Customer Experience = Success + Effort + Emotion

October 17, 2014 3 Comments

My definition of customer experience remains the same as when I introduced it in 2008:

The perception that customers have of their interactions with an organization.

Our model for customer experience has always been built on three components — functional, accessible, and emotional — which are the underlying elements in the Temkin Experience Ratings. While this model continues to hold up, we’ve decided to change the naming of the components to the following:

  • Success (formerly functional): Degree to which customers can accomplish their goals
  • Effort (formerly accessible): The difficulty or ease in accomplishing their goals
  • Emotion (formerly emotional): How the interaction makes customers feel

The names have changed, but the definitions of the components remain the same. Our Temkin Experience Ratings will also remian the same, so we will continue to be able to compare the results with previous years.

1410_3componentsofCXWhy did we do this?

We felt as though the new language would simplify our discussions about customer experience. In addition, people are starting to discuss the notion of customer effort, which is an area that we’ve been measuring in our Temkin Experience Ratings since 2011.

The bottom line: Some names have changed, but the CX fundamentals remain the same

 

Filed under Customer experience, Emotion

About Bruce Temkin, CCXP
I'm an experience (XM) management catalyst; helping organizations improve results by engaging the hearts and minds of their employees, customers, and partners. I enjoy researching and speaking about these topics. I lead the Qualtrics XM Institute, which is the world's best job. We're igniting a global community of XM Professionals who are inspired and empowered to radically improve the human experience. To achieve this goal, my team focuses on thought leadership, training, and community building. My work is driven by a set of fundamental beliefs: 1) Everything starts and ends with human beings, so you need to understand how people think, feel, and behave; 2) XM is a discipline that needs to be woven throughout an organization's entire operating fabric; and 3) Building the XM discipline requires a combination of culture, competency, and technology.

3 Responses to Customer Experience = Success + Effort + Emotion

  1. Julio Herrera says:
    October 17, 2014 at 11:15 am

    Bruce, I am one of your followers. Thank you very much for your huge contribution to customer experience. I bought your three-pillar functional, accessible and emotional scheme three years ago. I think the new words express customer point of view better. But for the third pillar, I normally use “ease” instead of “effort”, since it sounds positive as success and emotion. Regards.

    Reply
  2. mcgntr says:
    October 19, 2014 at 3:55 pm

    I like semantic changes Success Effort and Emotion – really target the customer experience.

    Reply
  3. Alexis says:
    August 12, 2015 at 12:57 pm

    Similar to using CES for ‘Effort’, do you have questions you recommend for tracking Success and Emotion?

    Reply

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