The Value Of CX In Software Development

Customers are an integral part of the success of any business. Without them, the company wouldn't have a market for its products or services. Businesses will employ strategies to keep their customers happy, including software options that streamline the customer care process.

The customers' experience hinges mainly on communications and interactions with the company. For many, online platforms and software are the first ways of getting hold of a business, and when the software design is less than optimal, it affects the overall customer experience (CX).

Software developers have noticed that they achieve better results when involving customers in the design process as they have valuable insight into the experience they would like to have. Below are some ways software development can harness the value of CX in their approach:

1. Clients Know Their Requirements

Who can better advise on what they need from a company regarding their service than the clients? Customers' needs are forever evolving, and providing the input a software developer needs to create the perfect product makes their job much more manageable.

A professional designer like those from Normative software design can seamlessly understand what the customers need from the product and incorporate that into the software. Companies and their clients benefit from these designs as the customer experience improves with their implementation.

2. Provide Feedback On User-Friendliness

The ideas of software developers could look good on paper, but when customers use the end product, it could be confusing to them as they don't have the same thought process as the designers. One would see a working system, while the other sees a mess of functions that don't make sense.

If software developers want to create a product that clients will have to use, they should anticipate the type of people using the program. Depending on the industry, there could be clients from various backgrounds that will have to understand and use the functions.

Creating a user-friendly software program for most users will be the best bet for developers, and the customer base will indicate whether they can easily access all the features they may need.

3. They Have A Unique Viewpoint

Clients don't see all the effort behind the scenes that software developers put into their work, but they see the results. Developers want a working product, but so do the customers; the only difference is that both view this from different angles.

When developers put themselves into the clients' shoes by getting their input on what they see when they access the software, they can improve their designs according to the clients' preferences. After all, the clients are the ones that would ultimately use the software.

4. Speeds Up The Development Process

Designing a software solution for any application could be a tedious process. It starts with a need to simplify a process and should end with a well-designed product that streamlines individual or business performance.

Getting a working product could blind the designer throughout his process as he only wants a means to an end. On the other hand, incorporating the customer experience may improve their train of thought. The designer can constantly keep in mind the features that the customer identified to ease their use and their needs. With this information in mind, the software developer can complete the design faster as they know exactly how the customers would prefer their programs to work.

5. Assists In Ironing Out Issues

In any business, feedback is a crucial element. Without feedback between the requesting company, their customers, and the software developers, these applications could remain less than optimal.

Once developers and designers finish the product and the customers start to use it, they will find any little thing that prevents them from having a great experience. If they report any such issues, it will be up to the software developers to fix them accordingly.

To Conclude

Although looking from a software developer's point of view, it may not be apparent at first why the customer experience (CX) would influence the software development process. The above could clarify why it is imperative to keep their experience in mind.

Software developers shouldn't take the feedback as a negative point but rather see it as an opportunity to improve their process. People will all have different opinions, and even though it may be impossible to appease everyone, constantly improving the design and solving common problem areas will gain great results for any business.

Customers will always have a different viewpoint when using software, and a good developer will find the middle ground between functionality and convenience.

Wallace N. Ferrin is a 43-year-old experienced software developer that specializes in creating solutions for the customer care industry. He manages a team of 10 that all contribute to the process of seeing customers happy. He is also a father of 3, and a devoted husband to his wife who supports him in return. Wallace wants to change the way software is viewed, and by doing so, improve the end result of the development process.