The CX Cast

Measuring the impact of design is critical so that design teams can prove their value internally, scale up, and elevate their strategic influence. In this episode, Principal Analyst, Gina Bhawalkar, joins us to answer the question: What steps can companies take to measure the business impact of experience design? The complexity of this topic and wealth of examples led to a long episode, so we've i...

Companies are adopting agile frameworks and adding designers to their delivery teams to improve digital experience development efforts. But these two constituencies don't rely on the same workflow, artifacts, or ceremonies — and often struggle to find common ground as a result. In this episode, we're joined by Senior Analyst Karine Cardona-Smits to discuss how designers can better understand their...

Organizations don't typically know how customers derive value and which value drivers matter most. Instead, they measure value using flawed proxies. They also collect data about value in different parts of the organization, at different cadences, and using different tools, making it hard to assemble a complete picture of the value that customers derive. In this episode, we're joined by VP, Princip...

From CEOs to entry-level employees, people rely on digital tools at work — tools that are mostly inadequate or even terrible in terms of user experience (UX).  These enterprise UX problems cause their companies to waste time, undermine vital transformations, underserve customers, and risk dangerous mistakes. In this episode, we're joined by Principal Analyst Andrew Hogan to discuss the root causes...

To know what good customer journeys look like — and to benchmark them — customer experience (CX) pros need to understand how to design for emotion. This requires gaining a more granular understanding of how emotions impact CX and discrete customer journeys, going beyond simply delight. In this episode we're joined by VP, Principal Analyst Joana de Quintanilha to discuss how to design for emotions...

Many organizations struggle to define their customer experience (CX) vision, from where to begin and what to include, to how to act on it. In this episode, co-host and analyst Angelina Gennis discusses her latest research on how to create a unique CX vision to guide transformation. Aim framework: authentic, inspiring, mobilizing Click the titles below for more on this topic: Your CX Vision: How To...

Evolving an organization's culture towards greater customer centricity is complex work, requiring careful prioritization. In this episode we're joined by Chief Experience Officer of Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Kansas City (Blue KC), Gratia Carver, to discuss her team's approach to evolving culture and the important role measurement plays. Click the titles below for more on this topic: Elevate An...

As companies strive towards more diversity, equity, and inclusion, they may turn to their measurement and VoC programs to assess the inclusivity of their current experiences. However, the data from those programs is often itself incredibly biased. In this episode we're joined by VP, Principal Analyst Maxie Schmidt to discuss how to measure and analyze data to identify biases. Click the titles belo...

Great customer experience (CX) and employee experience (EX) go hand in hand.  To deliver high-quality CX, companies must enable their employees, amid COVID-19 and shifting needs.  In this episode, we are joined by Verizon's Vice President of Sales and Service Operations, Ken Lain, to discuss his team's work supporting 17,000+ customer service employees as many transition to a work from home model....

Companies faced over 2,200 lawsuits in 2019 for failing to make their digital properties accessible, so it's no wonder firms are prioritizing accessibility. But it's about more than legal risk — accessibility efforts have a long track record of yielding innovations that help all customers, a benefit commonly called the "curb cut effect." In this episode we discuss with principal analyst, Gina Bhaw...

A key element of a strong customer experience practice is experience research. However, establishing, scaling, and evolving an experience research practice is no easy task. In this episode, we are joined by Senior Analyst Kelly Price to discuss the key elements of a good research practice and hallmarks of a truly advanced practice. Click the titles below for more on this topic: Establish Your Expe...

As we approach episode 250 and the podcast’s six-year anniversary, Adele and Angelina take a look back at episodes that stuck with them over the years, great episodes for CX newbies, and the episodes that have racked up the most listens.  Host Picks:  Humanizing Customer Research (Episodes 119 & 120) –Meena Kothandaram from Twig + Fish and Bentley University’s Human Factors And Information Des...

After a merger and acquisition, CX teams must face the realities of combining forces.  From VoC measurement to the overall approach for improving experiences, they must evaluate ways of working across both organizations.  In this episode, we are joined by Yvan Goupil, Head of Customer and Marketing Insight at Virgin Money UK, who experienced and succeeded at merging CX teams after an acquisition....

Diversity and inclusion is being considered and displayed more and more, in organizations' brand statements, employee experience (EX), and hiring practices. However, most organizations do not reflect those commitments in the customer experience (CX) they put out into the world. This is a big miss and a big opportunity. In this episode, we discuss with Principal Analyst, Gina Bhawalkar, how to appl...

Tony Rodoni, EVP of Customer Experience at Salesforce, shares substantial experience collaborating with executives on CX. He offers tools to equip executives to feel inspired and empowered to be more involved in CX. And he dares answer the question, “Can CX leaders work themselves out of the job?”

CX teams want to innovate on the customer experience, but they don’t want to go down the wrong (and expensive) path of innovation for innovation’s sake. They also want to leverage that relationship with their colleagues in Marketing. Linda Goldstein, Executive Vice President of Customer Experience and Marketing at CSAA Insurance Group shares success stories that address these two objectives crucia...

Prioritization is the art and science of picking the most important things to do out of a list of all the things you could do. Unfortunately, when it comes to customer experience (CX), many businesses struggle to choose the projects and programs that are most likely to propel them toward success. In this episode, we discuss with Senior Analyst, Judy Weader, on how to set up and build a strong foun...

As issues of gender equality, racial justice, and discrimination across the diversity spectrum hit the headlines, organizations are struggling to respond to customers, employees, and other stakeholders. In this episode, we discuss with Principal Analyst, Katy Tynan, about how having a diverse workforce is both a competitive advantage and table stakes for values-based consumers and employees. Click...

In this episode, the CX Cast host, Jenny Wise, reflects on what makes the CX Cast unique and hands off host duties to fellow CX analyst, Angelina Gennis. If you have any feedback or episode ideas, please email cxcast@forrester.com.

In this week’s episode, Claudiu Coltea, Senior VP Head of Enterprise Customer Experience at Travelers, joins us again and discusses tips and best practices he’s been using in his work in journey transformation. We talk about what is journey transformation, how can this become a competitive advantage for companies and how to bring your organization along to make this journey adjustment....

In this week’s episode, Claudiu Coltea, Senior VP Head of Enterprise Customer Experience at Travelers, shares with us his path in CX in a variety of roles, what that looked like, and insights he has gathered along the way to help elevate the CX practice and discipline.

In this week’s episode, we discuss with Karen Pascoe, SVP Customer Experience and Design at Mastercard, on how Mastercard and its CX function responded and pivoted as a result of the pandemic. Specifically we dive into how Mastercard shifted their response in strategy, markets, and employee experience.

The profession traditionally known as user experience (UX) has expanded, bridging toward adjacent disciplines — especially product strategy, product management, data science, and customer experience (CX). To understand this evolving landscape, we discuss with Principal Analyst Gina Bhawalkar about what is the state of design teams in 2020? What are design teams working on and how do we see them ev...

In this week’s episode, we continue to discuss with Principal Analyst TJ Keitt about a new type of customers to consider to help companies prioritize which CX improvements to make, devotees. The questions we will answer in this episode is how can you find the devotees that your company has and use insights into this audience to identify and improve your CX efforts. Click the titles below for...

In this week’s episode, we discuss with Principal Analyst TJ Keitt about a new type of customers to consider to help companies prioritize which CX improvements to make. The questions we will answer in this episode is who is this new valuable customer segment? And what is the business case for focusing on this group of customers when prioritizing CX efforts? Click the titles below for more on...