Simplicity: Make it easy

The complexity of their interactions with public service agencies frustrates people, but simplifying experiences doesn’t have to be a multi-year transformation. 

Lengthy and confusing processes are people’s top complaints in describing public services. Some say they don’t know what materials they need or where to start. Public employees see process challenges too. They point to inefficient or frequently changing processes as the biggest barriers to providing great service to constituents.

The simpler it is for people to interact with government agencies, the more likely agencies are to improve compliance and outcomes. A maze of processes makes it harder for people to resolve issues the first time they contact an agency. As such, they may never get the outcomes they need or may be unable to comply with requirements. At the same time, agency employees end up with more stress. This is why simple processes are so critical.

No organization sets out to make overly complex experiences. Complexity comes from many factors that typically end up compounding the problem. Addressing complexity requires large-scale transformation that takes time and money.

However, there are quicker and more affordable fixes that can make a tremendous difference. These are things like redesigning interactive voice response (IVR) flows, providing targeted employee training or revising service messaging for target audiences.