T H E F O R E S E E E X P E R I E N C E I N D E X : E - G O V

C O M M E N T A R Y A N D A N A LY S I S

Dave Lewan Vice President, ForeSee

With an introduction from Eric Keller, Partnership for Public Service

R E S E A R C H A S S I S T A N T

Anna Salomonsson

Q2 2 0 1 7 U P D A T E

© August 2017 ForeSee

TABLE OFCONTENTS

Executive Summary

Introduction

Websites

Mobile Sites and Apps

About the Index

3

4

6

15

19

The ForeSee Experience Index: E-Gov (formerly the ForeSee E-Government Satisfaction Index) is a quarterly

reflection of citizens’ experience with federal government websites. We publish a full report once a year in

February (download the 2016 report here) and quarterly updates in May, August, and November.

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2 E X E C U T I V E S U M M A R Y »

Executive Summary: Digital CX Rises Again in Q2 2017

M O S T I M P R O V E DW E B C X R I S E S I N Q 2

WEB

MOBILE SITES AND APPS

76up 0.2 points from

75.8 in Q1 2017

78.7down 0.7 points from

79.4 in Q1 2017

W H Y C X M A T T E R S

Citizens who have a great experience with e-gov websites are:

• 90% more likely to use the website as a primary resource

• 106% more likely to recommend the website to a friend or family member

• 60% more likely to trust in the Government

T H E F X I : T H E G O L D S T A N D A R D

• More than 10 million citizen surveys since 2002

• More than 182,000 citizen surveys in Q2 2017 alone

• Nearly 1 million surveys total in 2016

• 90+ websites

• 20+ mobile websites and apps

+777USDA FOOD SAFETY AND INSPECTION SERVICE

+582HHS NATIONAL INSTITUTE OF ARTHRITIS AND MUSCULOSKELETAL AND SKIN DISEASES

+582SSA iAPPEALS

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L E A R N M O R E »

L E A R N M O R E »

« T A B L E O F C O N T E N T S

Many federal agencies are making progress on improving

the customer experience with digital services. A sustained

focus on this issue from both the Obama and the Trump

administrations is beginning to pay off, along with a push toward

developing digital systems incrementally with constant feedback from

the end-user.

But now is not the time for leaders to lose momentum. Creating a

consistent customer experience is almost as important as creating a

great customer experience. As private-sector organizations continue to

innovate and set higher standards, federal services that do not keep pace

will see the gains they have made evaporate quickly.

Now is the time for agency leaders to dive deeper into citizen feedback

and take their digital services to the next level. They can use insights

from quantitative survey data to inform further qualitative research. For

example, great insights can come from directly observing how citizens

interact with a website, or through conducting a few interviews about

how the site could be improved.

By digging further into citizens’ perspectives, agencies can design

better digital services that will help advance the mission and

potentially lower costs.

Eric Keller is a senior program manager for research at the Partnership for

Public Service, a non-profit, non-partisan organization that strives for a more

effective government for the American people.

IntroductionBY ERIC KELLER , PARTNERSHIP FOR PUBLIC SERVICE

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W e live in an era of strong and divided

opinions, which was only amplified

in the last presidential election.

You need only glance at news headlines on any

given day for confirmation. Polls show that for

many citizens, this division and harsh political

rhetoric means a great deal of uncertainty and

lack of confidence in the federal government

overall. Things feel unstable and unpredictable.

However, while the daily news makes it seem

like the federal government has lost its balance,

citizen satisfaction with E-Government is

strong, steady, stable, and rising.

Why is this sort of stability important to note?

Because people still need access to information

and news related to federal agencies involved

with health, finances, employment, and more.

They still require a stellar experience when using

portals, applying for jobs, and making required

transactions via government digital services.

These things matter as much as making sure

the trains run on time for working class folks

in busy cities. Doing so builds greater trust in

government, and strengthens the notion that

federal government has not abandoned them.

It's something ForeSee is proud to provide hard

empirical data to back up in the form of survey

responses from tens of thousands of citizens.

And for the second quarter of 2017, satisfaction

with E-Government saw an increase overall.

Additionally, trust in government also increased

by 2% (compared to 58% trust last quarter).

What's more encouraging, especially for the

hardworking professionals focused on improving

the citizen experience, is that providing a highly

satisfied experience makes citizens 90% more

likely to use the digital channel as their primary

resource (up 3% compared to last quarter) and

106% more likely to recommend it to friends,

family, and other citizens (up 5% from Q1 2017).

These figures are even greater for satisfaction

of mobile government CX, as you'll see in the

following report.

I'll conclude with this: while it may seem

like the stability provided by ever-increasing

satisfaction of digital government services is

disconnected from the uncertainty caused by

our political system, it is every bit as important.

Citizen Satisfaction with E-Government: A Source of Stability E-GOV EXPERIENCE PROVIDES SOLID GROUND TO STAND ON DESPITE THE POLITICAL CLIMATE

“It's the quality of the ordinary, the straight, the square, that accounts for the great stability and success of our nation. It's a quality to be proud of...”

— PRESIDENT GERALD FORD

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WEB UPDATEF O R E S E E E X P E R I E N C E I N D E X E - G O V E R N M E N T Q 2 2 0 1 7

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76

Federal Web CX Over TimeCX BY QUARTER: 2007 –2017

Q2 2007

Q2 2008

Q2 2009

Q2 2010

Q2 2011

Q2 2012

Q2 2013

Q2 2014

Q2 2015

Q2 2016

Q2 2017

73.4CX

SC

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100

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ALE

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QUARTER AND YEAR

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DEPARTMENT/AGENCY WEBSITE FXI SCORE

AVERAGE WEB CX 76

SSA  Extra Help with Medicare Prescription Drug Plan Costs—socialsecurity.gov/i1020  93 

SSA  SSA Retirement Estimator—ssa.gov/estimator  91 

SSA  SSA iClaim—socialsecurity.gov/applyonline  89 

SSA  SSA - my Social Security—ssa.gov/myaccount  89 

TREASURY  Electronic Federal Tax Payment System—eftps.com  88 

HHS  MedlinePlus en español—medlineplus.gov/esp  88 

HHS  MedlinePlus—medlineplus.gov  87 

OPM  Office of Personnel Management: Onboarding Manager—onboarding.usastaffing.gov  87 

SSA  Social Security Business Services Online—ssa.gov/bso  86 

TREASURY  U.S. Internal Revenue Service Direct Pay—irs.gov/payments/direct-pay  85 

DHS  U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services Resource Center—uscis.gov/portal/site/uscis/citizenship  84 

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FXI : E-GOVERNMENT Q2 2017

Formerly “satisfaction scores,” the methodology used to calculate “FXI scores” is the same, making them comparable to all past scores.

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DEPARTMENT/AGENCY WEBSITE FXI SCORE

DOD  U.S. Navy—navy.mil  84 

DHS  U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services—uscis.gov/casestatus/landing.do  84 

HHS  National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases—niddk.nih.gov  84 

HHS  National Library of Medicine Genetics Home Reference website—ghr.nlm.nih.gov  84 

OPM  Office of Personnel Management: Retirement Services—servicesonline.opm.gov  84 

BOARDS, COMMISSIONS, AND COMMITTEES  American Battle Monuments Commission—abmc.gov  83 

OPM  Office of Personnel Management—applicationmanager.gov  83 

CIA  Central Intelligence Agency Careers—cia.gov/careers  83 

DHS  U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services Español—uscis.gov/portal/site/uscis-es  83 

HHS  National Women's Health Information Center (NWHIC)—womenshealth.gov  83 

HHS  AIDSinfo—aidsinfo.nih.gov  82 

HHS  Centers for Disease Control and Prevention—cdc.gov  82 

NASA  NASA main website—nasa.gov  82 

HHS  National Institute of Arthritis and Musculoskeletal and Skin Diseases—niams.nih.gov  82 

SSA  SSA iAppeals - Disability Appeal—ssa.gov/disabilityssi/appeal.html  82 

FTC  FTC Complaint Assistant website—ftccomplaintassistant.gov  81 

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DEPARTMENT/AGENCY WEBSITE FXI SCORE

SEC  U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission—investor.gov  81 

HHS  National Institute of Dental and Craniofacial Research—nidcr.nih.gov  81 

DOD  Arlington National Cemetery—arlingtoncemetery.mil  80 

HHS  National Institute of Child Health and Human Development—nichd.nih.gov  80 

DOC  National Geodetic Survey, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration website—ngs.noaa.gov  80 

SSA  SSA iClaim - Disability—ssa.gov/applyfordisability  80 

HHS  Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality—ahrq.gov  79 

DOD  U.S. Air Force—af.mil  79 

HHS  InfoSida—infosida.nih.gov  79 

SSA  Social Security Online—socialsecurity.gov  79 

NRC  U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission website—nrc.gov  79 

DOS  U.S. Department of State Careers—careers.state.gov  78 

DOD  U.S. Marines—marines.mil  78 

HHS  National Library of Medicine main website—nlm.nih.gov  78 

HHS  Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration Publications Ordering—store.samhsa.gov  78 

TREASURY  U.S. Mint Online—usmint.gov  78 

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DEPARTMENT/AGENCY WEBSITE FXI SCORE

VA  MyHealtheVet—myhealth.va.gov  78 

DOC  NOAA National Weather Service—weather.gov  78 

DOD  U.S. Department of Defense—defense.gov  77 

DOJ  Federal Bureau of Investigation—fbi.gov  77 

USDA  Food Safety and Inspection Service—fsis.usda.gov  77 

PBGC  MyPBA—egov.pbgc.gov/mypba  77 

DOC  NOAA Tides and Currents—tidesandcurrents.noaa.gov  77 

DOI  National Park Service—nps.gov  77 

DOL  Bureau of Labor Statistics—bls.gov  76 

DHS  U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services—uscis.gov/e-verify  76 

DOJ  National Institute of Justice—nij.gov  76 

SBA  Small Business Administration—sba.gov  76 

DOS  Bureau of Consular Affairs—travel.state.gov  76 

DOC  Bureau of Economic Analysis—bea.gov  74 

FTC  Federal Trade Commission—ftc.gov  74 

GAO  Government Accountability Office—gao.gov  74 

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DEPARTMENT/AGENCY WEBSITE FXI SCORE

HHS  Office for Civil Rights—hhs.gov/ocr  74 

DHS  U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services—uscis.gov/portal/site/uscis  74 

DOT  U.S. Department of Transportation—fhwa.dot.gov  73 

USDA  Economic Research Service—ers.usda.gov  73 

DOT  Federal Aviation Administration—faa.gov  73 

TREASURY  U.S. Department of the Treasury Office of Financial Stability—treasury.gov/initiatives/financial-stability  73 

USDA  Recreation One-Stop—recreation.gov  72 

ITC  U.S. International Trade Commission—usitc.gov  72 

HHS  ClinicalTrials.gov—clinicaltrials.gov  71 

USDA  Natural Resources Conservation Service—nrcs.usda.gov  71 

SEC  U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission—sec.gov  71 

PBGC  U.S. Pension Benefit Guaranty Corp—pbgc.gov  69 

DOT Federal Railroad Administration—fra.dot.gov 69

HHS  Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration—samhsa.gov  69 

OPM  Recruitment website—usajobs.gov  69 

TREASURY  U.S. Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau—ttb.gov  69 

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DEPARTMENT/AGENCY WEBSITE FXI SCORE

HHS  U.S. Food and Drug Administration—fda.gov  68 

DOC  NOAA Satellite and Information Service—nesdis.noaa.gov  67 

DOC  U.S. Patent and Trademark Office—uspto.gov  67 

HHS  Health Resources and Services Administration—hrsa.gov  66 

DOC  U.S. Census Bureau—census.gov  66 

DOS  U.S. Department of State—state.gov  65 

TREASURY  U.S. Internal Revenue Service—irs.gov  65 

TREASURY  U.S. Department of the Treasury—treasury.gov  64 

NARA  National Archives and Records Administration—archives.gov  63 

DOD  Center for Development of Security Excellence  62 

USDA  U.S. Forest Service—fs.usda.gov  62 

DOJ  Bureau of Justice Statistics—bjs.gov  61 

DOI  U.S. Geological Survey—usgs.gov  59 

DOD  TRICARE—tricare.mil  58 

HHS  U.S. Health and Human Services E-Grant—grants.gov  58 

VA  U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs—va.gov  58 

DOE  U.S. Department of Education—ed.gov  55 

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Drivers of the Web Experience TOP DRIVERS FOR IMPROVING WEB CX

Navigation 49% the ease of finding pages, consistency of layout, and ease of narrowing choices

Information Browsing 40% the ability to sort information and narrow choices, and the usefulness of site features in finding information

Site Information 37% the extent to which information is understandable, thorough, and provides answers to questions

Note: a change in top drivers from previous quarters reflects

a shift to updated survey models.

Outcomes of a Great Web Experience CUSTOMERS WHO HAVE A GREAT WEB CX ARE

90% more likely to use the site as a primary resource

106% more likely to recommend the site

56% more likely to return to the website

60% more likely to trust in the government

WEB EXPERIENCE

76 F X I S C O R E

The FXI model presented below is based on the multi-patented methodology ForeSee has been using for two decades with hundreds of government

websites and more than 100 million benchmarkable customer experiences. On the left side are the drivers that show which improvements will drive a

higher FXI score. The right side quantifies the results of making those improvements.

CX: Drivers and Outcomes

Numbers represent the % of federal sites that register this driver as a first or second priority for improvement.

The FXI provides contextual insights, revealing a visitor's overall satisfaction, satisfaction compared to expectations

and satisfaction compared to the idea of an ideal web experience.

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MOBILE UPDATEF O R E S E E E X P E R I E N C E I N D E X E - G O V E R N M E N T Q 2 2 0 1 7

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SATISFACTION WITH MOBILE SITES AND APPS

With citizens increasingly using mobile

devices to access the Government’s digital

channels, ForeSee initiated the Mobile Federal

Government Benchmark in Q4 2013, making

this our 16th consecutive report on Federal

mobile satisfaction.

According to Pew, 77% of Americans now own

smartphones, more than double the 35% in 2011.

Accordingly, Federal agencies, departments

and programs are quickly gaining mobile

sophistication. Mobile gov (mgov) comfortably

outperforms mobile retail (78.7 vs. 77).

However, as citizens’ expectations rise, so will

the need to improve further.

The following table shows the average

aggregate CX score for the Government’s

mobile websites and apps for Q2 2017, as well

as how the scores from this relatively new

index compare with scores from other indexes.

Q2 2017

Number of Mobile Websites Measured  22 

Number of Responses Collected  151,071 

Average E-Government Mobile FXI Score  78.7 

Highest Mobile FXI Score  88 

Lowest Mobile FXI Score  64 

Number of E-Government Mobile Websites With Excellent Rating (80 or higher)  11 

Number of E-Government Mobile Websites With Lowest Satisfaction (70 or lower)  2 

M O B I L E S I T E S A N D A P P S

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Federal Mobile CX Over TimeCX BY QUARTER: 2013 –2017

CX

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78.777

Q42013

Q22014

Q1 2014

Q42014

Q32014

Q22015

Q1 2015

Q3 2015

Q42015

Q1 2016

Q22016

Q32016

Q4 2016

Q1 2017

Q2 2017

QUARTER AND YEAR

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« W E B A B O U T T H E I N D E X »

Drivers of the Mobile Experience TOP DRIVERS FOR IMPROVING MOBILE CX

Site Information 73% : the extent to which information is understandable, thorough, and provides answers to questions

Navigation 45% : the ease of finding pages, consistency of layout, and ease of narrowing choices

Information Browsing 32% : the ability to sort information and narrow choices, and the usefulness of site features in finding information

Look and Feel 27% : the visual appeal of the website and its consistency throughout the website

Note: a change in top drivers from previous quarters reflects

a shift to updated survey models.

Outcomes of a Great Mobile ExperienceCUSTOMERS WHO HAVE A GREAT MOBILE CX ARE

76% more likely to use the site or app as a primary resource

140% more likely to recommend the site or app

92% more likely to return to the site or app

MOBILE EXPERIENCE

78.7F X I S C O R E

The FXI model presented below is based on the multi-patented methodology ForeSee has been using for two decades with hundreds of government

websites and more than 100 million benchmarkable customer experiences. On the left side are the drivers that show which improvements will drive a

higher FXI score. The right side quantifies the results of making those improvements.

Mobile E-Gov CX: Drivers and Outcomes

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Numbers represent the % of federal sites that register this driver as a first or second priority for improvement.« W E B A B O U T T H E I N D E X »

ABOUT THIS REPORT

The ForeSee Experience Index: E-Gov Q2 2017 Update (formerly called the

ForeSee E-Government Satisfaction Index) is a comprehensive reflection

of the citizen experience with Federal Government websites. It is a critical

measure for evaluating the success and performance of the Federal

Government’s online initiatives. ForeSee collected and measured more than

182,000 responses across the Federal Government websites in this Index

during Q2 2017. These high numbers demonstrate citizens’ willingness to

share their experiences to help agencies and departments improve. The use

of the ForeSee methodology and technology then enables agency leaders

to determine which website and app improvements will have the greatest

impact on usage.

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ABOUT THE AUTHORS

Dave Lewan

Dave Lewan manages ForeSee’s public sector business,

including its relationships with Federal and state

departments, agencies, and programs, nonprofit

organizations, and higher education institutions.

In 2017, Dave is serving as ForeSee’s liaison with the Partnership for

Public Service for the Center for Presidential Transition to educate 4,000

appointees from the private sector entering employment with the Federal

Government as part of the new administration. Prior to joining ForeSee in

2009, he led in key strategic areas at ADP, SalesLogix, Ultimate Software

and Ceridian. Dave graduated from the University of Minnesota with a

Bachelor of Arts in Speech Communications.

Eric Keller

Eric Keller joined the Partnership for Public Service

in October 2013 as a research manager. He manages

a portfolio of high-visibility research activities and

products, including project conceptualization and design,

budgeting, staffing, data collection and analysis, and report writing.

He also leads the Partnership’s work to improve customer experience

with Federal services.

Before joining the Partnership, Eric worked at the U.S. Department

of Health and Human Services (HHS) as a presidential management

fellow and grants policy analyst. Eric holds a Master of Public Policy

from George Mason University and a Bachelor of Arts in Political

Science from Wake Forest University.

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ABOUT THE RESEARCH ASSISTANT

Anna Salomonsson

Anna Salomonsson manages benchmark processes and related thought

leadership projects at ForeSee, including seasonal consumer insight

studies. She has expanded benchmark offerings to provide better context

to clients’ performance scores.

Before joining ForeSee in 2015, Anna held various positions at a breast

cancer research lab at the University of Michigan and in market research

at The Mars Agency. Anna graduated from the University of Michigan

with a Bachelor of Arts in Communications.

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ABOUT FORESEE

ForeSee helps government departments and programs

prioritize enhancements to the citizen experience with

certainty. The ForeSee® CX Suite allows public-sector

organizations to manage all their customer experience

needs from one place, capturing the entire customer

journey and prioritizing their most critical CX issues.

ForeSee clients include hundreds of federal, state and

local organizations using VOC programs to measure

performance and prioritize changes to enhance the

citizen experience and lower costs. Founded in 2001,

ForeSee is headquartered in Ann Arbor, MI and has

offices in Washington D.C., New York, San Francisco,

St. Louis, Cleveland, Vancouver and London. For more

information, visit www.foresee.com.

Visit www.foresee.com/gov to learn more about ForeSee’s government solutions.

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