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SERVING THE CITIZEN
THE NEW ERA OF CITIZEN ENGAGEMENT
Citizens want services and communications that are mobile, personalized and optimized. Today’s innovation makes it easier than ever to deliver.
SPONSORED CONTENT
BARRY LEFFEW
VICE PRESIDENT, PUBLIC SECTOR, ADOBE SYSTEMS INCORPORATED
TECHNOLOGY IS constantly evolving to improve the interaction between citizens and government, with a feedback loop that’s faster, more mobile and more personalized than ever. We’ve moved
beyond digitizing paper-based workflows. With today’s technology agencies can now deliver better, and more effective citizen services at a much
lower cost. It’s a new era for Citizen Engagement. Taking advantage of it is easier and less expensive than you think using these four concepts.
Meet Citizens Where They Live.
Mobile isn’t a touchpoint, it’s the way we get things done. Citizens are more nomadic than ever, and their individual productivity has also increased. As a result, citizens demand to inform themselves wherever and whenever they want. They also expect to be more meaningfully productive in any environment. Today’s government workflows must reach citizens wherever they are, in a manner that’s lightweight, secure and simple to use.
Ideally, agencies should consider a mobile- first approach to their application and web content delivery. By designing responsive experiences within the context of the device, agencies can deliver the best user experiences to their citizens. But, shifting to a mobile-first approach doesn’t necessarily mean changing out all of an agency’s infrastructure. It’s possible to extend legacy applications into new and more agile footprints.
Personalization Matters.
Many agencies understand the benefit of getting the right information to the right person at the right time. But what is less well-known is that the cost of service delivery drops in direct proportion to the targeting precision. Put another way, citizens want to get on and off an agency web site as quickly as they previously wanted to get in and out of an
agency office. The more an agency can personalize content delivery, the sooner citizens are connected with the information, forms and applications
they want. The result? Faster and more efficient workflows, and fewer errors from manual, paper- intensive processes.
Measure, Optimize
and Measure Again.
Measuring your effectiveness is important, but what you do with those measurements is the real game-changer. Statistics on visits, open rates or click-throughs don’t mean much unless there is an integrated system that can take that data and based on the results, easily optimize the content delivery. And it has to be across
all touchpoints—email, web, social—because citizens will naturally drift across channels. The measurement platform should be well integrated with the content management system so that
it’s easy to understand, for example, when an instructional video for a form works better on a desktop than it does on a smart phone.
Success is an Ongoing Journey.
The true measure of engagement rests in the eye of the citizen. And it’s up to the agency to expand and grow their capabilities in response. There isn’t an endpoint, citizen need will continue to evolve, and so the agency’s response will continue to evolve. Advances in technology—such as Adobe Digital Design Templates for Government that help public sector web site managers build USDS/18F design guideline compliant web content— will in turn improve user experiences that field deeper relationships between agencies and citizens. This is why it’s important to choose creative and engaging platforms that can grow with both the agency and the citizen.
Barry Leffew is the Vice President of Public Sector at Adobe Systems Incorporated.
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