The words, used precisely.
CX vocabulary is used loosely enough that two teams can agree on a sentence and mean different things. These are the definitions René uses.
Precision here is not pedantry. Most disagreements about whether a journey improved turn out to be disagreements about what a stage, a touchpoint or a moment of truth actually is.
- 01
Journey
A goal a customer is trying to achieve, from first intent to resolution, regardless of how many channels, departments or months it crosses.
- 02
Stage
A phase of the journey with a distinct customer intent. Not an internal process step, and not a screen.
- 03
Touchpoint
A specific point of contact within a stage — a screen, a call, a letter, a counter, a notification.
- 04
Moment of truth
A stage where the outcome of the journey is disproportionately decided. Usually few, usually not where effort is concentrated.
- 05
Journey Index
A composed score per journey from NPS, CSAT, CES, effort and emotion, weighted per journey and held constant across periods.
- 06
Intervention
A specific designed change to a stage, with a named behavioural rationale, a confidence score and an expected effect.
- 07
Archetype
A customer group defined by how it moves through the journey rather than by demographics.
- 08
Experience Engine
The aggregated learning layer: which interventions moved which metrics, in which sector, at which stage. Built from structure and outcomes, never from customer content.
The terms
- ArchetypeNot a persona
- A customer group defined by how it moves through the journey rather than by demographics.
- Attribution window
- The measurement period scoped to an intervention's deployment date, so movement can be tied to the change.
- BackstageService blueprint lane
- Activity the customer does not see but which determines what they experience.
- Coverage
- The proportion of index inputs actually present. Reported rather than silently excluded.
- Experience Engine
- The aggregated learning layer: which interventions moved which metrics, in which sector, at which stage. Built from structure and outcomes, never from customer content.
- FrontstageService blueprint lane
- The part of the service the customer directly encounters.
- InterventionNot a recommendation
- A specific designed change to a stage, carrying a named behavioural rationale, a confidence score and an expected effect.
- Journey
- A goal a customer is trying to achieve, from first intent to resolution, regardless of how many channels, departments or months it crosses.
- Journey Index
- A composed score per journey from NPS, CSAT, CES, effort and emotion, weighted per journey and held constant across periods.
- Moment of truth
- A stage where the outcome of the journey is disproportionately decided. Usually few, and usually not where effort is concentrated.
- StageMost common error
- A phase of the journey with a distinct customer intent. Not an internal process step, and not a screen.
- Touchpoint
- A specific point of contact within a stage — a screen, a call, a letter, a counter, a notification.
A stage is an intent, not a process step.
A touchpoint is a contact, not a channel.
Moments of truth are few.
An intervention names its rationale.
Questions we get asked
Because a journey mapped as internal process steps produces internal fixes, and the customer experiences none of them.
Make one journey measurable this week.
Start with the journey that costs you the most. Free plan, one journey, all four views — no card, no call.
Or talk to the Renascence team about an enterprise evaluation.