How to use Headless Approach In Your Digital Experience Composition

Suppose you have a digital commerce portal that is built on a monolithic architecture. The front end displays diverse products to users, and the back end is responsible for storing and processing the data.

If you want to transform the front end of the portal, such as adding augmented features or adapting the UI for different touchpoints (a website, mobile app, or in-person service), you are bound to make changes to the back end, too. The reason is the front-end and back-end are tightly coupled. This might slow the process of shaping the future of customer experience.

However, the ability to respond quickly to business changes and execute that changes is a key value proposition of becoming a customer-sensitive organization.

Customers are like a modern-day Goldilocks:

Every customer wants their experience to be just awesome. They also want it to be easy to use, fast, and personalized— just the right amount. What they don't want is to have to jump through hoops or waste time trying to find the products of their choice. And they definitely don't want to feel like they're just another number.

Consistent UI is like a well-oiled machine:

In today's fast-paced world, consumers do not want complex customer-facing UIs. Organizations must create a consistent UI experience across multiple apps and channels. A consistent UI enables customers to search, decide, and buy fit-for-purpose solutions/products that align with their way of life.

Specialized experience is like a superpower:

Customers are like snowflakes. No two are exactly alike. That's why it's important to offer a personalized customer experience. It allows you to create a more memorable, engaging, and satisfying customer experience. And when you do that, you'll win more customers, increase sales, and build a stronger brand.

Imagine a world where your digital experiences are as fluid and dynamic as the world around you. Where they can change and adapt to your needs, your interests, and your context. Where they are not limited by the constraints of a monolithic architecture but can be composed and reassembled to create new experiences that are tailored to you.

This is the world of Digital Experience Composition (DXC). DXC is a new approach to creating and managing digital experiences that break down traditional monolithic applications into smaller, more modular components. These components can then be composed and reassembled to create new experiences tailored to specific audiences and devices.

"According to Gartner, Digital experience composition (DXC) is the packaging of low-code developer and no-code business user tooling for the creation, development, and maintenance of digital experiences. Products comprise front-end as a service (FEaaS), a page builder, a template engine, and an API integration layer to the underlying technologies."

Some examples of how DXC can be used to create engaging and dynamic digital experiences:

• Personalized experiences: Facilitates you to build customized experiences for the diverse customer base. For example, a web portal could use DXC to deliver different content to different users based on their interests.
• Adaptive experiences: Create adaptive experiences that change based on the user's context. For example, a mobile app could use DXC to display different content depending on the user's location.
• Collaborative experiences: Build collaborative experiences that allow users to interact with each other. For example, a social media platform could use DXC to enable users to share content and collaborate on projects.

Digital experience composition is a powerful technology that can be used to create engaging and dynamic digital experiences. It is a relatively new approach, but it is gaining popularity among businesses of all sizes. DXC will likely become an increasingly important tool for organizations that want to create and manage high-quality digital experiences as the digital landscape continuously evolves.

An API-centric model enables an agile, flexible, composable application architecture that can meet business demands and deliver an optimal customer experience (CX). This includes the choice of preferred custom development tools and frameworks and the ability to leverage a headless content management system (CMS), multiexperience development platform (MXDP), digital experience platform (DXP), or low-code platform (LCAP).

Using an API-centric approach is not mutually exclusive with a traditional enterprise application implementation. Organizations find success implementing a traditional enterprise application approach along with innovative customer experiences and dynamic integrations using an API-centric architecture.

But it requires additional skills, including user experience (UX) and UI design, custom web/mobile app development, managing APIs, and implementing custom services and integrations.

Examples

Some examples of enterprises that have adopted a decoupled front-end architecture include Netflix, Spotify, and Airbnb. These companies have all benefited from the increased flexibility, scalability, and reduced costs that decoupled front-ends offer.

Comparison: Monolithic vs. Headless

Monolithic and headless architectures are two different approaches to building digital experiences. Monolithic architectures are all-in-one solutions that combine the content management system (CMS), the e-commerce platform, and the front-end user interface (UI) into a single codebase. On the other hand, headless architectures decouple the CMS from the UI, allowing for greater flexibility and customization.

API-centric architecture is a design pattern where the user interface is decoupled from the backend logic. This allows for greater flexibility and agility, as the user interface can be changed without affecting the backend logic. However, it also makes the architecture more complex, requiring two separate layers to be developed and maintained.

If operational simplicity is a higher priority than flexibility and agility, then an API-centric architecture may not be the right choice. This is because the additional complexity of the architecture can make it more challenging to manage and troubleshoot.

Another reason to avoid an API-centric architecture is if you do not have the appropriate skills to implement custom user interfaces and custom integrations. This is because the user interface and integrations must be developed using modern front-end web technologies, which may require specialized skills.

Here are some additional considerations when deciding whether or not to use an API-centric architecture:

• The size and complexity of the system.
• The frequency of changes to the system.
• The availability of skilled developers.
• The budget for the project.

Ultimately, the decision of whether or not to use an API-centric architecture depends on the specific needs of the application.