The specific business area under investigation—what you are researching. Distinct from Layers of Experience, which defines the depth of focus. Research methods apply across many targets: products, marketing, internal processes, business models.
Definition: The specific business area under investigation—what you are researching. Distinct from Layers of Experience, which defines the depth of focus. Research methods apply across many targets: products, marketing, internal processes, business models.
Research Targets define what you are studying. Layers of Experience define how deep you go. The two dimensions are orthogonal—you can study any target at any layer.
Research methods (interviews, tests, surveys) and principles (recruiting, moderation, analysis) stay the same across targets. What changes is the subject matter and the stakeholders who need to act on the findings.
A usability test works the same way whether you are testing a consumer checkout flow, a warehouse scanner, or an internal finance tool. The method does not change; the target does.
Pairing a target with a layer sharpens the research question. "UX of the checkout flow" (product × UX) asks different questions than "Micro-UX of the payment step" (product × Micro-UX) or "CX of the post-purchase journey" (product × CX). Stating both dimensions explicitly prevents scope drift.
The scope hierarchy from macro to micro: Customer Experience (CX) → User Experience (UX) → Micro-UX (scenarios/goals, tasks/steps). Defines where to focus research inquiry.
The outermost layer of experience, encompassing every touchpoint a customer has with a company—from marketing and sales to product use and support. Broader than UX, which focuses on product interaction.
Per ISO 9241-210: a person's perceptions and responses resulting from the use and/or anticipated use of a product, system, or service—including emotions, beliefs, preferences, and behaviors before, during, and after use.
This term is referenced in the following articles: