The experience economy is expected to be worth $12 billion by 2023. Commercial organisations are focused on customer and employee experience, sports clubs on fan experience. But where is the citizen experience, which is the focus of public organisations, in this story?
Wiseback’s Senior Experience Consultant Serap Yelkenci made evaluations on the issues that will stand out in the coming period in citizen experience.
Experience replaces products and services
Consumer spending in the US has changed dramatically in the last few years, with 4 times more budget allocated to experiences rather than physical goods. With the rise of non-possessive consumption and the sharing economy, consumers are moving away from ownership.
As Fast Company explains: “Humanity is experiencing an evolution in consciousness. We are starting to think differently about what it means to ‘own’ something. So a similar ambivalence toward ownership is emerging in everything from buying a car to listening to music to consuming entertainment.”
Today, your product or service is seen as a gateway to experience. The World Economic Forum has gone so far as to say that the companies that will exist in 10 years are those that create and nurture human experiences. Understanding the experience you provide, why people are looking for it and how you can improve it will be the key to success.
Before thinking about how the experience economy will change your industry, let’s take a closer look at the concept of experience.
Unfortunately, we have been exposed to learning and misconceptions about the concept of experience in both the private and public sectors. We confused customer experience with digital transformation, citizen experience with guest experience, and perceived them all as if they were describing technological developments. We are in a century where we pretend to do many things, aren’t we?
The concept of experience has also created an experience economy in a very short time. However, the sustainability of the experience economy is deeply related to learning the meaning of the concept of experience and the other concepts that precede it. Unfortunately, we have a meaning of experience that has been taken over from customer service, and many experts in the experience sector have already been taken over from customer service. Of course, the issue is not about being taken over, but the fact that the concept of experience has not been fully learned.
Customer experience, employee experience, guest experience, fan experience and citizen experience… When we put a determinant in front of the concept of experience, even if the meaning and methodology do not change, touch points, personas of the sector, etc. many things change.
Senior Experience Consultant Serap YelkenciSubcomponents of citizen experience
Before saying what citizen experience is, I think it is useful to say what it is not. Citizen experience, digital transformation, is not technology. Digital transformation is solving processes through technology to improve the citizen experience. In other words, digital transformation is part of the citizen experience. To better understand this concept, we can look at some of the sub-components of citizen experience;
Holistic approach
Like 21st century leadership concepts such as collective leadership, the holistic approach is an essential perspective for the citizen experience.
People first
While many technological developments such as artificial intelligence automate the left brain process in humans, the understanding of human beings as machines has been replaced by an understanding that values human beings.
Understanding the cause
To understand, one must first listen. Communication can never be one-way. It is just a monologue and this leads to citizens not being able to communicate with you. No citizen wants to see a public institution with a walled door, and if they say something, there must be a reason for it. A citizen who is listened to is more moderate rather than reactive, because he or she is assured that when he or she speaks out, someone is there to hear him or her.
Optimization
Processes, data, prioritisation, technology, integrations, IT integration, digitalization, etc. are all important, but they are all about delivering a better citizen experience. Therefore, citizen experience and optimization processes should be carried out together.
Common Language
Any understanding that does not permeate the corporate culture cannot be fully successful. For this reason, the concept of “citizen experience” should be used correctly in all in-organisational trainings and discourses.
Establishing a bond with citizens
Involving citizens in decision-making on issues is a fundamental principle of engaging with citizens. Moving away from top-down decision-making to a political approach that involves citizens in deliberation and is open to alternatives involves the belief that the entrenched culture will change.
Understanding the voice of the citizen before the citizen
Not every citizen may want to be heard, so by collecting data through social media platforms, data mining and machine learning algorithms, it is possible to take action on citizen problems before they reach large masses. It is possible to do active listening with smart platforms where emotions are analysed and grouped according to topics.
We live in the age of information and technology. It is easier than ever to create management systems with citizens at the centre. Local governments and states should provide channels through which citizens can be heard and measure at every point of touch.
