This is THE quick win of digitisation.

In digitising government, the conversation is often about the big stuff: strategies, platforms, deadlines, goals. Big solutions, in other words. We need those too, but they just take time. A lot of time. So how can we improve people’s lives quickly and easily?

One of the most powerful levers, measured objectively, is surprisingly small — and yet effective: the length and complexity of forms. In authority and administrative processes in Germany, you’re still often just given an online version of a paper form, instead of a genuine improvement to the process and its usability.

But when a form is consistently shortened, clearly structured, and reduced to the essentials, you see increases in:

• user satisfaction
• return rate (how many people actually complete it)
• processing speed

What’s your experience? Have you ever abandoned a form halfway through?

Source:

Institut der deutschen Wirtschaft (IW) – Digitising government in Germany: the state of play at the target date of the Online Access Act, early 2023. Institut der deutschen Wirtschaft (IW)

Image: This image was created with the help of AI.

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