In Orlando, a deep focus on customer experience

Name: Matt Broffman

Title: Director of Innovation — Digital Platforms & Service Design

City: Orlando, Fla.

If there was one thing that Matt Broffman brought to city hall from his private-sector jobs in marketing and journalism, it was a deep understanding of the importance of focusing on customer experience. It’s one of the reasons he and his team in Orlando are focused on surveying residents after they have been in touch with the city. “If you report a pothole, for example, you’ll get a survey at the end of the day asking how the exchange went,” he explained. However, the tricky thing in government is that not every local service is meant to put a smile on your face: Are you ever pleased to get a parking ticket? That’s why Broffman is working on developing a metric that goes beyond satisfaction to measure the trust people have in their city. Still a work in progress, this effort is part of his overall focus on improving the way residents interact with city hall, especially when it comes to making digital services easier to use. Broffman asks city staff from different departments to run tests on each others’ web pages — they often have fresh ideas on how to streamline steps or simplify language. Then, his team prototypes those ideas with residents to determine if they should move forward with the changes. “It’s been amazing to see how eager the staff is to make these improvements,” said Broffman. “And how willing residents are to give time and feedback — people really care about their city.”

Pro Tip:

“You don’t need to hire consultants. The experts with the knowledge and drive to make resident interaction with government a better experience are already sitting in city hall.”