Citizen experience as a value-pool, not a portal
NPS is a metric. Cost-to-serve is the value pool. Here’s how to design for both.
The framing problem
Most government CX programmes start with a portal redesign and end with a portal redesign. The result is a portal that scores well on usability tests and saves no money. The framing problem is upstream.
Citizen experience is a value pool
Treat citizen experience as a P&L line. Each transaction has a cost-to-serve. Each interaction has an attributable cost or saving. The question is not “how does the portal feel” but “how much does the journey cost.”
Design for cost-to-serve and NPS together
They are not opposed. The same friction that frustrates citizens also costs money to remedy through call centres. Eliminate the friction and both metrics improve in lock-step.
The federal example
On the federal portal consolidation we shipped last year, cost-to-serve fell 44% and NPS lifted 41 points. Neither metric was achieved at the expense of the other. They moved together because the same root causes drove both.
How to start
Build a single dashboard with cost-to-serve, NPS, and resolution time per journey. Make every product team report against it weekly. The dashboard becomes the steering committee within 90 days.
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