Method
In early 2023 extensive qualitative and quantitative research was undertaken to understand the ongoing experience of agency customers in a BAU context. This was done through:
- interviews
- surveys
- analysis of documentation such as agency customer satisfaction surveys, Help Hub support tickets, and analytics.
In September 2023, we conducted an agency survey to follow up on the earlier research findings, track ongoing improvements and continue to gauge sentiment.
Who conducted the research
The research was conducted by the Agency Experience team. The team facilitates and delivers nsw.gov.au process and product improvements that enable our agency partners to meet the needs of their customers.
The Agency Experience team has developed an understanding of our agency partners as OneCX customers to improve the nsw.gov.au offering. Research projects, like this one, contribute to the ongoing understanding of agency needs and continuous improvement of the platform to meet those needs.
Our findings
Overall satisfaction
The satisfaction of agencies with OneCX systems and processes is high. The Digital Channels Unit is providing an excellent level of service for agencies in BAU through personalised support and guidance. Most agencies are happy with the performance of their content on nsw.gov.au and the functionality of the Drupal CMS.
“Friendly, flexible & efficient support.”
– Research participant
The main reasons for satisfaction include:
- support and guidance provided to agencies
- ease of use of the Drupal CMS
- design of nsw.gov.au.
“Well designed templates, easy to navigate component library & interface.”
– Research participant
Areas for improvement
While the overall satisfaction was high, our research highlighted areas that could be improved, including:
- increasing awareness of all the components that are available to editors
- increasing awareness of the self-serve support resources available to editors
- ongoing support for content editors that use our systems infrequently
- greater clarity and communication of the ongoing, long-term vision for the nsw.gov.au site.
Agency support and resources
A key finding has been that while agencies are satisfied with the one-on-one support they receive, they rely on direct support to complete tasks, which won’t be scalable as more content authors come onboard.
“Great support from team, fast and helpful.”
– Research participant
Beyond logging a ticket for direct support with the support team, most agency customers are not regularly engaging with the resources available, such the learning management system, Help Hub and Components Guide.
Improvements to accessing these resources will help to empower and upskill content editors.
Enabling our infrequent editors
Most agency CMS users consider themselves confident at using the CMS and find it easy-to-use. However, half of BAU agency CMS users need help to complete tasks, with a third requiring assistance often or very often.
Most agency editors only log into the nsw.gov.au CMS once a month or less frequently.
Many agency users are reliant on direct support from the support team to perform their role.
Better access to resources could help them to recall how to use our systems.
Communication of CMS improvements
Communication and collaboration were cited as a key area for improvement in the early 2023 research and the feedback was taken onboard. Improvements made to the communication strategy included:
- CMS updates communicated through the fortnightly Help Hub newsletter and monthly OneCX program newsletter
- showcasing development work and features at the Digital Channels demo every 6 weeks.
- regular and coordinated updates to the self-service support resources – the Help Hub and the CMS Components Guide
- greater promotion of the OneCX Program Service Catalogue
- greater internal collaboration between teams to ensure seamless communication of CMS changes.
As a result of the changes to communication, the September survey found that most agencies were satisfied with the communication of new features and bug fixes.
We will continue to improve our collaboration with agencies, particularly if agency-owned content needs to updated or changed.
Ongoing BAU expectations
Most agencies have a good understanding of their roles and responsibilities and the support available to them. However, the long-term vision of nsw.gov.au remains unclear for around a third of agencies.
Ongoing communication to agencies after migration is key to keeping them engaged with our vision and mission.
Actions
While we celebrate the high satisfaction ratings and positive feedback from our agencies, the Agency Experience team will also work with the wider OneCX team to deliver improvements.
Some upcoming activities we have planned to address the insights include:
- consolidating and updating learning and help resources, so that agencies can find the support they need
- improving the journey from Drupal to support resources
- providing a service for agencies to provide feedback on CMS components and functionality
- enhancing our communications strategy, to include upcoming feature and bug releases
- optimising CMS performance.