The more I’ve thought about Citizen Experience — with its goal of reconsidering and improving the experience citizens have when they interact with government, both on and off the web — the more I find myself coming back to the same thought: we really need a list of all those points of interaction.
I recognize that this is kind of crazy. What sort of a monster list would this have to be to include everywhere that public institutions and public citizens connect? Voting, getting a passport, renewing a license, paying taxes…and each new interaction can lead to a dozen more! Attempting to list them all may well be as foolhardy as trying to number the stars.
On the other hand, the list may not have to be comprehensive to add value. Even giving it a shot, jotting down as many points of interaction as we can think of, could be entirely worthwhile — a solid jumping off point for thinking about tangible improvements we can make to real processes.
That’s why I’m asking for the Gov 2.0 community’s help in getting started compiling this list. I set up a Google Doc where you can enter your ideas (screenshot below). Please consider weighing in. It should only take a minute! And as you think about what to add, here are a few preliminary guidelines:
- Let’s look for examples from all levels of U.S. government — local, state, and federal.
- We want to focus on interactions. So, “federal highways” may not be an ideal example of an interaction point; “paying tolls” probably is.
- Outsourced government services (public functions handled by contractors) are on the table; government funding of private operations (grants, etc.) is outside the scope at this point.
- Please feel free to add your thoughts/comments/expertise to another entry, but please don’t delete anyone else’s content.
We already have some great contributions. Here’s a screenshot of how the list is shaping up:
What can you add?? Contribute your ideas here!
I may well be opening a Pandora’s Box with this project — there will undoubtedly be a lot of grey areas, and plenty of tough questions we can try to answer as we go (please feel free to leave them in the comments section here). I just figure we have to start somewhere.
Thanks in advance for your help!
This post originally appeared on my personal blog.
I think part of the key is taking these mandatory interaction periods (say renewing a license, getting passport) and using them as an opportunity to cross-sell/push people into deeper citizen engagement activities (comment on a budget plan, sign up to volunteer, get informed such as sign up to receive GAO reports or news on your city)
Really good thought Steve. That’s taking it to the next level. My hope is that we can get as many people to view this list and add their ideas as possible. Then we’ll be in a good place to drill into it and explore how the sort of integration you’re talking about can be implemented. Thanks for the feedback — and thanks also to the other GovLoopers who have already contributed creative thoughts to the list.