Redefining government service: How agencies can create customer-centric experiences

Each day, we all have access to personalized, intuitive services from countless private companies right at our fingertips, so it's no surprise we expect the same seamless online experience from government. And following the release of the Office of Management and Budget’s Delivering a Digital-First Public Experience memorandum last year, building effective and reliable solutions is an imperative for the government mission.

During Bringing the Best to Customers, a recent episode of GovExec TV underwritten by Booz Allen Hamilton, experts from industry and public sector explored how agencies are embracing technological advancements to prioritize customer experiences. Will Healy, a senior vice president at Booz Allen, Jeffrey Levy, digital platforms director at the U.S. Department of State and Kevin Hoffman, director of design in the office of the chief technology officer for the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA), delved into strategies for building a more accessible, data-driven and empathetic public sector digital landscape.

Here are some key takeaways from their discussion.

Customer-centric digital transformation

Successfully meeting customer expectations requires an approach that goes beyond merely producing digital content, but rather designing solutions that genuinely address public needs. Levy’s team at the Department of State keeps this top of mind for state.gov, and in their support of nearly 200 mission websites globally.

“Part of our role is working with other digital leaders around the department to make sure they're paying attention … [that] they understand that the focus is the mission,” he said. “What do you want to do with that content [you are producing]? Who is your audience, and how will they react? What do they need from you? And how are you meeting that?”

Keeping users on a page or site as long as possible is often a common objective in the marketing world, but it is not a viable goal for government. Instead, users should have a clear pathway to conduct services quickly and leave a site in a reasonable amount of time. Healy, whose team partners with the government to deliver the technology and program support for Recreation.gov — the centralized travel planning platform for millions of people visiting Federal lands and waters, noted that clunky digital processes should not stand in the way of users achieving their end goals, whether making a reservation or completing an application.

“We want to make the reservation  the least intrusive, the least difficult part of the trip planning process,” he said. “It should be the lowest barrier, and so that drives you towards fewer clicks, more intuition, ease of use.”

Moreover, creating a website is only one piece of the puzzle, as many individuals prefer to access services on their mobile devices. But maintaining an effective, user-friendly mobile app requires dedicated resources, specific architectural design and ongoing maintenance. Hoffman stated that creating the VA Health and Benefits mobile app that allows users to switch devices as needed for different services was an arduous but necessary process.

“VA believes that we want to put digital experiences wherever the customer happens to be,” he explained. “Whatever context they happen to be in, whatever device they happen to be using, we want to make sure that they can do business with us the way they expect to do business with any other aspect of their life.”

Data-driven decision making

When creating impactful digital platforms, data is essential. However, with a vast array of sources available, agencies are looking for ways to leverage the influx of data in actionable ways. The State Department, for example, uses diverse data sources, such as surveys and web analytics, to better understand how users interact with sites. Meanwhile, to support recreation.gov, Booz Allen has built a robust data ecosystem with over 20 channels to “listen” to users and collect data, from Google Analytics insights to tracking page abandonment rates. However, Healy notes that all data collection must serve a purpose.

“You need to want to understand something [about the user] … then you can design your data feeds to support that curiosity,” he said. “When we look at data, we're looking at lots of different data sources, we try to pull those together to try to figure out what's going on … and then from that, we will make adjustments to maybe a workflow or maybe a particular way we show content.”

Through A/B testing and user journey analysis, Booz Allen continuously recommends refinements to site functionality to improve task completion rates and streamline navigation paths. For the VA, the most critical data comes from consistent and honest communication with users. Before launching public-facing products, VA selects a random sample of volunteers through veteranusability.us to test quality and usability. The organization also asks for user feedback after interactions with already public sites to gauge satisfaction.

“We have the conversation throughout the digital experience, through every customer's journey, regardless of what they're doing,” said Hoffman, “so we can see how people feel about our home page interactions … we can look at a veteran's journey applying for health care, and see when they run into trouble and what kind of comments they provide.”

Accessibility as a core principle

Accessibility is a cornerstone of effective public sector service to ensure that all customers have seamless access to the services and information they need.

“For the recreation.gov program, accessibility is not a compliance exercise,” said Healy. “That is just step one, we're trying to allow people to have a great experience in the outdoors, and in order to do that, they need to have equal access.”

For example, its web designers recently moved the accessibility filter to be more visible right above the search bar, helping those with disabilities more easily find parks that meet specific accommodations. This small change resulted in a 900% increase in the use of that particular filter.

“The individuals that are doing that … their objective is not to create a reservation,” Healy explained. “Their objective is to go out and do something in the field … and you need to be able to get them there with confidence, to know that it's going to be what they expected, and that they're prepared.”

Accessible design often benefits all users, not just those with disabilities. For instance, those accessing sites in noisy or low-light environments also benefit from features initially designed for accessibility. In fact, the State Department now mandates that all content published on its websites meets accessibility standards.

“It takes time … to make something accessible, and it's much, much better to bake it in from the beginning,” said Levy. “When you're putting together a piece of content, don't come at it at the end, think about this all the way from the very beginning.”

New opportunities to meet evolving expectations

As agencies develop customer-centric systems and processes, emerging technologies like artificial intelligence will enable increased personalization and functionality that eases the burden on both customers and internal personnel.

For Healy, AI is a game-changer, opening up potential to help users make specific requests about parks or campsites — such as searching for a campsite in a shaded area, or one that is ideal for children, etc. — and receive tailored results. Hoffman added that the VA is piloting several AI use cases, including analyzing and organizing thousands of customer comments and usability surveys to ensure the organization is addressing top challenges.

By leveraging new technologies, user feedback and federal guidance to better meet evolving customer needs, agencies are on a path to closing the gap between public and private sector digital experiences and providing truly customer-centric services that foster trust, inclusivity and convenience.

“You need to be thinking about what's coming tomorrow and being ready … to evolve quickly to that next set of expectations,” said Healy. “The demands are only getting higher … and government is always lagging a little bit. And if we can reduce that lag time, then I think we're going to … meet those customers where they are and meet those expectations.”