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Government Websites Evolve to Rival Private Sector

New E-Government Satisfaction Index from University of Michigan and E-Gov
Partner ForeSee Results Reveals Satisfaction With Some E-Gov Sites
Catching Up to Private Sector

ANN ARBOR, Mich., Sept. 15 /PRNewswire/ — Federal e-government
initiatives are showing clear signs of moving into high gear, with performance
levels that sometimes rival those of private industry, according to data
released today by the University of Michigan. The data is part of the E-
Government Satisfaction Index, a customized special report of federal
government websites from the American Customer Satisfaction Index (ACSI),
which measures a wide range of companies on a quarterly basis and is produced
in partnership by the University of Michigan Business School, the American
Society for Quality, the CFI Group, and ForeSee Results.

"In the aggregate, e-government satisfaction scores paint a picture of an
‘industry’ that is on the cusp of a major evolution," said web expert and
ForeSee Results CEO Larry Freed. ForeSee Results works directly with various
e-government initiatives in cooperation with the University and the ACSI.
"Some agencies are doing a better job than others in terms the scores they
earn, but the data behind the scores paint a picture of a field that is
aggressively in the process of finding models matched to what users want. E-
government is beginning to undergo a maturation process and the data shows
they are finding their way to maturity by letting citizens be their guide.
Many still have a ways to go, but this is a promising path."

All of the agencies measured earned scores that are at least passable, but
some government-oriented websites are already in the range that rivals some of
the best of the private sector.

"The common elements of superior performance are reorganizing government
in ways that make the most sense to site users, selectively bringing in
elements of the style of commercial sites, leveraging the trust and
reliability of the government, and stepping back to let users drive web
development rather than forcing approaches on people," said Freed. "Really,
e-government is defining its own path to success, and it is truly making
government better and more user-friendly in the process. E-government is not
the stereotypical bureaucrat view of the world but is becoming government cast
in the image people want."

Among the top performers are sites from the Department of Health and Human
Services, Agriculture, and NASA. FirstGov.gov, the mammoth government portal,
has moved its score up considerably by re-organizing based on how users want
to see government organized as well as other key aspects of site interaction
and design that have the most impact on converting site visitors into fans.
Other agencies are still struggling, and are early in their evolution.
"E-government is really just beginning," said Freed. "That we see as many
high scores as we do is heartening. The others know they need to catch up as
much as is feasible, and they’re subjecting themselves to the harsh light of
citizen evaluation. This can be painful, but it’s the best way to get from
here to there."

Not all scores are stellar, but the report points out that some agencies
have very particular customer segments and even "customers" who might prefer
that the agency not even exist, which makes earning high satisfaction scores
more difficult than the private sector.

"It is simply the nature of the public sector that there will always be a
wide range of scores," said University of Michigan customer satisfaction
expert Claes Fornell, who heads the ACSI. "Unlike private industry,
government agencies don’t always choose their customers, and, often, their
customers don’t choose them. In addition, there is no direct way for
dissatisfied customers to penalize a provider of government services, by
taking their business elsewhere. The financial consequences are not there."
Fornell and Freed’s analysis suggests that other forces are pushing e-
government where it needs to be, more quickly in some cases than in others.
They cited clear expectations-setting and leadership from the President and
the ever-improving ability of technology to lower the cost of providing
services — and therefore preserve precious budget dollars — as important
factors.

Jack West, past-president of the American Society for Quality, a co-
sponsor of the American Customer Satisfaction Index stated, "Virtually any
transaction that can be conducted online, rather than in person, provides
benefits to both the user and the government. Having websites the public
likes to use should help the government achieve productivity gains similar to
those realized during the last two years in the private sector."
"When we look across the agencies, we see some who are really getting it
right, and will continue to evolve," said Fornell. "In other cases, they are
just starting to understand how their constituencies want to interact and are
getting there bit by bit. Some agencies do things that are just harder to
figure out how to translate online, and government services can be a much
bigger challenge in that regard than selling books or disseminating news. And
sometimes government can never completely satisfy those it serves: if you’re a
regulator, chances are that those you regulate would prefer you not exist, so
making them happy isn’t easy. It’s encouraging that government is looking to
getting things done in ways that work best for users, even knowing this."
"In response to the President’s commitment to have government agencies
achieve immediate, concrete, and measurable results, agencies are increasingly
searching for technologies to help them attain greater efficiencies while
keeping their citizen-centric focus," said Anne Kelly, Director of the Federal
Consulting Group, the Department of the Treasury, the executive agent of the
American Customer Satisfaction Index within the federal government.
"Ultimately, success or failure can only be determined by how well agencies
accomplish their missions and how they are evaluated by the users of their
services. Agencies recognize that and are shaping their initiatives
accordingly, using the ACSI as a valuable tool to capture the voice of
citizens that allows direct comparison with the private sector. This doesn’t
mean they’ll always be able to ‘compete’ but it’s a good way of seeing where
they stand."

About ForeSee Results, Inc.
ForeSee Results is the market leader in online customer satisfaction
management and specializes in converting satisfaction data into user-driven
web development strategies. Using the methodology of the University of
Michigan’s American Customer Satisfaction Index (ACSI), ForeSee Results has
created a model that scientifically quantifies the elements that drive online
customer satisfaction and predicts future behaviors, including the likelihood
to return to the site or recommend the site to others. ForeSee Results, a
privately held company co-founded by Compuware Corporation and CFI Group, is
located in Ann Arbor, Michigan and can be found online at
http://www.ForeSeeResults.com

About the ACSI
The American Customer Satisfaction Index (ACSI) is the only uniform,
national, cross-industry measure of satisfaction with the quality of goods and
services available in the United States. In 1999, the Federal government
selected the ACSI to be a standard metric for measuring citizen satisfaction.
Over 55 Federal government agencies have used the ACSI to measure citizen
satisfaction of more than 110 services and programs. The Index is produced by
a partnership of the University of Michigan Business School, American Society
for Quality (ASQ) and CFI Group, an international consulting firm. ForeSee
Results sponsors the e-commerce, e-business and e-government indices. The
Federal Consulting Group, a franchise within the Department of the Treasury,
is the executive agent for the ACSI and the federal government.

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