96% of American adults own a cellphone, and 81% own a smartphone, according to PewResearch from 2019. This means your most in-need citizens who might not have a computer or transportation most likely do have a mobile phone capable of accessing an application.
As your department considers how to modernize, mobile friendly applications for public assistance programs are a great way to make it easier for people to apply and for your department to process and validate applications.
With easy-to-implement app solutions like the low-code options offered by Kinetech, adding a mobile application is relatively easy to do and does not require any major changes to your existing systems. But not all apps are created equal, and a poorly designed application will do more harm than good.
When designing your application, put yourself in the shoes of the citizens that will be using it to apply for assistance. Make it intuitive by keeping the process simple and straightforward by minimizing the “steps” an applicant must complete. Keeping the experience stress free for end-users will improve the completion rate, enhance your department’s customer service, and extend the programs reach within the community for at-risk citizens.
Example of a public assistance mobile application
The following tips are considered best-practice for any public assistance mobile solution:
On this front, your mobile app should clearly inform potential applicants of all the documents they will need to complete the full application before they begin filling anything out. This can be accomplished with a simple starter screen with a complete bullet list of required documents and “I have gathered all the above and am ready to apply” button that calls attention to the list or prevents them from starting before agreeing.
Some people grow concerned when we mention transmitting images of documents like social security cards through mobile applications. Any public assistance application needs to include full SSL encryption and data protection protocols to protect and encrypt (digital for disguise) private information that is transmitted through the app. We are happy to explain further, but when done correctly encryption is a very safe and widely used way of protecting any sensitive information someone might be sending you.
We also recommend using digital applications as an opportunity to setup an automated messaging system (email or SMS). These systems allow you to quickly push updates to applicants and can allow citizens to check application status or submit additional information if necessary. This is a great way to reduce incoming calls to your staff while also keeping the public informed.
An added benefit to this approach is the data is easy to report or create public facing visualizations. For departments using taxpayer funds or servicing the public, dashboards with approved statistics can easily be made publicly accessible and updated in real time. This increases transparency and trust with citizens in your community because its easy to see where funds are being distributed.
An example of a public data dashboard using low-code data to keep the public informed from the City of San Antonio
There are a lot of guides on this (like this one) but the main thing to keep in mind is to design the application around smartphone screen resolution first, not desktops.
A responsive-design, one that recognizes the screen resolution of the user and adjust accordingly is also a great idea. Applicants will likely be doing this on a smartphone so make sure the application is designed to work great on mobile phones. This means:
Applications need to work across a variety of screen sizes, but should be primarily designed for mobile phones
These are the main things to keep in mind. There are other minor details you can stress over, but the best way to know if your application is user friendly is to try it yourself. Once you have a working version, try applying from your own phone. Have everyone else in the department do it as well and collect feedback on issues and frustrations they run into. If you can, have people outside your office (family, friends, case workers) try it as well. Testing is the best way to find these issues and correct them before the app goes out to the public who are more likely to give up applying than to provide feedback.
You will have the most knowledge of your applications, citizens, and programs, but you may not be an expert in managing cloud infrastructure, mobile (software) app design, modern security standards, and encryption. You may have an internal resource that knows some things in this arena in the IT or web departments, but there are also experts who design mobile applications specifically for government agencies, departments and offices that will help guide you through the process and without breaking your budget.
Kinetech offers specific Govtech solutions and recently worked with the City of San Antonio to roll out several public assistance applications. You can contact us at +1 (844) 546-3832 or info@kinetechcloud.com.