Usability testing of government websites, applications and products helped the Department of Homeland Security meet its goal of cutting 20 million work hours spent on paperwork in the past year, according to Dana Chisnell, executive director of customer experience at DHS.
Under her leadership, the agency launched a usability testing kit on its website in the hopes of encouraging other federal agencies adopt the approach and improve their customer service.
Usability testing involves observing actual users to evaluate the efficacy of apps, websites and other services, before their wider release to the public. Chisnell has been designing and implementing such tests in organizations she has worked with since the 1980s.
She took on her current role in 2022 and found the agency’s components to be in serious need of usability tests for their public services. She pointed out the importance of customer experience teams to get “as many stakeholders in the room” for cross-functional support and attention to usability tests in order to maximize its effectiveness.
“We talk about errors or mistakes, even if the participant corrects them. The point here, though, is not that they’re making the mistake. The point is that the design did not support them in their task or their knowledge. And so you want to track that,” Chisnell said.
On Jan. 25, the Potomac Officers Club will host the CX Imperative Forum to provide a venue for addressing challenges in government customer service. Join the event by registering here.
