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Digital government: Get ready for the new wave of mobile citizen interaction

Learn how digital government can successfully engage citizens and increase overall satisfaction in public services through a mobile-first approach.

Overview

More than half the world’s population now uses mobile communications and government is entering a new digital age in how it interacts with citizens.

Switching to mobile is a viable option for cost-constrained governments looking to increase citizen satisfaction and deliver public services for the future.

Yet, so far, digital governments have been unable to match citizen expectations for mobile services. They need to provide the mobile public services citizens are expecting, with a quality and performance levels similar to those offered by commercial organizations.

Digital governments need not only to make a fundamental shift in mindset but they also need to develop a new approach to web design around the user experience.

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Background

Simply put, for citizens today, mobile is king.

But very few digital governments have launched mobile public services. And where they did, the current low level of adoption suggests that governments have underestimated the challenge in making the shift.

For digital government who want to grow levels of citizen engagement without additional cost, switching to mobile should be a priority. But simply adding mobile services to existing services is not enough.

“To meet citizen expectations and increase user adoption, the transition to mobile needs to be seen as an evolution from a model based around transactions, to a new 'mobile mindset' model based around interaction.”

Analysis

Accenture’s 2013 Citizen Survey showed a high correlation between overall satisfaction with public services and use of digital channels.

In other words, when governments provide digital services that meet citizen needs, overall satisfaction in public services tends to increase.

Digital services = increased satisfaction

We identified that to deliver engaging and interactive user experiences and increase satisfaction, digital governments must:

Design must be priority in mobile implementation, not an afterthought. While developing mobile services will require new investment, experience among digital government suggests that the return on this investment, through reductions in the cost of transactions, will be significant.
We identified that to deliver engaging and interactive user experiences and increase satisfaction, digital governments must:

While many private sector companies have invested in developing digital user design capabilities, few digital governments are yet to do so. This is urgent as the development skills needed now are much more specialized than the equivalent skills for earlier generations of digital services.

Recommendations

Accenture’s 2013 Citizen Survey showed a high correlation between overall satisfaction with public services and use of digital channels.

Develop a deeper understanding
of user needs

Invest in new digital design skills

Re-think the technologies and organizations
that support their digital services

Only with this knowledge, combined with creative design skills, can the design process begin. To determine which is that right design approach for the public service, the organization must consider upfront many factors—including user context, site content, time and budget.