Looking for the CX!
We had UI, then we had UX, and for a decade or so, we were actually trying to design the CX. Where the “C” stands for everything about the experience that the typical “user” frame never could.

For the Reader
This is a seed for an article waiting to be written, a story waiting to unfold. It contains a lot of thoughts and inspiration from a hand full of people, and across many venues. This article is only a small part in the collaborative effort that involves Saulo Nunes, myself, and many good folks in the Node.js Community Committee and the open source community at large.
And, yes, as it is somewhat implied, this is still a working draft.
A Designer Mindset for Current Times
The rise of social media, coinciding with the adoption of the UX design mindset, they gave birth to a new form of society, at the global scale.
In our real-world, we are no longer our real selves. We can no longer be ourselves. We can no longer exist just there.
We are real in the digital space. Because the digital space has catered to every aspect that is vital to our sense of being, of existing, of living, of becoming.
And in this new form of society, designers of the digital space took upon them the privileges and the burdens of writing the next chapter in the evolution of society, our humanity.
But with that, we must recognize the importance of how we reflect, on what we want to design. How we frame, what we are setting out to achieve, and what we are struggling to keep in mind. How we resort to acronyms and theory, that will eventually, only serve the purposes of much simpler times.
So we are proud when we design a good user experience. When the user finds it a satisfactory one. But, when they don’t, there is often too much noise. Lack of clarity, and along with, a lot of frustration, and a lot of uncertainty.
So as designers, we will always be unsure of many things. But good designers are always sure of one thing, at the end of the day, they are accountable for what they put in motion, for what they have ushered, what they unleashed.
What We Design For
Designers are problem solvers that have a talent for seeing life from many frames of reference. They can walk in someone’s shoe, so to speak, and must be confident enough in how well they do it, in order to make their design meaningful, to everyone that they will affect.
Where the “C” stands for Communication
The digital space has taken over all communication that does not involve physical matter. So at least for now, we design spaces that replace outdated means for relating on the intangible, along with spaces that allow us to improve our ability to end up better relating on the tangible.
Thinking in the sense of UX:
- User — taps the widget, indicating wanting to send message.
- Widget — expands to show relevant tools to help the user compose it.
- User — taps the send button, indicating completing a message and wanting to send it.
- Widget — collapses to indicate the function has completed.
Thinking in the sense of CX:
- User — taps the widget, while he was engaged with 5 other users in a conversation that is heated, with one always taking more time to reply showing they are working on a reply to an earlier point… why not?!
- Widget — TBD
- User — taps the send button, while it is clear that this particular message is starting a completely unrelated point, not accounting for or closing the loop on the feedback in the pipeline because of difference in pace… why not?!
- Widget — TBD
Communication is not about messages, it is about feedback, we seek feedback, and so we ask for it, in a message.
But messages are merely a tenable analog to our intent. It is not the only aspect of our communication, and oftentimes a faulty message will lead to the desired outcomes, because all other aspects of the communication make it so.
Where the “C” stands for Contribution
The digital space has taken over all contribution that does not involve physical matter. So at least for now, we design spaces that replace outdated means for building on the intangible, along with spaces that allow us to improve our ability to end up better building on the tangible.
Thinking in the sense of UX:
- User — …
- Widget — …
Thinking in the sense of CX:
- User — …
- Widget — TBD
Contribution is not about product, it is about impact, we …, and so we …, in a product.
But products are merely a tenable analog to our intent. It is not the only aspect of our contribution, and oftentimes a faulty product will lead to the desired outcomes, because all other aspects of the contribution make it so.
Where the “C” stands for Connecting
The digital space has taken over all connecting that does not involve physical matter. So at least for now, we design spaces that replace outdated means for networking in the intangible, along with spaces that allow us to improve our ability to end up better networking in the tangible.
Thinking in the sense of UX:
- User — …
- Widget — TBD
Thinking in the sense of CX:
- User — …
- Widget — TBD
Connecting is not about …, it is about impact, we …, and so we …, in a ….
But … are merely a tenable analog to our intent. It is not the only aspect of our connecting, and oftentimes a faulty … will lead to the desired outcomes, because all other aspects of the connecting make it so.
Where the “C” stands for What We Design!
There is clearly a pattern here that is not necessarily out-of-phase with what many designers actually do today. And certainly, many actually go a lot further in accuracy or depth when working on actual user stories.
But as far as acronyms go, what one can be inspired to conceive when learning about matters of the “UX” will hardly encourage them to consider matters of the “CX” — the complete user experience.
This disconnect means we actually need to hit enough edge-cases, to close those gaps in our understanding of experience design. That we first have to regret delivering enough bad “UX” to learn enough. That our best intentions were not aligning with the means with which we were prepared to achieve them. And so, we end up this organic culture of aspiring designers and builders who are only dialed into the shallowest notion of their users. Instead, we should try to inspire newer generations of passionate designers and builders attuned to the realities they are going to be reshaping.
What We End Up Getting
As designers, we cannot just consider aspects of the experience where the “C” is desired. Because, let’s be real, a critical success factor in any good design is how well it handles undesired, unpredictable, but naturally occuring failure.
Where the “C” stands for Complacency
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Where the “C” stands for Convention
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Where the “C” stands for Conflict
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What We Aspire for Along the Way
And, as designers, we cannot give up on aspects of the experience where the “C” stands for the values we aspire to. Because, let’s be real, a critical success factor for any good designer is how well they are able to affect the outcomes they aspire for achieving along the way.
Where the “C” stands for Compassion
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Where the “C” stands for Commitment
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Where the “C” stands for Community
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Where the “C” stands for What We Aspire for Along the Way!
There are clearly a lot of uncertainty for designers. That through their efforts they will be able to reach outcomes aligned with their sense morality and their passion values of sentimentality that are not always easy to express.
A Designer Mindset Looking for the CX
There is no question, that while we as designers are only able to hammer on the more tenable aspects of utility and appeal, for most, this is merely our way for expressing our higher calling. Those pursuits, the ones that sometimes seem impossible to hammer at, they are not discouraging you from hammering through until you do.
The struggles we each face, the struggles we share, and how we always keep at it, until we get it right, this is what being a designer is all about. To aspire… to inspire… to resolve… for every thing that can become… together… as a community… as passionate designers!
How we mature and grow into the new challenges of our role. How we will collectively succeed as pioneers of civilization, of our dreams, and the dreams of future generations. How we design our mindset moving forward. All that, is design space for the taking.