Journey orchestration provides a path forward. In marketing, this approach maps each stage of engagement to understand how people move between systems. Applied to CX, it helps identify where confusion or duplication occurs.
• An account recovery process requires multiple password resets across platforms.
• A form designed for internal clarity demands excessive detail from customers.
These insights reveal where effort accumulates. And where small changes can have a big impact.
Designing with empathy means evaluating every step through the customer’ s eyes.
• Does the interface anticipate what they need next?
• Does it remember progress if they pause?
• Are instructions clear and consistent across devices?
Questions like these translate abstract user experience( UX) goals into tangible improvements.
MAKING SELF-SERVICE WORK AS INTENDED
When designed well, self-service can still be transformative. Customers value speed, independence, and the ability to complete tasks without waiting for support.
The key is balance. Automation should simplify, not shift complexity onto the users.
Several principles help achieve this balance:
1. Clarity. Every interaction should have a clear purpose and an expected outcome. Ambiguity drives frustration faster than delay.
36 CONTACT CENTER PIPELINE
2. Context. Systems should recognize who the customer is and where they are in their journey. Prefilled forms, personalized help options, and consistent data across channels reduce repetition.
3. Connection. When digital tools fail, escalation to human assistance should be seamless. Contact information and live chat should appear within reach, not hidden behind multiple layers.
4. Feedback. Users need visible confirmation that their effort produces results. Progress indicators, status updates, and follow-up messages create confidence that the process is working.
These principles apply equally to customer-facing and employee-facing systems. The design lessons that make portals intuitive for customers also improve the technology experience for agents. When internal tools are as thoughtful as external ones, service quality rises across the board.
AUTOMATION SHOULD SIMPLIFY, NOT SHIFT COMPLEXITY ONTO THE USERS.
REDEFINING WHAT SUPPORT MEANS
The future of CX depends on how companies define support. Automation and self-service will continue to expand, but their success will depend on empathy. Customers do not want to work harder. They want to feel capable and respected.
Organizations that invest in usability testing, accessibility standards, and cross-functional coordination are already seeing dividends.
• Their contact centers handle fewer high-stress calls.
• Their agents report higher satisfaction.
CUSTOMER EFFORT
• Their customers show greater loyalty because the experience feels effortless from start to finish.
This success hinges on a shared responsibility. CX has always been a shared effort across Marketing, IT, and Service teams. The same collaboration that fuels great campaigns must now extend to the systems customers use every day. Eliminating friction requires shared ownership of design, data, and process.
When departments align around the customer journey, each decision becomes more intentional.
• Marketing ensures messaging is consistent.
• IT ensures performance and security.
• Contact centers ensure empathy and clarity.
Together, these teams can create experiences that respect customer time and reduce emotional strain on agents.
In one sense, the question“ Should your customers work for you?” is rhetorical. They already do, through every login, click, and submission.
The challenge is ensuring that their effort feels meaningful rather than mandatory. When companies take responsibility for simplifying that work, they strengthen every relationship that follows.
Self-service technology will always have a role to play. The goal is not to eliminate it but to make it feel natural. When people complete a task smoothly, they leave with confidence in both themselves and the brand. That is the foundation of trust, and trust is the currency of loyalty.
The promise of digital experience has never been to make customers work harder. It has always been to make life easier. The organizations that remember that simple truth will continue to earn loyalty in a world where convenience defines value.
Bryan Cheung, co-founder and CMO of Liferay, is a seasoned technology leader with over 20 years of experience. His entrepreneurial vision was key to bootstrapping Liferay to nine-figures in ARR and leading the transition to as-a-service. He is a UC Berkeley alumnus who believes in using business to contribute value.