Why CX is often hard to grasp
Customer experience, or CX, is a term widely used across many organisations. Almost everyone wants to deliver a good customer experience, and few would question its importance. At the same time, CX is one of the concepts that is hardest to place in practical work. CX is often seen as important, yet unclear. Something that is discussed, measured, and followed up on, but difficult to translate into concrete decisions.
Tobias Rydenhag
Head of Design
A concept that means different things
One reason CX is hard to grasp is that it is used in many different ways. For some, it relates to brand and communication. For others, to customer journeys, metrics, or service. In some organisations, CX is a role; in others, an initiative or an umbrella term.
What these interpretations have in common is that CX almost always describes how an experience is perceived, rather than how it is created.
This makes CX useful as a language for ambition and direction, but less useful as a tool for execution.
CX as a role rather than a discipline
CX also exists as a title and role. A CX designer or CX manager often works with mapping customer journeys, analysing data, identifying pain points, and coordinating efforts across different parts of the organisation.
This is an important function, especially in complex organisations. But the role is fundamentally analytical and strategic. It rarely owns implementation, systems, or priorities in product development.
As a result, CX roles are often dependent on other disciplines for change to happen in practice.
Why many CX initiatives stall
Many CX initiatives identify the right problems, but struggle to influence solutions. Customer journeys are mapped, metrics are tracked, and ambitions are articulated, yet the actual experience changes slowly.
This is rarely due to a lack of intent. More often, it is because CX lacks a clear execution engine. The experience is shaped in products, services, processes, and systems, but CX rarely owns these elements.
The result is a gap between insight and action.
CX as a result, not an activity
At Intunio, we see CX as a result rather than a discipline or a project. CX emerges when different parts of an organisation work together in a way that feels coherent to the customer.
This means CX cannot be designed in isolation. It only becomes strong when the parts that actually shape the experience work well together.
What changes CX in practice
In practice, it is rarely CX work in itself that changes the customer experience. What makes a difference are decisions about how services are structured, how systems interact, how responsibilities are defined, and how users encounter solutions in their work.
This is where disciplines such as service design and UX design come into play. They work with how the experience is actually created, not just how it is described.
When these perspectives align, a strong customer experience emerges. Not as a separate goal, but as a natural consequence of a system that works as a whole.