The loose doorknob effect
Every public service touchpoint is a handshake that subconsciously defines our relationship with government.
Gracen Johnson introduced me to the concept of the “loose doorknob effect” many moons ago on her Instagram story and it stuck with me. She writes:
“Doorknobs are a part of your home that you interact with every day. It’s disturbing in a subtle way when a doorknob doesn’t feel sturdy and functional. Every damn time you turn a wiggly doorknob with a loose screw, or feel a dented hollow one, or WORST, try to turn one that doesn’t even turn, it cheapens the feel of the building.”
The doorknob is your handshake with a house, and jiggly doorknobs have a subconscious impact on our confidence in the building. Even though you might not realize it, that can make you feel uneasy. It's a feeling you can't quite explain but it affects how you think about the building.
This same effect can be observed in government services too.
Every time you interact with a public service (receiving a letter or email, a trip to a government service building, casting a ballot, filling out a form) you’re shaking hands with the government. These interactions subconsciously define our relationship with the public sector.
People might not be able to explain how all those little "wiggly doorknob" interactions with the government add up, but those feelings are there. They affect our opinions of government and influence how we vote.
Meanwhile, governments are only measuring transactional stuff. They’re counting how many customers came through, how long it took, how many projects were completed and in what time frame. We need to start paying attention to those feelings and measuring things that matter to the people using the services. We need to get away from simply capturing quantitative data and asking survey questions and start allowing citizens the space to articulate the effects of “wiggly doorknobs” through qualitative research.
So here is a start on some metrics being used in the private sector that could be adapted and adopted in government:
What to capture?
Visitor Intent - Why did someone visit a website or office?
Task Completion - Did they achieve what they wanted to? Measured with a simple yes/no survey question, this helps us divide successful visits from unsuccessful visits
First Contact Resolution - Did they get help right away? Tracks how many people have their issues resolved or questions answered on their first contact as a percentage of the total contacts. Helps gauge whether employees have the tools to solve issues on their own
Customer Effort Score - How much work did someone have to do through an interaction with the organization? Usually measured on a scale from Very Low Effort to Very High Effort. Helps surface friction points and find ways to improve people’s experiences
Customer Satisfaction - Were they happy with the service? Used for specific interactions and is measured on on a scale from ‘Not at All Satisfied’ to ‘Very Satisfied’ at the point of service
Net Promoter Score - Would they recommend it to friends and family? “How likely are you to recommend this service to a friend or colleague?” on a scale of 1 to 10. Now you might think, as Jules Maitland did: “Actual word of mouth promotion arguably has such minimal impact on/relevance to public sector services — I don’t visit the Emergency Department because my friend recommended it to me, I use it because I need to stay alive”, and you would be right. However, Leah Fitzgerald had this hot take: it may be the choice to recommend a friend access the service at all. Maybe a service is so unpleasant and difficult to get through that you’d recommend your friend or colleague suffer the consequences of not accessing it rather than go through the trouble
(BONUS) Employee Satisfaction/NPS/Experience - Happy employees can lead to better services. Christian Bason made a comment at a GovMaker conference that nurturing “engaged citizens requires engaged employees”. One way of tracking employee experience is Net Promoter Score. Linking these data points with the above will help us better understand the connection between employee experience and customer service.
Changing what we measure is key to unlocking a more human-centered government. Sliding these metrics into your projects and evaluation plans could be the beginning.
