Federal CIO focused on ‘success metrics’ post-CX executive order

The government is working with industry to improve how it measures product and service delivery in the wake of the Customer Service Executive Order, according to the federal chief information officer.

Speaking at the Adobe Experience Makers Government Forum on Tuesday, Clare Martorana said metrics like tasks completed, time to completion, and customer use of self-service tools versus a call center or chatbot are helping agencies design products for improved outcomes.

“When I was leading companies that had revenue goals, I thought about success metrics very differently than I do here in government,” Martorana said.

The executive order on equity issued in January 2021 had about 90 agencies, including all Cabinet-level ones, conduct equity assessments of high-impact services to uncover systematic barriers, while the CX Executive Order built that out from a digital perspective.

“When I was leading companies that had revenue goals, I thought about success metrics very differently than I do here in government,” Martorana said.

In addition, Martorana’s office is focused on implementing new survey tools across government as part of the policy development and user research process.

“Making sure that we are able to not only do the full technical assessment of our own workflows and processes in those customer-facing benefits and services, but also making sure that we are measuring basic customer satisfaction,” she said.

The next step will involve personalizing services that agencies deliver by taking life services into account, Martorana said.

For instance, the General Services Administration is supporting high-impact services providers (HISPs) like USA.gov by redesigning it into a “digital federal front door” for benefits, services and programs. The homepage will be organized intuitively based on life events.

Hiring diverse employees with the right skills is essential to these efforts, Martorana said.

“We need technical talent from all across America to work delivering the products for all Americans,” she said. “To ensure we’re not building bias into the products and services we deliver.”