SECTION 280 – MANAGING CUSTOMER EXPERIENCE AND IMPROVING SERVICE DELIVERY

Provides continued guidance to agencies on implementing the Federal Government’s customer experience framework, and information for agencies on how to effectively manage customer experience improvement efforts. Updates include elevating the responsibility of the completion of the HISP annual capacity assessment, providing definitions for terminology and activities related to the implementation of the 21st Century Integrated Digital Experiences Act, the new requirement for HISPs to identify two specific services for their customer feedback reporting and action planning, and additional information for agencies on best practices for measuring and managing customer experience.

CX MATTERS: "measures of experience (including measures of equity (e.g., participation), effort (burden/friction), and those outlined further in this guidance) are of co-equal importance as traditional measures of financial and operational performance"

All Executive agencies (5 U.S.C. 105) have a responsibility to manage customer experience and improve service delivery using leading practices and a human-centered approach, under the 21st Century Integrated Digital Experience Act, (P.L. 115-336). All agencies should apply the guidance provided in this section for the design of feedback surveys and establishing experience measures for Federal services.

So what is in 21st Century IDEA? The bill’s sponsor, Representative Ro Khanna, summed it up by saying, “Government exists to serve citizens, and this bill ensures government leverages available technology to provide cohesive, user-friendly online service that people around this country expect and deserve.”

Specifically, the Act requires all executive branch agencies to:

• modernize their websites,
• digitize services and forms,
• accelerate use of e-signatures,
• improve customer experience, and
• standardize and transition to centralized shared services.

Internal systems are also covered

Internal Digital Services.–The head of each executive agency shall ensure, to the greatest extent practicable, that any Intranet established after the date of enactment of this Act conforms to the requirements described in subsection (a).

A. Requirements for New Websites and Digital Services.–Not later than 180 days after the date of enactment of this Act, an executive agency that creates a website or digital service that is intended for use by the public, or conducts a redesign of an existing legacy website or digital service that is intended for use by the public, shall ensure to the greatest extent practicable that any new or redesigned website, web-based form, web-based application, or digital service–

1. is accessible to individuals with disabilities in accordance with section 508 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 (29 U.S.C. 794d);
2. has a consistent appearance;
3. does not overlap with or duplicate any legacy websites and, if applicable, ensure that legacy websites are regularly reviewed, eliminated, and consolidated;
4. contains a search function that allows users to easily search content intended for public use;
5. is provided through an industry standard secure connection;
6. is designed around user needs with data-driven analysis influencing management and development decisions, using qualitative and quantitative data to determine user goals, needs, and behaviors, and continually test the website, web-based form, web-based application, or digital service to ensure that user needs are addressed;
7. provides users of the new or redesigned website, web-based form, web-based application, or digital service with the option for a more customized digital experience that allows users to complete digital transactions in an efficient and accurate manner; and
8. is fully functional and usable on common mobile devices.

SEC. 6. CUSTOMER EXPERIENCE AND DIGITAL SERVICE DELIVERY.

The Chief Information Officer of each executive agency, or a designee, shall–

1. coordinate and ensure alignment of the internal and external customer experience programs and strategy of the executive agency;

2. coordinate with the management leaders of the executive agency, including the head of the executive agency, the Chief Financial Officer, and any program manager, to ensure proper funding to support the implementation of this Act;

3. continually examine the digital service delivery strategy of the executive agency to the public and submit recommendations to the head of the executive agency providing guidance and best practices suitable to the mission of the executive agency;

4. using qualitative and quantitative data obtained from across the executive agency relating to the experience and satisfaction of customers, identify areas of concern that need improvement and improve the delivery of customer service;

5. coordinate and ensure, with the approval of the head of the executive agency, compliance by the executive agency with section 3559 of title 44, United States Code; and

6. to the extent practicable, coordinate with other agencies and seek to maintain as much standardization and commonality with other agencies as practicable in implementing the requirements of this Act, to best enable future transitions to centralized shared services.

   What Are the Deadlines? Refer to Public Law 115–336 (PDF, 315 kb, 4 pages, December 2018) for more detailed information on the deadlines and reporting requirements in 21st Century IDEA.

How should agencies manage customer experience?

At multiple levels of government organizations (departmental enterprise, bureau, program office, service center), elements of core CX functions should be present4. These include:

• Measurement: Defining and instituting CX outcome measures, as well as service operational measures, to ensure accountability for improving service delivery and communicating performance across the organization and to the public, routinely analyzing and making use of this data;
• Governance and Strategy: Institutionalizing CX by identifying executives and leaders responsible, organizing supporting resources, defining the processes by which strategic decisions incorporate customer perspective, and aligning CX strategy and activities with business decisions, initiatives and investments within the agency's broader mission and strategic priorities;
• Culture and Organization: Acquiring and developing the talent required to incorporate and improve CX within agency activities, and empowering all employees to adopt a CX mindset through training, performance measurement, and rewards;
• Customer Understanding: Identifying the main occasions that result in the public making use of or interacting with Federal services and conducting qualitative and quantitative research across organizational silos to map intra-agency customer journeys, as well as cross-agency journeys where applicable, to build and continually refine a knowledge base of the agency’s customer segments and needs, integrating disparate customer interaction and administrative data.
  • For examples of leading practices and industry frameworks for managing customer experience, please review the annual CX Capacity Assessment template provided on performance.gov/cx
  • For a practitioner's guide on implementing CX core functions and capabilities, see the Customer Experience (CX) Cookbook, https://www.performance.gov/cx/assets/files/va-customer-experience-cookbook.pdf
• Service Design and Improvement: Adopting a customer-focused approach to the implementation of services, involving and engaging customers in iterative development, leveraging digital technologies and leading practices to deliver more efficient and effective interactions, and sharing lessons learned across government.
  • Each fiscal year, Executive branch agencies should reflect on their maturity and capacity to perform these functions. Further, agencies and programs should develop an understanding of the types of and explicit definition of the services they offer (as defined in sections 280.4 and 280.5)