Everyone has their favourite “ain’t it awful” stories of automated online interactions: with the bank, airline check-ins, their internet service provider…
The worst of these processes fail at key junctures and then offer you no escalation path. As an example, not long ago I called my bank and was directed by an automated message to a chatbot on their website. The chatbot directed me back to the call centre.
If a global bank can’t or won’t afford to get this right, what hope for the government? You’ll understand my trepidation as I approached the new requirement of verifying my identity as a director with Companies House.
The process was pretty complicated, including the need to:
- switch from desktop to mobile
- download an app mid-process
- photograph my passport
- return to the desktop
- then switch back to the phone for a face and biometric passport scan
It was a multi-device relay race with plenty of scope for something to fall over.
And yet it worked flawlessly. The system knew which device I was using at every moment. Each hop returned me to the right context. I followed clear instructions and got what I was supposed to. Moments where I was bracing myself for the system to lose me proceeded without incident.
It wasn’t simple exactly, but it was coherent and a lot of admin was sorted out in a few minutes.
(And I’ll note that when I’ve needed to speak to a real live person at Companies House, the call queues have been short, the staff friendly and informed. Even in a regulatory setting, the tone is helpful.)
Similarly, renewing my passport recently was also straightforward and fast, as advertised. When government IT is working better than consumer brands, something interesting is happening.
The Tech–Touch Lessons
If you need customers to go through a complex process, here are three lessons to take from all this:
- Make sure the technology actually works end-to-end, including working with the perhaps-older tech your user is likely to have on their side. Multi-stage journeys need orchestration, not hope.
- Every point of vulnerability needs an escape hatch – a real escalation route, not a chatbot-shaped cul-de-sac.
- If the CEO can’t complete the journey without swearing, neither can customers. Leaders should personally try to break their own systems.