A digital experience that makes governments more accessible

Blog

Posted on

8/06/2023

Author

Els Knevels

Growth Hacker

We all know it: the frustration of waiting hours at your city counter because you have "a difficult file" or you're "asking a difficult question". Recognizable? You have an urgent question about your construction permit that you quickly ask over the phone, but in the meantime, you've already been referred 7 times between departments and employees only to end up back at that first person who unfortunately cannot help you any further... Fortunately, there is another way!

In this blog, I'll take you through how a government creates seamless digital experiences for its citizens:

What are digital experiences for a government?
A citizen's journey: meet Fabiënne
Increase engagement with a government
Security and accessibility in a government
Digital experiences: a win-win for all stakeholder
A Digital Experience Platform, what is that
In a nutshell, digital experiences for a government that is..
How to calculate ROI from your digital experiences?

What are digital experiences for a government?

In an era where digitization has become the norm, governments have a crucial role to play. It is time to break the status quo and make a shift from "Just look it up online. It's on our website somewhere!" to "The right information, at the right time, through the right channel." This is where seamless digital experiences make the difference. As a government, you must communicate proactively and efficiently with your citizens. Often you have a mass amount of data, which doesn't make it any easier. The trick then, is to still communicate smoothly and clearly online. But how exactly do you do that?

Imagine, instead of slogging through mountains of data, struggling with complex websites, and getting frustrated with inefficient communication channels, receiving personalized and proactive content that matches your needs and is always available. That's what a Digital Experience Platform (DXP) can do for governments. It not only makes communication easier, but also helps stay in line with data privacy. And do you know what's best? I'll explain below using a concrete case.

A citizen's journey: meet Fabiënne

Fabiënne is an entrepreneur, a concerned citizen of a Flemish central city, and she is about to move to a suburb. She enjoys cycling with her two children and dog, and turned her passion into her profession: she opened her own business a few years ago: the Bicycle Boutique.

Because of her move, she is also looking for a new location for the Bicycle Boutique. There's a lot involved in that. For more information, she searches the City's website. Through her previous interaction with her city's website - from searching for bike tours and opening hours to booking summer camps for her kids - we've already collected quite a bit of relevant data about her online. Now she's using the website to search for information about her move. What exactly is happening?

Because of her previous searches, the homepage immediately shows her a banner about a summer camp for her children. Last year, she was too late and ended up on the waiting list. This year, she proactively clicks the "remind me" button, sending her a reminder when registrations are open. Windfall!

Anyway, that's not really what she came for. Order of the day: her move. She types the word into the website's search bar and immediately gets suggestions: moving documents, moving lift requirements, checklist for business owners moving... That last one, that's exactly what she's looking for!

Fabiënne enters a journey where she is given step-by-step information she needs at that moment AND she is guided in every action she takes. She enters a number of additional details and chooses a preferred channel for updates: email, SMS, or Whatsapp.

From now on, Fabiënne receives updates via Whatsapp and detailed information via email. What if she gets stuck somewhere? Each email contains the City's phone number and a chat button. To make it even easier, she can also reply via Whatsapp to Anita, the City's support assistant. Whichever channel she chooses, the person at the other end of the channel always has insight into her file and helps her immediately.

Fabienne's experience in short

By using a DXP, Fabienne immediately sees her personalized and relevant information on the homepage. She receives reminders for important dates and suggestions for her searches. The system guides her through a personalized "journey," offers her step-by-step information, and guides her through all the actions she needs to take. She receives updates via WhatsApp, detailed explanations via e-mail, and in case of problems, she can contact a staff member who has access to her file at any time.

Increase engagement with a government

The user experience for City employees

For Fabiënne, it's all great fun, but how about on the other side of the channel? Anita - the City's support assistant - and her colleagues must have their hands full chatting, calling, and Whatsapping, right? Well, not entirely. Digitization is a great tool for them too. They have one central interface to answer customer questions because all the underlying channels are linked. Besides, any colleague can take over from Anita anytime because all info is neatly in the central platform. Handy, right!

Micro and macro events

However, Fabiënne's contact with the city is not limited to major life events such as moving, births, marriage.... Countless micro-moments also have a positive impact on her experience. Just think about shopping Sundays, garbage collections, pop-up bars... By combining both levels, Fabiënne gets a pleasant experience at any time.

Newsletters for greater engagement

A newsletter is an excellent way to get citizens more engaged. By combining relevant content with important info everyone needs to know, you increase engagement and improve communication with your citizens. By appearing regularly in their inbox - not too often, but not too little either - you strengthen the connection with your citizens and increase support for local initiatives. The result? A government that is more engaged with its citizens, and citizens who feel more engaged with their government.

Security and accessibility in a government

Security in digital experiences

With digital experiences also comes the need to ensure data privacy and security. You can read more about this crucial topic in our blog on Privacy and GDPR.

Digital experiences accessible to all

In an inclusive society, digital experiences should be accessible to everyone. Find out how to improve digital accessibility in our blog on WCAG guidelines.

Digital experiences: a win-win for all stakeholders

Improving digital experiences not only benefits citizens. It also leads to numerous benefits for the government and its employees. Fewer phone calls to the front desk, more efficient information management, better insights into search and reading behavior, and more secure handling of citizen data are just a few of the benefits.

Hospitality staff

They receive fewer phones because the information is more easily found online. Even outside regular business hours. Basic questions are answered sooner online as a result, and self-service becomes easier through the digital portal. Think status updates, making appointments, general FAQs, etc.

Communication department

They now manage information through one central platform. They also use templates for a consistent layout and branding for the distribution of info through the various channels: website, information screens, City app... By the way, they also get better insights into the search and reading behavior of citizens. This way, they set the right priorities in content creation.

IT department

Citizens' data must be treated with proper care. Robust online platforms carry the right care for this personal data and allow the data to remain in their own hands.

All employees

A government is often a very large organization where the digital employee experience can add great value. Just think of an intranet with the right information and tools, such as work schedules, organizational charts, internal newsletters....

En daar stopt het niet. Ook voor leveranciers, de pers, kenniscentra… zijn er nog een heleboel opportuniteiten om te verbeteren door te werken aan een doordacht digitaal ervaringsplatform.

A Digital Experience Platform, what's that?

Easily managing digital experiences is typically done with a DXP, a Digital Experience Platform. Such a platform fills in a lot of challenges and gives you the tools to:

centrally manage and distribute your content across your various channels,
consistently follow your brand guidelines everywhere and make the necessary templates available,
put your citizen at the center and build and automate journeys around him or her across channels,
securely integrate with your digital ecosystem such as reception, calendar and appointment management, CRM, citizen data... all while respecting privacy and GDPR,
gain relevant insights around digital journeys and online behavior of your various stakeholders,
provide you with the right tools to help your communications, online and IT teams work together more efficiently.

In a nutshell, digital experiences for a government that is...

1. Happy citizens

by providing convenience and value with quick, 24/7 answers to basic questions and easy access to specific procedures and updates.

2. Increased civic engagement

by personalizing relevant communications and strengthening the connection between citizens through online communities.

3. Satisfied employees

by simplifying work with an efficient intranet and providing valuable insights for more efficient interactions.

Reap the benefits as a government!

Easily calculate your ROI or begin a digital experience strategy to see how you can improve digital experiences for both your citizens and government employees. Start creating valuable, efficient and seamless digital experiences today.

Calculate your ROI