There is another layer that is critical to the delivery of a customer's experience which is that of the Employee Experience.
The 4 layers of experience:
Adapted from Jackson Ritchie (CHE Proximity), NN Group & Forrester
Unpacking the layers of experience design...
Brand Experience (BX)
Brand Experience envelopes Customer Experience and is responsible for conceiving and promoting the experience.
The Brand Experience sets expectations amongst consumers about what the brand represents, who it is for and what the experience will be like for the customer. These expectations are often communicated through advertising, but can also extend to events and experiential activities.
The Brand Experience cannot exist in isolation. If the Customer Experience does not align with the Brand Experience, the customer will be dissatisfied. But done well, these interactions will result in deeper emotional connections and greater brand affinity.
Customer Experience (CX)
Customer experiences are typically mapped along a journey and take into account all of the touchpoints the customer may interact with.
By understanding the different types of customer who use a product/service and their individual needs, goals and experience, organisations can look to remove pain points and increase satisfaction through improving accessibility, convenience and service.
Customer Experience is used by Marketers as a point of differentiation, to drive purchases, usage and loyalty.
Service Design (SD)
Service Design is closely aligned to Customer Experience and is concerned with the service component that makes up a customer's experience. It typically focuses on key moments along the customer journey and how they can be elevated to create a holistic service experience.
Service Design is the activity of planning and organising an organisations resources (people, props, and processes) to directly improve the customer’s experience.
The benefits of Service Design not only enhance the customer's experience but reduces inefficiencies and aligns both customer-facing and behind- the-scenes staff on their common purpose.
User Experience (UX)
User Experience typically looks at a single interaction between a user and person, machine or digital channel and asks the does the product/service work? Does it fit into their life? Does it meet their needs? How can we improve the experience?
User Experience design serves a dual purpose; to help the user achieve their goals easily, and to reduce the commercial risk from launching a product that isn't fit for use.
Even at this level, the brand experience should be woven into the user's experience to help ensure their expectations are meet and to help distinguish the experience from competitors.
Employee Experience (EX)
Every touchpoint shapes customer sentiment. With employees as a crucial touchpoint in a customer's experience, having a workforce of brand ambassadors that delivers a consistently differentiated customer experience has never been more vital. To build that workforce, Marketing and HR need to work together in equal partnership.
Whilst employee experience may have its roots in employee engagement and retention, the focus here is how employees can deliver the customer experience - from delivering both stand-out 'moments that matter' to the more commonplace exchanges between a customer and staff.
Piecing it all together
Ultimately, the precise definition for each layer of experience is not important, as each layer overlaps with each other to a degree. From a customers perspective, they see little distinction, as the sum of each layer forms their perceived experience.
What does matter is that no area of a customer's experience with a brand or organisation is overlooked. For example, a brand promise becomes meaningless if it isn't delivered through the Customer Experience. Or, if the User Experience is incredible, but the in-person service experience is terrible, then the overall impression is negative.
With this in mind, the layers of experience and their associated tools, methods & mindsets can help ensure that your brand delivers the experience customers want and expect.