A new worldwide report has singled out the UAE for leading the way in its focus on measuring user experience and testing new methodologies that best capture citizens’ perception.
The report, titled ‘User Experience in Government Services: The Need for a Unique Approach’, is published by the Serco Institute, a global public services’ think tank, and ExperienceLab.
The survey emphasised that a change of approach is needed to better measure and understand how citizens view services provided by government bodies. It argues that to gain a more accurate appraisal of perception, it is important to establish an approach that best reflects the nature of public sector services being provided.
By consolidating a series of case studies undertaken in the Middle East, North America, Europe and Australia, the Serco Institute explores how different countries are approaching the challenge.
The report praised the UAE government’s efforts and notes that in recent years, the country has become a world leader in measuring user satisfaction with government services.
The UAE made ‘happiness’ an area of high priority in 2016 and through its National Programme for Happiness and Wellbeing, the government has pledged to incorporate happiness into all functions, policies and services of government.
Ren Baba, ExperienceLab Director, said: “Understanding what matters to customers when they interact with government services is crucial. It matters not just so that the services can continually improve, but because trust, economic activity, and international perception of a country are all impacted by the quality of government services.
“The UAE already takes great pride in incorporating happiness and wellbeing into delivering government services. It shows their commitment to the idea that placing the customer at the centre of everything they do, will drive improved services and offer a much better user experience for citizens, residents and international visitors.”
Happiness a way of life in the UAE
This programme includes a plank for the development of tools to measure UAE residents’ happiness, which was achieved with the launch of the Happiness Meter. It is a feedback system for residents who have just used a public service to indicate their satisfaction on a sliding scale. By April 2019, all federal government entities in the UAE had deployed the Happiness Meter.
Customer service centres, known as ‘Customer Happiness Centres’, are equipped with iPads for customers to complete a Happiness Survey. The Meter is also integrated into government websites and apps, including the federal government services portal.
“The Happiness Meter appears popular: in an April 2019 survey, 90 percent of respondents considered it a success, and in 2018 it recorded a 92.6 percent happiness rating. The UAE Government is working to expand options for public service users to return feedback and launched ‘UAE Mystery Shopper’, an app allowing UAE residents to rate government services and submit feedback on government offices, in March 2020,” the report noted.
Looking beyond the UAE, the report identifies how some governments have struggled to capture accurate customer service feedback due to a number of limitations.
Typically, these emerge when the services offered operate in a non-competitive environment or are obligatory, applied to a broad demographic without sensitivity to language, accessibility, or how people actually use a service. Another factor impeding accurate customer feedback is that governments tend to provide services that are unpopular, regardless of how efficient or well-managed they are.
On launching the report, Ben O’Keeffe, Deputy Director, Serco Institute, said: “Governments around the world have taken an increasing interest in measuring the satisfaction of citizens with the services they provide. This is undoubtedly a good thing, but most existing measures of customer satisfaction are developed for use in the private sector.
“There is a danger therefore, that when it comes to government services, too often we ask the wrong questions and so get the wrong answers. This means we need a revolution in our thinking about how we measure satisfaction with government services. Simple metrics and surveys need to be replaced with new thinking, technology, and processes to help us understand what people really want.”
Saudi Arabia making strides as well
The report also praised the tools being used by Saudi Arabia to measure satisfaction among users of public services.
“The National Center for Performance Measurement, or Adaa, is a government body aiming to establish unified tools to measure performance in Saudi public entities and drive up performance and efficiency,” the report mentions.
“In February 2019, it launched the Watani smartphone app, allowing KSA citizens, residents and visitors to rate public services and provide performance feedback on 80,000 services offered by around 30,000 government service centres around the Kingdom.
“Improving and developing an index to measure user satisfaction across public services is also mentioned in the KSA Government’s strategic development plan, Vision 2030.”
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