Digital Benefits Network Launches ‘Summer of CX’ With Principles to Improve CX Webinar
The Digital Benefits Network (DBN) kicked off its three-part webinar series—Summer of CX—on July 15 with the Digital Benefits Network hosting a webinar on Principles to Improve CX on July 15th. The webinars in the series are specifically designed to assist state public benefit program leaders who are at the beginning stages of developing customer experience (CX) strategies.
The audience was nearly half state leaders and also included federal and nonprofit leaders working to improve CX for people trying to access public benefits online. The webinar kicked off with a summary of the CX-related White House emphasis and federal agency guidance to state, territorial, tribal and local leaders who administer a range of public benefits programs, including unemployment insurance, TANF, SNAP, WIC, and Medicaid.
The DBN was thrilled to host leaders from California and Michigan who highlighted how their state agencies are working on CX, what difference it is making, and what they think are the essential ingredients for successfully getting CX-related work off the ground. While both speakers are from unemployment insurance agencies, there were important common denominator CX elements that are transferable across public benefit agencies.
The speakers included:
Mai Do, who joined the California Employment Development Department (EDD) in 2006 and is currently serving as their chief customer experience (CX) officer. She is leading their CX efforts as the department modernizes and transforms customer and employee experiences. She has sociology degrees from the University of California, Davis, and California State University, Sacramento, and is also a certified usability analyst.
Rachael Carson. As a design director, she leads Civilla’s work to bring human-centered design into the unemployment insurance and child welfare systems. She specializes in large-scale technology projects, previously leading the redesign of Michigan’s benefits portal which provides access to more than one million people each year. Rachael joined Civilla seven years ago and her work also spans adjacent systems, including health and human services and the department of state.
Brett Gleason is the chief of staff at the Michigan Unemployment Insurance Agency (UIA). He serves as the strategic planner and administrator directing all communications, transformational projects, and change management. Brett has a long history of public service, first starting in 2013 at the Michigan Department of Technology, Management and Budget as a business process consultant.
Mai walked the audience through how CX is organized, structured, and governed at California EDD, including highlighting how CX and user experience (UX) work together to improve overall experiences. Mai shared how CA EDD launched a “Voice of the Customer” effort and how this type of user-centered work and research helps identify and address pain points, such as multi-factor authentication.
Brett and Rachael shared how Michigan UIA is working with nonprofit human-centered design firm Civilla on a holistic approach to service delivery. They shared how Michigan UIA developed a claimant roadmap and employer help center online and how Civilla is helping redesign key UI correspondence to simplify communications and reduce claimant and employer errors.
All three shared their thoughts about what ingredients are necessary for a state to successfully begin and sustain CX-related work, including:
- Vision
- Leadership/championship
- Internal collaboration and core teams
- Implementation commitment
- Resources
- Community partners
- Starting small and using proof points to demonstrate impact
If you missed this webinar, check it out on our Digital Benefits Hub to view the recording and the slides.