A GOV.UK account – is this the unified government experience users have been waiting for?

Launching GOV.UK, the UK government’s website for citizens and businesses to access information and services, is arguably one of the greatest digital success stories from across the globe. Back in 2013, GOV.UK became the first website to win the Design Museum’s ‘Design of the Year’ award. This programme of change was more than a government catch up, it leapfrogged into a new kind of service delivery that was better than some of the most progressive private sector companies at the time – the monolith of government started transforming the user experience by moving online.

Rapidly evolving customer expectations

Since GOV.UK was launched over 8 years ago a lot has changed in the way that customers interact with businesses across all sectors. Huge advances in technology have led consumers to have increasingly high expectations – they now demand highly responsive digital experiences that are faster, easier to navigate, and accessible on multiple devices at any time. In the private sector, getting this right can make the difference between retaining customers or losing them.

When looking broadly at customer experience trends, we see recurring key themes:

• a consistent experience across multiple channels, from web or mobile, to phone
• a personalised service that uses data to understand what the user wants and serves individual circumstances with faster results
• a seamless interaction and improved customer journey.

The future?

Over recent weeks the Government Digital Service (GDS) has published a series of updates concerning the future of digital identity and a range of enhancements to the current online services. It seems a centralised GOV.UK account could be the vehicle to deliver truly joined up experiences for citizens, providing single window authentication and access to a range of services, whilst improving data collection by only asking for customer information once.

By pushing boundaries, a host of new opportunities could be created with additional revenue streams. Merging both public and private sector worlds has the potential to create a marketplace for new services. For example, when applying for a driving licence, users could also be directed to a third-party website related to insurance, or when shipping goods and completing the necessary paperwork, could the account integrate with smart digital processes in order to complete the journey?

A framework for giving customers an excellent digital experience

The principles that have been set out by GDS are a winning formula for improving citizens’ experiences online:

• Proactively offering information and services to users based on their needs and requirements
• Reducing friction for users by removing the need to enter the same information multiple times
• Linking together services to simplify user journeys, breaking down silos and creating a ‘One Government’ feel.

Many organisations in the private sector have followed these standards and transformed customer experiences. Digital transformation in one large retailer orientated around moving the organisation from bricks and mortar to clicks and mortar, growing its online presence by building an online grocery channel. This was backed up with a sophisticated data-driven loyalty scheme that developed an understanding of each customer and enabled the retailer to tailor its offers. All this was brought together through a holistic omni-channel experience delivered both online and in-store.

Conclusion

To realise any customer experience vision, there are always considerations. GOV.UK accounts should be looked at holistically, aligning to key principles such as the ones below:

• Simplify and unify the authentication experience: Create a simple, standardised way for user authentication
• Create the window and open the product: API-driven architecture has the power to enable different government departments to build their own services that could link into the GOV.UK account
• Make ‘tell me once’ real: Capture data once and share it across departments to enable a single customer record view. In time this data could be used to nudge and prompt customers down the most appropriate path and optimise their experience
• Create a single view across all engagement channels: As GDS remains channel agnostic there will always be multiple ways to engage (phone, mobile, etc). Creating a joined-up view will enable more efficient case work and reduce friction as customers hop between channels.

Visit Capgemini Customer Experience for more insights.

Author

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Cameron Scott

Account Manager