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Guide for Measuring Customer Experience in the Public Sector
Each year more Americans rely on digital technology to interact with government — a trend that accelerated rapidly during the COVID-19 pandemic. As Americans’ relationship with accessing public services changes, the metrics for gauging the success of those relationships should also change. In order to build trust and accountability with constituents, government must meet Americans where they are — online — and deliver on the promises it makes.
Product management is at the center of delivery and customer experience and it can be transformational when applied to the implementation of government programs that use/rely on technology.
This report provides a collection of suggested metrics for agency teams to measure customer experience through product management in program administration and agile development and procurement. While some of these metrics may already be collected, they need to be made open and available.
Agency leaders looking to improve customer experience may also want to look at Top Questions for Agency Executives and the snapshot of hiring data and hiring metrics for federal IT roles.
How to use this guide
This report is a living guide. If there are metrics not listed that should be, contact the Tech Talent Project here.
This document is broken into 2 themes that heavily support effective delivery in customer experience: product management and agile development and procurement. You can jump to a specific category depending on what you are looking to measure. Some measures are focused on the product (program or service), while others support the organization.
Section 1
Product Management
Product management is a bridge to effectively using data, design, and technology to implement programs. Americans expect government to be responsive to their needs, but do not believe that it is. A recent survey by the American Customer Satisfaction Index (ACSI) found that customer satisfaction with government services is at an all-time low, while another survey by the Partnership for Public Service and Freedman Consulting found that only 37% of Americans agree that the federal government helps people like them. The metrics below help agencies ensure they are delivering services that are effective, efficient and equitable.
Measure how effectively customers …
Use your services
Customer satisfaction
What is it?
How well your agency’s service fulfills the needs and expectations of the customer, as reported by customers.
Why is it important?
Measuring customer satisfaction can help teams identify problems and areas for improvement, and track progress over time.
How is it measured?
Customer feedback, primarily through surveys and interviews.
Additional resources
Length of feedback loops to escalate issues
What is it?
The collection, analysis and incorporation of data from the service once it is live and throughout each enhancement, including customer reports of bugs and missing features.
Why is it important?
No service is perfect from the beginning. Many issues are discovered after they go live, making customer feedback and data critical to help inform decisions and improvements. This is particularly important throughout the lifecycle of a product or service. Customers need to be able to escalate issues and be informed when something is fixed or enhanced.
How is it measured?
Total usage of escalation pathways by customers; number of bugs reported by customers; number of features requested by customers.
Additional resources
Completion rate of intended task
What is it?
The customer’s ability to get the information or service they came to a site to use.
Why is it important?
This metric answers a fundamental question about your service: Could customers get what they wanted? This can help determine the needs of the customer and identify gaps in information.
How is it measured?
Customer survey that asks: “Were you able to complete the purpose of your visit? [Yes/No — if not, why not?]”
Additional resources
Time on task
What is it?
How long it takes users to complete specific tasks in the service.
Why is it important?
A customer’s time is valuable. Many customers may not have much free time to spend using government services, so a high time-on- task will reduce the use and effectiveness of these websites and services. It’s important to know the type of service you are providing. Does your customer need to be informed about something? Do they need to complete a transaction? Can they save their progress if they don’t have all the information they need to complete the task?
How is it measured?
Time-on-task can be measured during usability testing — a process which evaluates a service by testing it with representative users. Specifically, usability testing can assess time-on-task by assigning a user a specific task and measuring how long it takes them to complete it. Services that are live can gather similar data such as time-on-page through analytics platforms, such as Google analytics.
Additional resources
Digital take-up
What is it?
The percentage of customers using services online vs. other channels (for example, by text, phone or in person).
Why is it important?
Even if a digital service sees significant usage, there may be many individuals who could benefit, but are instead relying on more cumbersome channels. The digital take-up metric gives an agency a better understanding of how many people are benefiting from the efficiency of digital services.
How is it measured?
Divide the total number of digital transactions by the total number of transactions from all channels. Be sure to include people who get support from someone else to use the digital service. This is known as “assisted digital” support.
Additional resources
Number of user research studies
What is it?
Number of research studies — such as intercepts, interviews and usability testing — utilized to connect with users and receive feedback on services.
Why is it important?
Receiving customer feedback is imperative to build an effective service that actually does what people need. Spend the time to understand the problem, and don’t assume you have the answers.
Additional resources
Discover your services
Search engine optimization (SEO)
What is it?
How easily someone can find your site or digital service by using a search engine like Google or Bing.
Why is it important?
Online search is a large driver of traffic to all online content, so it’s critical that government services be “findable” by search engines.
How is it measured?
There are various measurements that can give you an idea of your SEO, such as top referring search terms and top referring search terms with low click-through rates. It’s usually better to use the terms people are using to search. Commercial search engines such as Bing and Google offer webmaster tools and analytics products that can help capture these measurements.
Additional resources
Social media usage and engagement
What is it?
How well a service team uses social media to share information, deliver services and leverage social data.
Why is it important?
72% of American adults use at least one social media site. These social media outlets provide another access point to your service. Further, agencies can leverage the vast amounts of real-time data on social media to predict and respond to emerging trends.
How is it measured?
There are many data points from social media that should be tracked. See Digital.gov – Social Media Metrics for Federal Agencies.
Additional resources
Digital advertising usage and engagement
What is it?
How well a service team uses digital advertising tools to convert potential customers into users of digital government services.
Why is it important?
Every day, businesses advertise to specific audiences to receive the most value for their money. Government can utilize these same tools to reach the customers that are in most need of services as well. For example, the state of California achieved success in the rollout of their Emergency Broadband Benefit by leveraging Google AdWords to distribute information to Californians who searched for “Low Cost Internet” through Google Search.
How is it measured?
There are three key measurements with digital advertisements — interactions, conversions and conversion rate. Online advertising platforms can help their customers with these metrics.
- Interactions: The number of users who click on an advertisement
- Conversions: The number of users who complete a “valuable action” after clicking on the advertisement.
- “Valuable actions” are defined based on the goal of the service.
- Conversion rate: The percentage of conversions that occur as a portion of total interactions.
Additional resources
Access your services
Page load time
What is it?
The speed at which a website loads. This ultimately indicates the ability of customers to effectively and efficiently use digital services regardless of their device and bandwidth.
Why is it important?
According to the Federal Communications Commission’s (FCC) 2019 Broadband Progress Report, 19 million Americans lack access to high-speed internet. Lower income Americans are also more likely to rely on mobile devices to go online. These Americans need to be able to access digital government services effectively and efficiently. Given this, agencies should be measuring website load times, with the goal of reducing response times wherever possible.
How is it measured?
There are several ways to measure and optimize website load times. Note that load times should be measured on mobile devices as well as desktop and laptop computers. See resources below.
Additional resources
Use of plain language
What is it?
The use of plain language that is easily readable in online content, usually at the sixth-grade reading level.
Why is it important?
The American public includes a wide range of individuals with varying reading abilities, education levels and language proficiency. Per the U.S. Census, millions of Americans do not speak English “very well.” These individuals need to be able to access government services. To this end, the Plain Writing Act, passed in 2010, requires executive agencies to use plain writing in every covered document that the agency issues or substantially revises, train employees in “plain writing,” and establish organizational processes to ensure compliance and receive feedback from the public.
How is it measured?
See the Federal Plain Language Guidelines. Further, the Center for Plain Language publishes an annual report card and grading criteria.
Additional resources
Number of browsers and versions supported
What is it?
The support of a website/service for various web browsers and versions (i.e., Google Chrome, Mozilla Firefox, Safari, etc.). Includes both mobile and desktop web browsers.
Why is it important?
There are dozens of web browsers. Services need to be available to the public regardless of which browser they use. Further, browsers go out-of-date but continue to be used by many people. Microsoft has been trying to get users to abandon Internet Explorer in favor of Microsoft Edge, though millions still use Internet Explorer. Further, as browsers implement features differently or may have bugs themselves, it is important to test across browsers to verify your functionality will work in all situations.
How is it measured?
Number of browsers that a service is available on and has been tested on (e.g., Google Chrome, Safari, Mozilla Firefox), including old versions.
Additional resources
Web accessibility
What is it?
How usable a service is for individuals with physical or situational disabilities, such as hearing or visual impairments.
Why is it important?
Approximately 37.5 million American adults report impaired hearing while over 12 million have impaired vision. These individuals may not be able to access needed services due to a lack of effective accessible design. Further, not having an accessible website is illegal and can open the agency up to lawsuits.
How is it measured?
An accessible website must take many factors into account, such as screen readers, use of high-contrast colors, and keyboard efficiency. See resources below for more information on how to measure your progress.
Additional resources
Measure cost per transaction
What is it?
The cost to the government each time a customer completes the task the service provides.
Why is it important?
Provides insight into the cost efficiency of a service and how to improve it. Can allow a service to estimate total savings of moving more customers to digital channels.
How is it measured?
Divide the total cost of providing the service by the total number of completed transactions.
Additional resources
Other product management resources
- Code for America Social Safety Net Scorecard
- Profiles: Partnership for Public Service CX profiles
Section 2
Agile Development and Procurement
The federal government must reliably administer taxpayer dollars to govern effectively and earn the trust of the public. This is particularly true in technology, where the federal government has suffered in the last decade from operating inefficient and expensive legacy systems, ineffective rollouts of new technology, and data breaches. Government agencies, with some focus, have the opportunity today to engage in effective procurement, practice modern development methodologies, and prioritize security and efficiency.
Measure how well agency teams…
Invest in modernization at the agency level
Percentage of procurement staff with Digital IT Acquisition Training
What is it?
DiTAP is a training and development program that teaches federal government acquisition professionals how to design innovative and flexible procurements for information technology (IT)/digital services.
Why is it important?
Federal agencies spend billions of dollars annually on IT-related contracts. It is imperative to ensure that the federal agents making procurement decisions and managing these contracts have the expertise necessary to effectively carry out their role.
How is it measured?
Percentage of agency procurement staff who have gone through DiTAP.
Additional resources
Percentage of budget for maintenance vs. modernization
What is it?
How much of the service’s budget is spent on maintenance vs. modernization and new services. In federal IT budgets, this is the breakdown of operations and maintenance (O&M) vs. development, modernization and enhancements (DME).
Why is it important?
Legacy IT systems cost significant amounts of money to maintain. This metric gives agencies an understanding of how much they are spending to maintain their “steady state” versus investing into new services for customers.
How is it measured?
Spending for each IT project is categorized as either O&M or DME in the agency IT portfolio. Calculate a percentage by dividing the O&M and DME each by the total service spending.
Additional resources
Percentage of budget spent on contractor labor vs. employees
What is it?
How much of the IT budget is spent on contractor labor vs. internal employees.
Why is it important?
The federal government spends a large portion of its annual budget on contractors, particularly in IT. Understanding the ratio is important for assessing how an agency is investing in developing internal capacity.
How is it measured?
Agency IT portfolios have cost pools for internal labor and external labor. Calculate a percentage by dividing the internal labor and external labor separately by the total combined spending on labor.
Additional resources
Percentage of services using cloud hosting
What is it?
The percentage of a services’ data that is stored using cloud hosting. The percentage of features/projects that leverage cloud hosting.
Why is it important?
Cloud hosting allows resources to be provided in real time to meet spikes in traffic and user demand, providing flexibility to an agency’s technical infrastructure.
How is it measured?
Divide the number of services using cloud hosting for some or all of their needs by the total number of services.
Additional resources
Practice agile development
Functionality delivered (bugs and enhancements included)
What is it?
Measure how many new features have been delivered to customers and the quality of the functionality, including bugs and enhancements.
Why is it important?
Current measurements center on if a project is completed on time and on budget, but need to also question if the project met its goals and delivered strong functionality to customers. Going beyond compliance and managing risk introduces product management approaches to service delivery.
How is it measured?
When determining if a project is on budget and on time, “on task” — if it meets its original goals — should be measured. Further, the number and severity of bugs/deficiencies and their fix speed should be measured, with an understanding that new bugs will be discovered over time. Enhancements to existing products and services should also be measured.
Additional resources
Product applies incremental releases (Alpha, Beta, Live)
What is it?
Number of development projects that use development best practices. Apply early release and agile methodologies to your release cycle. Shorten the release periods.
Why is it important?
As the IT industry has evolved, best practices for software development have been established. It is imperative that the government learn from not only its own experience, but industry experience, and leverage these best practices.
How is it measured?
Divide the number of IT projects using incremental development processes by the total number of IT projects.
Additional resources
Deployment frequency
What is it?
How often updates are made to an existing service.
Why is it important?
Using an incremental and fast-paced style of software development gets improvements to customers faster while reducing the risk of failure by receiving feedback more frequently.
How is it measured?
How long it takes to build, test, and deploy a typical bug fix; How long it takes to build, test, and deploy a new feature into production.
Additional resources
Percentage of data and code published publicly
What is it?
Percentage of data and code published in a public, accessible location in an easily understandable and downloadable format.
Why is it important?
Publicly publishing data allows entrepreneurs, nonprofits and other agencies to build upon existing services while allowing the public to hold the government accountable. There are open data and open source policies in place.
Additional resources
Percentage of code base covered by automated testing
What is it?
The use of software or code to execute test cases, comparing the actual outcomes with predicted outcomes.
Why is it important?
Automated testing allows for more efficient allocation of time and resources, particularly as technology becomes more complex. Automated scripts can verify thousands of scenarios in minutes, allowing for more efficient quality assurance and faster deployment times.
Additional resources
Procure services
Percent of budget spent on same vendor across all contracts
What is it?
The percentage of the service’s contractor budget that is spent on each specific contracting organization across all IT projects.
Why is it important?
Certain large companies tend to dominate government contracting, receiving the bulk of federal contractor dollars. Increasing the pool of businesses providing government contracting services, particularly small businesses, offers many benefits, such as extending opportunities to historically disadvantaged groups and gaining access to new ideas.
How is it measured?
Divide the amount of funding the service spends on each specific contractor by the total amount the service spends on contractors.
Additional resources
Percent of complete deliverables on all contractor projects
What is it?
Effectiveness of contractors at meeting their obligations.
Why is it important?
Federal agencies spend tens of billions of dollars annually on contractors to complete IT projects. It is critical to understand how effectively that money is being spent.
How is it measured?
Divide number of completed deliverables from contractor IT projects by total number of deliverables across all contractor IT projects.
Additional resources
Reduce cybersecurity risk
Number of cybersecurity incidents
What is it?
The total number of cybersecurity incidents for each agency.
Why is it important?
Collecting data on the number, type and severity of incidents allows for more accurate assessment of cyber-threats against the federal government and the most effective responses.
How is it measured?
Aggregate the total number of incidents in a given period of time. Per the Federal Information Security Modernization (FISMA) report, individual incidents must be tracked and reported by federal agencies.
Additional resources
Other agile development and procurement resources