Dark patterns expose deeper ethical issues in customer experience. Here’s how virtue ethics grounds fair decisions that build customer trust.

The $2.5 billion Amazon "dark patterns" settlement illuminates deep ethical CX questions.

Sludge is more than a nuisance. It's a communication choice made by leadership. Sometimes it isn't intentional. Sometimes it is.

While government agencies aren’t profit-driven, their leaders are still often held to business standards that mirror those in the private sector. That's why CX matters to everyone.

In 2024, a business partnership between Art Basel and the Hong Kong Tourism Board (HKTB) became a master class in CX and marketing.

Photo of a protest, protesters have their arms raised and fists in the air. Imagine walking into your workplace and facing blocked exits,...

In November 2023, OpenAI's threatened employee walkout after the board's firing of Sam Altman turned into a master class in followership.

Updated December 21, 2024 Customer experience (CX) has had its share of highs and lows in 2024—a roller coaster ride of triumphs that deserve celebration and failures that serve as cautionary tales. These seven nuggets stand out as critical moments, showing what works, what doesn’t, what's promising, and where brands can do better. Wipeout: Chocolate Backlash in Glasgow Willy Wonka is a pop culture touchstone of color and wonder, but a big event heralded as an immersive “Will

CX friends and enthusiasts, you didn’t really think it’d be that simple, did you? In mid-October, the U.S. Federal Trade Commission (FTC) announced its much-anticipated “ Click to Cancel ” rule, aimed at making life a bit easier for millions of customers. You may have noticed a wave of celebratory posts about it on social media. The rule’s goal? To ensure that, from a customer’s perspective, canceling a subscription is just as easy  as signing up for one. If you can subscribe

The White House's New Time is Money Memo Spotlights Bad CX But Isn't the Regulatory Crackdown Some Hoped For

Job candidates, like customers, are human beings who shape their perceptions of an organization based on their experiences.

CX professionals can help build a future where exceptional customer experiences go hand-in-hand with ethical business practices.

Customer experience (CX) professionals have complex jobs. In the C-suite, they carry the torch for customers while balancing what is best...

Juggling a 9-to-5 and a passion project can ignite one’s creativity. Even as I've been exploring another professional world away from CX...

Hello, friends and colleagues! Almost three years after publishing my Dictionary of U.S. Federal Government Terms, Phrases, and Acronyms,...

There are a few well-known but unwritten beacons in customer experience. Here’s one: Don’t give customers the runaround on purpose to benefit your cash flow.  Example:  Setting up an easy, one-click way for customers to subscribe to your services online. Then, to cancel the same subscription, customers are forced to call a contact center where representatives have been trained to do anything but immediately process the cancellation request. It seems like it should be the ex

Sometimes the biggest inspirations come in the form of blog posts. Earlier this month, Melinda French Gates posted an article on the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation website that made my heart pitter-patter. It was so inspirational that I recommend every government #CX pro moves it to the top of their own reading list: Link . “…after three years of prototyping, digesting 1,800 pages of federal and state regulations, prototyping again, and pilot testing, Michigan rolled out

“Followership is not a term of weakness, but the condition that permits leadership to exist and gives it strength.” -Ira Chaleff, The Courageous Follower There’s no shortage of advice out there on digital transformation leadership. Digital transformation followership , on the other hand… not so much. But here’s the thing. Companies and their leaders can’t flourish in today’s business environment without follower support. Leaders need followers to buy in, evangelize, and suppo

Most of us would prefer to love our customers, but the feeling isn’t always mutual. Customers can be unruly. They can hate your brand, openly or privately. They can ignite social media firestorms with a single click on a smartphone. The risk only grows in complexity when employees can get burned out and lose faith in your brand. Understanding why is a solid step toward getting in front of the problems. Here are five recent peer-reviewed scholarly studies on the stormy side of

President Biden’s new executive order (EO) on customer experience lit up the social streams like nothing I’ve seen in quite some time. That made me happy. It’s no secret that I’m a fan of the CX work being done in government—all governments. I held one of the U.S. federal government’s first agency-level CX leadership roles way back when… during the Obama administration. Since leaving government, I’ve advised colleagues and clients on the technicalities of U.S. federal govern