UX vs CX: Are We Just Playing Vocabulary Ping Pong?

User Experience (UX) and Customer Experience (CX) are two terms that are frequently tossed around in design and business conversations, but how different are they really? Are these genuinely distinct fields, or are they simply different ways of labeling similar tasks, inflated by industry trends? In this article, we’ll explore the overlap between UX and CX, reflect on vocabulary inflation in the UX industry, and look at why this trend persists.

Defining UX and CX

What is User Experience?

At its core, UX focuses on how a person interacts with a product or service. It’s all about ensuring that these interactions are seamless, intuitive, and delightful. From navigating a mobile app to ordering food through a kiosk, UX seeks to answer the question: “Is this easy and enjoyable for the user?”

Key aspects of UX include:

• Usability: Can users achieve their goals without frustration?
• Accessibility: Does the design cater to all users, including those with disabilities?
• Feedback: How does the interface respond to user actions?

In simpler terms, UX zooms in on how users feel while using a product.

What is Customer Experience (CX)?

CX encompasses every interaction a customer has with a brand, from the first ad they see to the customer support they receive after making a purchase. It’s about crafting a holistic brand experience.

Key aspects of CX include:

• Touchpoints: Website, social media, retail stores, emails – you name it.
• Consistency: Does the brand deliver a seamless experience across all channels?
• Satisfaction: How does the customer perceive their overall journey with the brand?

So a CX expert claims, unlike UX, CX takes a broader view, covering the entire customer lifecycle. The truth is, CX and UX share the same objective: creating experiences that are both effective and delightful for the people using them. Whether you call yourself a UX professional or CX strategist, chances are you’re performing tasks that overlap significantly.

UX vs CX: Are They Really That Different?

Let’s not beat around the bush. The UX vs CX debate largely exists because of terminology, not because of fundamentally different job functions. Both roles aim to:

• Ensure seamless and intuitive interactions with products or services.
• Gather and analyze user feedback to make improvements.
• Create journeys that drive satisfaction, loyalty, and business success.

The main difference lies in how the roles are marketed. UX sounds hyper-focused on design and interaction. CX, on the other hand, carries a broader appeal, hinting at strategy and brand management. In practice, the two often involve the same skill sets, tools, and outcomes.

A UX designer working on a mobile app redesign? They’re essentially shaping a part of the CX. A CXer helping a brand map user flows? They’re tackling tasks that fall squarely within the realm of UX. The distinction is often a matter of perspective, not substance.

A History of Vocabulary Inflation in UX

UX and CX aren’t the first terms to redefine how we talk about design. Over the decades, various terminologies have come and gone, often rebranding old concepts to fit new trends. For example:

• Man-Machine Interface (MMI) morphed into Human-Computer Interaction (HCI).
• User-Friendly Systems became simply Usability.
• Ergonomics gave way to User-Centered Design (UCD).

Each iteration brought slight refinements, but at their heart, these terms all aimed to achieve the same goal: creating products that work well for humans.

Why the change? In many cases, the shifts reflected technological advancements or emerging disciplines. But as the UX industry grew, so did the need to stand out – and sometimes, this meant reinventing the wheel with fresh jargon.

Marketing’s Vocabulary Inflation Problem

As a marketer, I can’t help but empathize with the UX community on this one. Marketing has seen its own share of vocabulary inflation. Consider the evolution of job titles:

• “SEO Specialist” became “Digital Strategist.”
• “Social Media Manager” transformed into “Engagement Expert.”
• “Content Creator” gave way to “Brand Storyteller.”

The work didn’t change much, but the titles did. Why? Creativity plays a role. Marketers and designers alike are wired to innovate, and this often spills into how we define ourselves. Rebranding job titles and descriptions can feel like a fresh start or a way to reflect the nuances of evolving responsibilities.

But let’s be honest, it’s just a way to make the same role sound more cutting-edge. And while the intent may be to inspire, it often leads to confusion, especially for people trying to break into the industry.

The Role of Creativity and Tech’s Love for Reinvention

Creativity is a cornerstone of both the marketing and UX fields, and it often spills over into how professionals describe their work. This drive for reinvention extends to tech culture, particularly in Silicon Valley. You’ve probably heard jokes about how tech companies rebrand common ideas with elaborate names to sound innovative. For instance:

• A basic office workspace becomes an “open-concept collaboration hub.”
• A software update is described as “an evolved user ecosystem.”

While it’s fun to poke at these habits, the same reinvention is happening in UX and CX. It’s not unusual for UXers to call themselves “customer experience designers” or “digital product strategists,” even if their responsibilities remain largely unchanged.

Consequences of Vocabulary Inflation

Vocabulary inflation in UX (and CX) might seem harmless on the surface, but it creates ripple effects that affect teams, hiring, and communication. Let’s unpack some of the more notable consequences.

1. Miscommunication and Misalignment

When one team says “interaction design” and another says “service design,” but both are talking about the same process, confusion arises. This misalignment can slow down projects and lead to misinterpreted goals. A product team might assume a CX strategist handles user testing, while the CX strategist assumes it’s the UX designer’s job. The result? No testing gets done, or it’s duplicated unnecessarily.

2. Job Title Confusion for Professionals

For job seekers, the sheer variety of titles such as UX Designer, CX Specialist, Product Designer, creates uncertainty. Applicants may wonder if they’re qualified for a position simply because the terminology doesn’t match their previous roles. A UX designer applying for a “Digital Experience Specialist” role might skip the job because they assume it’s outside their expertise, even though the responsibilities are identical.

3. The Loss of Historical Insight

Constant rebranding of terms means that older resources or case studies are often overlooked because they use “outdated” language. Imagine skipping decades of usability research simply because it doesn’t include the term “user experience.” Companies may reinvent processes that already exist, wasting time and resources trying to “rediscover” strategies that older teams had already mastered.

4. Added Complexity for Collaboration

When different departments use conflicting terms, collaboration suffers. Teams waste time clarifying definitions instead of focusing on the work itself. New hires, especially juniors, may struggle to adapt because they weren’t taught the “latest” terminology in school or training programs. Or a junior using the terms of the new generation might struggle to connect with industry seniors.

5. Extra Work for Everyone

Inflated language isn’t just a communication barrier; it’s also an administrative headache. HR teams have to create convoluted job descriptions, recruiters spend more time translating titles, and workers end up explaining their roles repeatedly.

How Useberry Simplifies the UX Process

At Useberry, we believe in cutting through the noise. Our platform empowers teams to focus on what truly matters: understanding users and creating impactful designs. With tools for rapid prototyping, preference testing, and task analysis, Useberry streamlines the UX research process, making collaboration easier and more effective. Because at the end of the day, whether you call it UX or CX, it’s about delivering value to the people who matter most: your users.

Final Thoughts

The UX vs CX debate boils down to labels. Whether you call yourself a UX designer or a CX specialist, the goal remains the same: to create exceptional experiences. Vocabulary inflation might be an inevitable part of creative industries, but the work itself is what truly matters. So, let’s focus on the tasks that bring value to users. Because, at the end of the day, UX and CX aren’t competitors.