Fed SOTU - Key Questions Agency Leaders Can Ask About Customer Experience

Delivering Modern Government Services

Key Questions Agency Leaders Can Ask About Customer Experience

Agency leaders are expected to deliver programs and services that, either directly or indirectly, affect the public. The public — the federal government’s “customer” — deserves effective programs and services delivered with reliable technology, data and design. The Customer Experience Executive Order released in 2021 significantly raised expectations for agencies to design and deliver “services with a focus on the actual experience of the people whom it is meant to serve.” Under this executive order, agency leaders are directed to reduce administrative burdens, simplify and streamline processes for both internal employees and external customers, and empower the federal workforce to solve problems.

The Tech Talent Project and the Partnership for Public Service have identified a set of questions to help agency leaders make sure that their teams have the skills, support and resources necessary to provide convenient and accessible public services. These questions are built on a foundation of work, including the U.S. CIO’s Digital Services Playbook, the Defense Innovation Board Detecting Agile BS guide, and reinforced by the Partnership for Public Service’s and Accenture’s Government for the People: Designing for Equitable and Trusted Customer Experiences.

This report is a living guide. If there are questions not listed that should be, contact the Tech Talent Project here.

Developed in collaboration with Partnership for Public Service. This document is in progress

QUESTION

What do our customers — the people who use our programs and services — need?

What are our top three most used products and/or services?
Who are our agency’s main customers?

WHO TO ASK IF YOU DON’T KNOW

• Customer or User Experience Researcher

RESOURCES

• Analytics USA

• Performance.gov

• Customer Experience Executive Order

• The Digital Services Playbook, Play 1

QUESTION

Are we addressing the whole customer experience from start to finish? Is the experience simple and intuitive for our customers?

When can I watch a customer access our public-facing website or apply for a service they need?
What options do our customers have when they want to give feedback?
Are our teams empowered to change the requirements based on customer feedback? Is a person or team in charge of the entire customer experience?
Are our teams empowered to change their processes based on what they learn?

WHO TO ASK IF YOU DON’T KNOW

Customer/user experience researcher and/or direct access to a service website

RESOURCES

• The Digital Services Playbook, Play 2

QUESTION

Are our services being improved frequently? Do they adapt to changing customer needs regularly?

How are we testing each software improvement with a subset of real customers — and gathering feedback — on a regular cadence?
How is customer feedback incorporated into products or services on a daily basis?
Where and when do customers stop engaging with our site or service?

WHO TO ASK IF YOU DON’T KNOW

• Program leads

• Chief information officer (CIO)

• Chief technology officer (CTO)

• Senior Advisor for Tech & Delivery (SADel)

• United States Digital Service (USDS) team

• Chief data officer (CDO)

• U.S. Office of the Federal CIO (OFCIO)

RESOURCES

• The Digital Services Playbook, Play 4

• Program website analytics

QUESTION

Are our budgets and contracts structured to deliver services effectively and adapt to changing customer needs?

What percent of tech procurement officials are DiTAP* certified?
Does our agency have a modern tech procurement strategy? Does it differentiate between procuring software and hardware?
How does our agency ensure software is quickly procured and deployed so that it’s available for customers when they need it?
How is our agency applying for Technology Modernization Funds? Are we making effective use of the fund?

*Our federal government has a technical certification for procurement professionals. The Digital IT Acquisition Professional Training (DiTAP) program runs for approximately six months and provides trainings and a network of tech-certified procurement professionals.

WHO TO ASK IF YOU DON’T KNOW

DiTAP Certification

Chief acquisition officer and USDS

Tech Procurement Strategy

CIO, CTO, senior advisor for tech & delivery, USDS team, CDO, U.S. OFCIO

Software Procurement and Deployment

CIO, CTO, senior advisor for tech & delivery, USDS team, CDO, U.S. OFCIO

TMF Fund

CIO, U.S. OFCIO

RESOURCES

• The Digital Services Playbook, Play 5

• DiTAP Training Program Description

• Technology Modernization Fund

QUESTION

How are we supporting and empowering teams experienced in modern digital services?

How is our agency building and supporting the modern technical, digital and data expertise required to deliver its top three products or services?
Is our tech talent recruiting, hiring and onboarding strategy helping hirees reach organizational goals?
How does our leadership team support effective modern technical experts?

WHO TO ASK IF YOU DON’T KNOW

• Chief information officer (CIO)

• Chief technology officer (CTO)

• Chief human capital officer (CHCO)

• Senior Advisor for Tech & Delivery (SADel)

• United States Digital Service (USDS) team

• Chief data officer (CDO)

• U.S. Office of the Federal CIO (OFCIO)

RESOURCES

• The Digital Services Playbook, Play 7

QUESTION

How is our agency using data on programs and services to drive decisions that improve our customer’s experience?

How are we strategically using data and tech to assess performance, drive innovation and achieve our mission?
How are we ensuring the secure, reliable and responsible use of data — particularly any personally identifiable information?
How do we know if (at least) our top three products or services serve different communities equitably?

WHO TO ASK IF YOU DON’T KNOW

• Chief data officer (CDO)

• Chief information officer (CIO)

• Chief technology officer (CTO)

• Senior Advisor for Tech & Delivery (SADel)

• United States Digital Service (USDS) team

• U.S. Office of the Federal CIO (OFCIO)

RESOURCES

• The Digital Services Playbook, Play 12

QUESTION

Are we using the most effective technologies and tools for our needs?

How does our software system keep pace with the agency goals? For example, if our goal is to deliver retirement checks to retirees, will the system deliver retirement checks to retirees?
How often is our software system blocking our mission? Does it stop working?
Can our system still be patched? Is the system still supported by the maker?
Are we using modern tech — or at least technologies that are not legacy and unsupported?
What is our leadership team doing to understand the capabilities and liabilities of the software stacks it depends on, and do they understand the tradeoffs, costs and benefits of modernization-related migrations?

WHO TO ASK IF YOU DON’T KNOW

• Chief information officer (CIO)

• Chief technology officer (CTO)

• Senior Advisor for Tech & Delivery (SADel)

• United States Digital Service (USDS) team

• Chief data officer (CDO)

• U.S. Office of the Federal CIO (OFCIO)

RESOURCES

• The Digital Services Playbook, Play 12

• US CIO, Clare Martorana Congressional Testimony

QUESTION

How is our agency managing security and privacy through reusable processes?

How frequent are my cybersecurity status briefings?
Is our staff empowered to meet the numerous commitments in the Zero Trust Executive Order (EO 14028) and Zero Trust Architecture Strategy?
How are we using zero trust principles? Do our teams have the ability to negotiate for feature changes related to security improvements?
What percent of our staff use physical keys to sign onto their systems? What percent use auto updates for their phone, laptop and browsers?

WHO TO ASK IF YOU DON’T KNOW

• Chief information security officer (CISO)

• U.S. Office of the Federal CIO (OFCIO)

RESOURCES

• The Digital Services Playbook, Play 11

• Zero Trust Executive Order (EO 14028)

• Zero Trust Architecture Strategy

QUESTION

Do we have one or more trusted leaders who can answer these questions and feel empowered to reach out directly if they see blockers stopping them from being able to deliver?

Only you, as an agency leader, know the answer to this.

Consider your CIO or senior advisor for tech and delivery; ask for support from OFCIO or USDS.

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Delivering Modern Government Services

What do our customers — the people who use our programs and services — need?

What are our top three most used products and/or services?

Who are our agency’s main customers?

Are we addressing the whole customer experience from start to finish? Is the experience simple and intuitive for our customers?

When can I watch a customer access our public-facing website or apply for a service they need?

What options do our customers have when they want to give feedback?

Are our teams empowered to change the requirements based on customer feedback? Is a person or team in charge of the entire customer experience?

Are our teams empowered to change their processes based on what they learn?

Are our services being improved frequently? Do they adapt to changing customer needs regularly?

How are we testing each software improvement with a subset of real customers — and gathering feedback — on a regular cadence?

How is customer feedback incorporated into products or services on a daily basis?

Where and when do customers stop engaging with our site or service?

Are our budgets and contracts structured to deliver services effectively and adapt to changing customer needs?

What percent of tech procurement officials are DiTAP* certified?

Does our agency have a modern tech procurement strategy? Does it differentiate between procuring software and hardware?

How does our agency ensure software is quickly procured and deployed so that it’s available for customers when they need it?

How is our agency applying for Technology Modernization Funds? Are we making effective use of the fund?

How are we supporting and empowering teams experienced in modern digital services?

How is our agency building and supporting the modern technical, digital and data expertise required to deliver its top three products or services?

Is our tech talent recruiting, hiring and onboarding strategy helping hirees reach organizational goals?

How does our leadership team support effective modern technical experts?

How is our agency using data on programs and services to drive decisions that improve our customer’s experience?

How are we strategically using data and tech to assess performance, drive innovation and achieve our mission?

How are we ensuring the secure, reliable and responsible use of data — particularly any personally identifiable information?

How do we know if (at least) our top three products or services serve different communities equitably?

Are we using the most effective technologies and tools for our needs?

How does our software system keep pace with the agency goals? For example, if our goal is to deliver retirement checks to retirees, will the system deliver retirement checks to retirees?

How often is our software system blocking our mission? Does it stop working?

Can our system still be patched? Is the system still supported by the maker?

Are we using modern tech — or at least technologies that are not legacy and unsupported?

What is our leadership team doing to understand the capabilities and liabilities of the software stacks it depends on, and do they understand the tradeoffs, costs and benefits of modernization-related migrations?

How is our agency managing security and privacy through reusable processes?

How frequent are my cybersecurity status briefings?

Is our staff empowered to meet the numerous commitments in the Zero Trust Executive Order (EO 14028) and Zero Trust Architecture Strategy?

How are we using zero trust principles? Do our teams have the ability to negotiate for feature changes related to security improvements?

What percent of our staff use physical keys to sign onto their systems? What percent use auto updates for their phone, laptop and browsers?

Do we have one or more trusted leaders who can answer these questions and feel empowered to reach out directly if they see blockers stopping them from being able to deliver?

Only you, as an agency leader, know the answer to this.