“UI systems are designed more for compliance with policies and rules and less about how to help people. “Even modern systems had a poor user experience,” Venzke said. Finally, attempts at fraud became widespread.Īn important takeaway is the value of designing systems with the constituent in mind. The resulting backlogs and poor user experience found in many existing online services contributed to call centers becoming overwhelmed by constituents seeking information, and states were unable to train people quickly enough to meet the demand.

“People-based systems don’t scale quickly,” said Stuart Venzke, AWS state and local health and human services leader. First, systems did collapse in the face of unprecedented demand, but this wasn’t solely a technology problem - business processes involving people also buckled. The well-publicized issues with unemployment insurance in many states early in the pandemic illustrate some key challenges of modernization.

sometimes you don’t have the opportunity later.”

“It’s a really tough thing to do when you’re dealing with all the chaos…. “Use the things that are challenges right now to propel you forward,” Stacia Jankowski, director of the Office of Integrity and Accountability of the Wisconsin Department of Workforce Development, said during a Government Technology webinar sponsored by Amazon Web Services (AWS). As the economy continues to improve, government technology leaders are seeking ways to ensure the steps they took to serve constituents during the pandemic can support longer-term modernization efforts. Few functions of government have faced greater challenges during the COVID-19 pandemic as health and human services after demand for unemployment insurance and other services spiked in the wake of large-scale layoffs and shutdowns in spring 2020.

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