Forget user experience. Start thinking about client experience.

Forget user experience. Start thinking about client experience.

As digital professionals, we should apply the same rigor to our client’s experience as we do to the experience of end users.

I hate to break it to you, but you are probably a hypocrite. If it makes you feel any better, you are not alone. I know I am definitely one, too.

The reason for this harsh judgement? As web designers, we are always talking about the user’s needs. About how our clients should pay more attention to their customer’s experience. Yet we fail to do that with our own customers. How ironic!

I believe that we are misunderstanding what it is our clients want from us. We are under the impression that they hire us to deliver a website, mobile app, or some other form of digital application.

In reality, the service we provide is just as important as the final deliverable. Great code and an amazing design is not enough by itself. A client will not hire you a second time or recommend you to others if they’ve hated every minute of working with you.

The best way to differentiate, gain repeat business, and get word of mouth recommendation is great service.

But to do that we need to understand what kind of service our clients expect. That means we need to get to know our clients much better.