The much publicized troubled launch of the Obama administration’s Healthcare.gov website is a reminder of how poorly the US government is doing in delivering digital assets and value to its citizens. The project appeared to be a flop on arrival, with system instability illustrative of broader project management without a breakdown of parts responsible for integration around a user experience guide. Instead, bureaucratic processes spawned a website where consumers were forced to register before buying, contrary to the free and exploratory nature of their digital lives. This setup, along with buggy back-end support, created confusion and serious bottlenecks that left many disgruntled consumers wishing this project hadn’t been managed by the Administration. President Obama’s numbers took a hit.
When asked in a Profero online survey what their perception is of the US government’s digital capabilities, three-quarters of the 150 US online respondents said they are somewhat (44, 7%) or extremely outdated (31.3%). When asked how the US government is doing compared to other countries: Almost half felt that our offers are very (16.7%) or somewhat lower (32.7%) than those of other countries. Only 11.3% and 6.7% of respondents feel somewhat or extremely superior, respectively. If most consumers really know what other governments offer online, there is a clear lack of trust in our government’s digital offerings.
Also very revealing were the responses from respondents when asked who they thought could do a better job of fixing the website. Four times as many respondents collectively think that Google (47.3%) or Amazon (20%) could do a better job than the US government (16%) in fixing the HealthCare website. The Obama administration itself seems to acknowledge this private sector advantage by clumsily referring to improvements made to the website, saying, “Although more work remains to be done, the team is operating with the speed and efficiency of the private sector.”
And when referring to the speed and effectiveness of the private sector, the administration is referring to new economy brands like Google and Amazon and their culture of bold innovation, accountability, and a disciplined focus on iterative improvement. It’s also a nod to these brands’ singular focus on the user experience: from Amazon’s 24-hour delivery option and its latest Mayday live video customer service on your Kindle Fire, to Google’s ability to to make our digital life easier and more ubiquitous.
It is this relentless focus on a stellar user experience and its related emphasis on delivery that ultimately wins the trust of consumers. That’s why it was no surprise that when asked which of the following companies they trust to deliver what they say, Amazon (30.7%) and Google (21.3%) had the highest percentages in the category of “full trust”. , with the US government coming in at a dismal 2.7%. Disney (19.3%), Netflix (16.7%), and Starbucks (15.3%), also regularly praised as stalwarts of the user experience, also scored much higher than the US government. The erosion of trust surrounding the launch of the website must be a tough pill for President Obama to swallow, as he has painstakingly harnessed the power of digital and social in his two presidential election bids.
There is good news for the president in all of this, and it is rooted in Americans’ willingness to forgive. According to our survey, of the nearly 70% of respondents who admitted that their perception of the US government was damaged due to the website failure, more than half say it is likely to recover. Our compatriots love it a second time, allowing Management to quickly learn from initial mistakes when launching the website. A good place to start might be President Obama calling his friends at Amazon and Google to find out how they run a site.