Every time we come up with a term, someone kills it. CX already has 3 definitions, so it’s a gamble. But I have a good feeling about it. When I see the top consulting companies on the planet doing webinars about the value of CX and why you need to improve CX, I think that might be a good way to go.

I think anything that says “design” is nearly immediately misunderstood and co-opted. I used to say UX/UI for myself (in 2011) until that meant graphic designers who like to wireframe. Then I said product designer, until that meant visual designers who like to wireframe.

So “experience design” and “brand design” and these other “Design” terms, I think they will not be adopted and they will not help us be better understood. We have to get away from “design” to help people understand all of what this is.

That’s why in my conference sessions (nearly always aimed at non-UX peeps since I tend to speak at Engineering and Marketing events), I explain that they usually think wireframes/prototypes are UX. Well, that’s one task in one phase of our UCD/HCD process. So if THAT’s UX, you can see why we need a better term for the full arc of what we do.

I can only try!