Chief Experience Officer (CXO)
The architect of emotion—the CXO ensures every brand interactionMore than just metrics—engagement is about meaningful interactions, building relationships, and creating content that sparks conversation and action. feels seamless, meaningful, and unforgettable.
What is a Chief Experience Officer (CXO)?
The architect of emotion, behavior, and brand connection
In the age of frictionless apps, always-on consumersThe heartbeat of every campaign—understanding and engaging the right audience is the key to crafting messages that resonate and drive action., and brandsMore than a logo—brand is the essence of a company, shaping identity, reputation, and customer perception. competing for milliseconds of attention—experience is everything.
That’s where the Chief Experience Officer (CXO) comes in.
They’re the high-level thinker making sure every interaction—digital, physical, social, sonic—feels intentional, intuitive, and unforgettable. The CXO designs the feeling people walk away with. And that feeling? It drives loyalty, advocacy, and ROI.
At RIOT, the CXO isn’t just about UX. They’re about HX—human experience. End-to-end. Emotion-first.
What does a Chief Experience Officer actually do?
The CXO leads the overall experience strategyThe playbook for success—strategy defines where you're headed, how you'll get there, and what will set you apart. for a brand or organization—ensuring that every touchpoint aligns with user needs, brand values, and business goals.
Their responsibilities include:
-
Developing customerThe reason we do what we do—the client is the partner, the collaborator, and the audience we’re here to impress and grow with. and user experienceThe feel of using your product or site—great UX drives loyalty, trust, and conversion. frameworks across platforms
-
Overseeing UX/UI, CX, service designFunction meets form—design shapes how brands look, feel, and connect through everything from logos to layouts., and experiential strategy teams
-
Mapping user journeys to identify friction and opportunity
-
Collaborating across product, creative, tech, and marketingStories with purpose—marketing connects brands to people through strategy, creativity, and campaigns that drive impact.
-
Championing accessibility, inclusivity, and emotional design
-
Tracking KPIsThe pulse of success—KPIs are measurable goals that track performance, guiding brands to optimize, adapt, and crush their objectives. like NPS, retention, satisfaction, and experience ROI
They’re responsible for how people feel before, during, and after they engage with your brand.
What’s in their toolkit?
The CXO’s tools blend data, design, empathy, and insight—allowing them to scale connection without losing the soul.
-
Journey mapping & service design: MiroThe digital workspace—collaboration platforms bring creatives, strategists, and clients together in real time to share, build, and approve faster., Smaply, FigJam
-
User research & testing: Maze, Optimal Workshop, UserTesting
-
Experience analytics: FullStory, Hotjar, Amplitude, Qualtrics
-
Design systems & prototypingCreating interactive mockups to test design ideas—used in UX, product, and digital creative.: Figma, Adobe XD, InVision
-
Customer insight platforms: Zendesk, Sprinklr, HubSpot
-
Strategy tools: Notion, Airtable, CX dashboards, custom KPIs
But their true asset? PerspectiveThe brand's north star—vision is your long-term purpose, guiding everything from campaigns to company culture.. Seeing through the user’s eyes, across every moment.
Why it matters for creative agencies
Great creative doesn’t just look good—it feels right.
The CXO ensures that the brand experience is as considered as the brand design.
With a CXO in the room:
-
CampaignsStrategy meets storytelling—campaigns bring big ideas to life, driving awareness, engagement, and conversions through powerful, multi-channel messaging. are mapped to user behaviors, not just demographicsQuantitative audience traits—age, gender, income, education—used to target messaging and media.
-
Creative work is accessible, inclusive, and emotionally intelligent
-
Digital and physical experiences feel cohesive—not siloed
-
Every interaction becomes a brand-building moment
-
The agency moves from storytellingEmotion meets impact—storytelling is the heartbeat of branding, using narrative to connect with audiences and drive action. to story-living
This is how brands move from noise to meaning.
A day in the life—intention in action
You’re launching a new wellness brand. There’s a social campaignScroll-stopping strategy—a social campaign is a coordinated effort to promote content, products, or ideas across social platforms., a website, physical packagingFirst impressions that stick—packaging is the physical expression of your brand that protects, presents, and sells your product., an ARBlurring the lines between real and digital, AR overlays interactive elements onto the physical world, transforming everyday experiences into immersive brand moments. experience, and influencerThe voice of the crowd—an influencer is a trusted creator whose reach and credibility can elevate your brand to new audiences. collabs. But the journey feels fragmented.
The CXO:
-
Audits the end-to-end customer experience
-
Flags friction in the digital onboarding flow
-
Aligns the packaging UX with the brand’s “ritual” positioning
-
Introduces emotional touchpoints across the user journey
-
Builds a feedback loop for post-purchase engagement
What was once a set of deliverables becomes an ecosystem of connection.
What makes a great Chief Experience Officer?
A CXO is half systems thinker, half storyteller. They know that behind every click, scroll, or tap is a person—and they design for that truth.
Key traits:
-
Deep empathy and user-first thinking
-
Systems design mindset
-
Strategic clarity, creative intuition
-
Ability to unify siloed teams across product, brand, and marketing
-
Obsession with the full journey, not just the moment
-
Strong understanding of inclusive and ethical design practices
They lead not just for usability—but for resonance.
RIOT’s POV
At RIOT, experience is how our work lives in the world.
The CXO ensures that what we create doesn’t just land—it lasts.
They design trust. Anticipate need. Translate feeling into flow.
From first impression to final impression, they build the bridges that make people stay.
Because when experience is everything, you need someone who sees everything.
Related Glossary Terms
Customer JourneyThe journey from interest to action—conversion funnels map out how audiences move from awareness to purchase, optimizing every touchpoint for maximum impact. Mapping, UX Design, Service Design, Touchpoint Strategy, Human-Centered Design, Emotional UX
Related Job Roles
Head of UX, VP of Customer Experience, Design Director, Chief Design Officer, Experience StrategistThe big picture thinker—strategists use insight, data, and creativity to guide campaigns, shape messaging, and deliver results., Product Director
