When the Trump administration released its proposed budget a month ago, analysts discerned an overarching theme: efficiency and cost cutting. The path to achieving that requires a focus on measuring and collecting data about the citizen experience. Fortunately, the state of digital government services is strong, with steps being taken to ensure even greater improvement going forward.

In the latest ForeSee Experience Index (FXI): E-Government Report, citizen experience (CX) with federal websites has risen to 75.8 (on the study’s 100-point scale), an increase of 0.5 points from last quarter. Gathering public feedback about government performance in more important than ever. The President’s recent executive order creating the ATC and recently introduced initiatives like the Federal Agency Customer Experience Act of 2017, can help build efficiency into government by helping agencies collect and act on real-time citizen data.

This marks the 55th consecutive quarter that ForeSee has reported on the state of e-government citizen experience. Some of the key findings from the Q1 2017 report include:

• Satisfaction with mobile websites and apps increased this quarter (up 1.6 points from 77.8) after experiencing a slight decrease last quarter.
• SSA Retirement Estimator has the highest FXI Score (91), followed by Extra Help With Medicare Prescription Drug Plan Costs and SSA iClaim, which both scored 89.
• The most improved sites this quarter include NOAA Satellite and Information Service (+7 to 79), Federal Railroad Administration (+7 to 70), the IRS (+7 to 69), the National Geodetic Survey (+6 to 81), and the EPA (+6 to 76).
• The number of citizens who took a ForeSee survey on both websites and mobile apps increased (+12% for websites and +21% for mobile apps), indicating increased willingness to participate in government.

To conclude, providing excellent citizen experiences is important, especially as the Trump administration pursues the themes of its budget. The data in our latest report shows that when citizens interact with an excellent federal website, they are 87% more likely to use the website as a primary resource, 101% more likely to recommend the website, 51% more likely to return, and 58% more likely to trust in the government. This results directly in bottom-line cost savings, indicating the new administration should place a high priority on improving citizen experience. The government can achieve significantly greater efficiency just by making digital experiences more appealing and useful than costlier channels.

For additional insights and data about the citizen experience of digital government, download the Q1 2017 FXI: E-Government Report now.