Public Services Are Broken, and Fixing Them is Not Rocket Science

Public services are most often sought by individuals during times of stress, illness, financial insecurity, and uncertainty. Administrative burdens only worsen such issues, further marginalizing the most vulnerable and resource-strapped among us.

In a 2023 article, professors from Georgetown, UC Berkeley, and Cornell identified three primary impediments that reinforce inequality in the provision of public services:

1. The reach and effectiveness of programs intended to provide a measure of equality are undermined by administrative burdens.

2. Some groups are more targeted by burdens than others, even within the same benefit system.

3. Burdens reinforce inequality because of unequal distribution of resources needed to overcome them.[1]

The article characterizes the “translation of ideas into government practice” as a “fraught endeavor” and calls upon researchers to “look beyond specific burden-reduction efforts, both to continue to draw attention to deeper structural causes of problems, and to engage in blue-sky thinking about how to redesign the administrative state to make it work for the people it is intended to serve.”[2]

One place they might look is the private-sector. Take grocery stores, for example. According to a 2024 article, most grocery stores have similar layouts, and that is not by chance. The design is based on “the psychology of what will make you, the customer, spend more money.”[3] Layouts are organized, simple, and predictable, with clear signage to enhance the shopping experience. Although the goals of public and private sector initiatives may differ, they should converge at one critical place: the ability of individuals they serve to successfully execute their goal. That is the nexus of this problem.

According to an article titled “Physical to Digital – How the Grocery Sector is Poised for Transformation,” grocers have already transferred much of their insights about physical grocery shopping to the online sector: “From the grocer’s viewpoint, online ordering (as opposed to delivery) provides greater opportunity for personalized experiences because so much more usable information is available about order history and about the customer.”[4] The result? Shoppers encounter an intuitive landscape, whether physical or digital. They don’t need instructions or prior knowledge to find what they need, and small mistakes are easy to correct. Both systems assume distractions and time restraints and design around them.

Many public services don’t take this approach. A research paper written by Columbia University’s Alexander Hertel-Fernandez explores this problem.[5] The study focuses exclusively on the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP):

“Research shows that these [administrative] burdens, which include the costs of learning about a program, submitting application or recertification materials, interacting with program staff, and understanding how to use public benefits, can pose significant barriers to accessing social programs, undermine individuals’ economic security and well-being, and diminish individuals’ faith in public programs and government institutions.”[6]

A 2024 study explores the potential for mobile solutions to transform and modernize public assistance programs.[7] The study highlights “the importance of user-centered design, continuous improvement frameworks, and comprehensive security protocols in successful mobile solution deployment for public assistance programs.”[8] It focuses on Medicaid, SNAP, and Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF). An excerpt from the study follows:

“These programs’ traditional eligibility determination processes present significant barriers to access and efficient service delivery. Research published in Children and Youth Services Review reveals that complex application procedures and administrative burdens disproportionately affect vulnerable populations, with single-parent households experiencing 23% higher application abandonment rates compared to two-parent households. The study found that approximately 18% of eligible families with children under age 5 fail to complete their benefits applications due to documentation requirements and procedural complexity.”[9]

The study goes on to document that states that have established mobile application platforms have experienced marked improvements in program accessibility, substantial operational efficiencies, and increased cost-effectiveness, as well as reduced processing times for benefit applications.

In yet another example, an article written by Larry Levitt and Drew Altman found that about “half of consumers say they do not understand some aspect of their coverage, including about one-third who do not understand what costs their plan covers or what costs they will owe.”[10] The article went on to explain that for “public programs including Medicare, Medicaid, and the ACA marketplace, the complexity also extends to signing up for coverage.”[11] Taken as a whole, the research points to a persistent pattern of dysfunction across public service systems, including lengthy instructions, dense language, minimal feedback, and stiff penalties imposed for relatively minor errors.

The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development’s (OECD) Good Practice Principles for Public Service Design and Delivery in the Digital Age provides comprehensive objectives to aid in the digital transformation of public services.[12] The OECD serves as a “forum and knowledge hub for data, analysis and best practices in public policy,” aiding more than 100 countries around the world.[13] The United States was among 20 OECD founding member countries when the organization was formed in 1960, and remains one of its current 38 members.[14]

The OECD offers nine Good Practice Principles, which rest on the following three pillars:

1. Build accessible, ethical and equitable public services that prioritize user needs rather than government needs.

2. Deliver with impact, at scale, and with pace.

3. Be accountable and transparent in the design and delivery of public services to reinforce and strengthen public trust.[15]

Based on the above, what might streamlined public services look like? One way to address this gap would be through federal legislation that requires agencies administering major benefit programs such as SNAP, Medicaid, and TANF to meet baseline usability standards. These could include plain language requirements, accessible applications, and error-tolerant design features. The law could also mandate regular user testing. Establishing these standards on a federal level would not require reinventing public programs. As the saying goes, it’s not rocket science. However, what may be missing is the motivation to improve public service provision for those in need.

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[1] Herd, Pamela, et al. “Introduction: Administrative Burden as a Mechanism of Inequality in Policy Implementation.” RSF: The Russell Sage Foundation Journal of the Social Sciences, 1 Sept. 2023, www.rsfjournal.org/content/9/5/1#sec-9.

[2]Ibid.

[3] Rosenbloom, Cara. “How Understanding Your Grocery Store’s Layout Can Save You Money.” GoodRx, 15 July 2024, www.goodrx.com/well-being/diet-nutrition/grocery-store-layout.

[4] Earley, Seth. “Physical to Digital – How the Grocery Sector Is Poised for Transformation.” Information Architecture Consulting & Services, Earley Information Science, 20 May 2021, www.earley.com/insights/physical-digital-how-grocery-sector-poised-transformation#:~:text=From%20the%20grocer%27s%20viewpoint%2C%20online,experience%20that%20allows%20for%20spontaneity.

[5] Hertel-Fernandez, Alexander. “Measuring Psychological Burdens in Access to U.S. Social Programs.” Equitable Growth, 6 May 2024, equitablegrowth.org/research-paper/measuring-psychological-burdens-in-access-to-u-s-social-programs/.

[6]Ibid.

[7] Vuppuluri, Sri. “Mobile Solutions for Public Assistance Eligibility: Enhancing Accessibility and Efficiency.” International Journal for Multidisciplinary Research (IJFMR), Dec. 2024, www.ijfmr.com/papers/2024/6/34262.pdf.

[8]Ibid.

[9]Ibid.

[10] Levitt L, Altman D. Complexity in the US Health Care System Is the Enemy of Access and Affordability. JAMA Health Forum. 2023;4(10):e234430. doi:10.1001/jamahealthforum.2023.4430

[11]Ibid.

[12] “OECD Good Practice Principles for Public Service Design and Delivery in the Digital Age.” Organisation for Economic Co-Operation and Development (OECD), 2022, www.oecd.org/en/publications/2022/11/oecd-good-practice-principles-for-public-service-design-and-delivery-in-the-digital-age_f3845ec3.html.

[13]The Organisation for Economic Co-Operation and Development (OECD), 2026, www.oecd.org/en.html.

[14] “United States | OECD.” Organisation for Economic Co-Operation and Development (OECD), 2026, www.oecd.org/en/countries/united-states.html.

[15] “OECD Good Practice Principles for Public Service Design and Delivery in the Digital Age.” Organisation for Economic Co-Operation and Development (OECD), 2022, www.oecd.org/en/publications/2022/11/oecd-good-practice-principles-for-public-service-design-and-delivery-in-the-digital-age_f3845ec3.html.