How governments are creating great user experiences for citizens

Australia’s New South Wales (NSW) government wants to become the world’s most customer-centric government by 2030 and has set up a specialised unit to transform survey insights into policy directions.  

Elsewhere, Portugal has set up 600 physical Citizen Spots, which offer around 200 public services, to ensure that people without digital skills can access services at a one-stop shop.

Though the two are disparate examples of public sector initiatives, they are part of a broader trend of governments seeking to systematically improve customer experience (CX), shares Siim Sikkut, who is part of the International Foundation for Customer Experience in Government, a non-profit thinktank and advisory body.  

“Government customer experience (GCX) has roots in the practices of good service design that have become more prevalent over the last few years. Governments have started to pay more attention to the experience that citizens are getting from services,” says Sikkut.  

Though this may seem natural, it is a mindset change for many governments. This is why the Foundation seeks to identify frontrunners, define what good GCX is, create practical transformation tools, and connect like-minded public sector leaders, Sikkut notes. 

Putting humans at the centre 

“Fundamentally GCX is about putting people in the centre. You care not just about what they get from the service but also how they feel about them,” Sikkut observes. It is about building services that directly meet user needs, rather than for bureaucratic convenience.  

 
“Make stuff as simple as possible,” he adds. 

For example, many countries have begun adopting a life moments approach, which bundles relevant services into one front door that citizens can quickly access at key moments of their life, such as the birth of a child. 

To measure success, government bodies can adopt the metrics that private sector bodies use – including customer satisfaction scores, time and money saved, and ease of process.  

Abu Dhabi, for one, has introduced an index that measures services against “effortlessness” metrics such as ease of access, service speed, and ease of use and quantifies them into a single score. 

Unlike private sector bodies, simpler public services do not only result in monetary returns, but results in higher trust – a 2019 study found that citizens were at least nine times more likely to express trust in government because of customer-centric services. 

Improving interactions at every touchpoint 

At the end of the day, it’s about improving perceptions and making people feel good when they interact with services, employees, or channels, explains Sikkut – and leaders can do this by focusing on the touchpoints where interactions happen. 

There are several best practices for doing so, ranging from service design approaches, experience design, delivery modes, and organisational set-ups.  
 

These include “once-only” approaches, where citizens need to provide data to the government only once; accessible design that addresses the needs of all potential users; providing multiple channels that cater to varying preferences; or reducing unnecessary steps. 

To start, leaders should identify where the critical mass of touchpoints are. For larger countries, service transformation could be more impactful at the regional level, such as in Canada’s Nova Scotia province or Australia’s NSW, whereas in countries like Estonia and Singapore, change happens on a national level. 

“If you want to change the game, know where the game is played,” he says. 

Places like Abu Dhabi are already considering how service improvement efforts can go beyond transactions and towards a wider range of public services.  

This can look like proactively assessing the quality of services such as national parks, public transportation, and fire department services and transforming them to better serve citizen needs. 

Four key enablers 

According to a recent report by the Foundation, there are four key levers that leaders can tap on to drive transformation efforts across the whole service lifecycle. 

The first is to set a clear direction and priorities. For instance, France set up Services Publics+, a government-wide service improvement programme that guides public officials in making services simpler, more efficient, and more accessible. 

Next is to implement a user-focused approach to design, such as Singapore’s Moments of Life approach.  

Third would be to adopt a human-centred approach when developing services. The United Kingdom introduced a government-wide Service Standard that aligns all services to 14 key principles in 2014 and institutionalises key checkpoints to ensure adoption. 

The consistent delivery of good services must follow through by providing staff training and building resilient services. Despite the Ukraine-Russia war in 2022, Ukraine was able to continue delivering strong public services via digital channels. 

Good experiences will vary across countries: some prefer invisible, digital-by-default approaches, whereas others may prefer a stronger human touch, so leaders should tailor their solutions accordingly, says Sikkut. 

Emerging trends, such as artificial intelligence (AI), autonomous machines, and gamification can also reinforce or disrupt these trends, he adds. 

Sustaining change

When it comes to sustaining change, CX is no different from other transformation effort, shares Sikkut. This means setting clear goals, introducing new practices, and creating new institutions responsible for improving service quality. 

But can government leaders sustain such change, even in the face of changing political priorities, budgets, and leaders? 

 
“If you do it long enough, citizens will want more such experiences, so you can unleash a virtuous cycle. I’ve yet to see politicians who want to turn back. It’s all about getting the ball rolling,” he says.  

But countries can end up underestimating the effort required for this, he warns. Abu Dhabi is one City that stands out, having introduced “the most systematic effort” for service improvement. 

Leaders do not have to reinvent the wheel – they can learn from the efforts of other countries and tailor solutions to their contexts, he explained. 

To learn more about the Foundation’s recent report on the emerging trends around customer experience in government, click here. To read about Abu Dhabi’s approach to GCX, click here. 

This article was produced in partnership with Abu Dhabi's Department of Government Enablement.