Digital Initiative

Challenge

I was a manager in Software Company and my challenge is converting offline/manual services  of different states government departments (E.g. Animal Husbandry, Forest, Transportation,  etc.) into online services and create a central repository to improve efficiency, save cost and  time. The project scope includes working collaboratively with different government officials to  understand the existing process, creating website for each state, sharing our ideas, obtaining  different approvals, payment gateway set up and creating a central repository which acts as a  central hub to store all states data. I have a team size of 40 members to complete this project in  9 months of time. We are working on making 9 states services into online. We have 8  departments in each state and each department has 5 services. Below is the pictorial  representation of the sample structure we need to build.

Selection

There are a numerous number of minor tasks that are involved in the overall execution. We  need to come up with so many ideas, try them quick, pass/fail and move to the next phase.  When the prototype turns out into success, we need to scale the process. When the prototype  fails, we need to reiterate and change the strategy. As overall time available for idea  generation, tryout and building prototype is minimal, we chose Learning Launch design thinking  tool to move forward.

Example of minor tasks are creating website designs for each state and departments, payment  gateway setups for online payments, creating sample workflows and execution of department

transactions (E.g. License renewal), end-to-end workflow creation of existing manual process,  etc.

Application

We have broken down the entire process into multiple subtasks and determined owner for  each task as shown below. Below table shows example of few tasks that we started.

Key Assumption  Who  How  Time Frame

Create Website Designs

• Design State Website  • Design Department

Pages

• Creating online forms  • Gathering images,

logos,

Team A  Existing Software  tools, State  Department  Images

2 Months

Create process flows for each  department services (Process  flow consists of all steps to  complete a simple  transaction manually)

Team B  Meeting with  State  Department  Officials and  gathering  information

1 Month

Converting the Manual  process to online service –  Coding

Team C  Inputs from  above step are  used to create  designs

1 Month

Payment gateway setup  Team D  3rd party vendor  will provide the  service.  Implemented  this for many  clients in the  past. Will  implement the  same approach.

2 Weeks

Creating central repository  and establishing connectivity  with state portals/websites

Team E  Implemented  solutions to  similar use cases  in the past. We  will customize  and reuse the  pattern.

2 Weeks

Here is an example of process flow for license renewal manually.

We have started so many tasks in parallel. We started interactions with each department  official to understand the number of services they have and started drawing process flow  diagram for each service. We verified each process flow diagram after completion with  department officials for final completion and then my teams started creating online forms and  designs for each service in department. My team started creating prototype websites and  started integrating with central repository and verifying payment gateways.

Insight

We discovered that the departmental services are almost similar in different states. The best example is  Driver license renewal which has similar approach in different stated for manual/offline renewal. This  helps us to reuse the online service logic developed in one state to another state. Service transaction  time in offline mode largely depends on the availability of officials. We had interacted with few  customers to get feedback and understand few processes. Long waiting times in the queues in  department offices is leading to customer dissatisfaction. Every state has 8 departments and 5 services  in each department which leads to total 40 services in each state. We categorized total services into 3  categories based on service transaction time. Category A is where service transaction time is less than 2  hours and Category B is where service transaction is between 2 hours and 2 days and Category C is  where service transaction is greater than 2 days. Out of 40 total services, 27 services fall under category  A, 9 services fall under category B and 4 services fall under category C. We have shared these insights  with department officials and asked them to prioritize top 3 services to build online versions initially.

Approach

We built prototype models on the top 3 prioritized services by the officials. We then added 25 services  in the next iteration and finally 12 services in 3rd iteration. We used the prototype developed for one  state to demo to other state officials and this approach really helped us in moving fast.

Below is the detailed launch process.

State Your Hypotheses -> Presented prototype ideas to the department officials of each state

State Key Assumptions -> Presented list of assumptions and get clarifications with key officials and end  customers

Value Creation -> Shared the value generation with prototype to the officials by implementing  prototype (E.g. Faster Service Transactions, Ease of work to Customer and Officials, etc.)

Execution -> My teams started split the tasks and worked parallelly and in collaboration with key  department officials to convert the ideas into actions

Dependability -> Collaboration with department officials and feedback from customers

Scalability -> Once prototype is accepted then the same formula will be applied to other state services  as well

Prioritize Key Assumptions -> Inputs were taken from Key officials and prioritized services in prototype

Design Test for Key Assumptions -> Key assumptions were incorporated in the prototype and executed

Do the Tests -> The prototype was tested, and the results were validated. Verified payment gateway  working and integration of state department services with Central Repository

Confirming/Disconfirming Data -> we iterated the development based on the data.

We were able to wrap up everything within 7 months and able to finish everything within 80% of  allocated budget for the project. With this project the state departments has created additional channel  for transactions. This will reduce the number of offline transactions and save a lot of time for the public  to visit offices and waiting in the queue. Instead most of the service transactions can be made from the  home. The average wait time in department offices came down from 45 minutes to 20 minutes with in  first 3 months and the service transactions are getting completed at 2x rate compared to original with  new approach. One thing that might help in next time is considering end user feedback before designing  the final product. We need to change designs of forms couple of times to make it user friendly. We  spent lot of time in the business requirement gathering phase and confirmation from different officials.  We noticed that 90% of the process remain same for similar services in different states. We might have  saved a lot of time if we have meetings with all the state department officials at same time which may  be hard but will try to see the possibility.


Digital Initiative Challenge I was a manager in Software Company and my challenge is converting offline / manual services of different states government departments ( E.g. Animal Husbandry , Forest , Transportation , etc . ) into online services and create a central repository to improve efficiency , save cost and time . The project scope includes working collaboratively with different government officials to understand the existing process , creating website for each state , sharing our ideas , obtaining different approvals , payment gateway set up and creating a central repository which acts as a central hub to store all states data . I have a team size of 40 members to complete this project in 9 months of time . We are working on making 9 states services into online . We have 8 departments in each state and each department has 5 services . Below is the pictorial representation of the sample structure we need to build . Selection There are a numerous number of minor tasks that are involved in the overall execution . We need to come up with so many ideas , try them quick , pass / fail and move to the next phase . When the prototype turns out into success , we need to scale the process . When the prototype fails , we need to reiterate and change the strategy . As overall time available for idea generation , tryout and building prototype is minimal , we chose Learning Launch design thinking tool to move forward . Example of minor tasks are creating website designs for each state and departments , payment gateway setups for online payments , creating sample workflows and execution of department transactions ( E.g. License renewal ) , end - to - end workflow creation of existing manual process , etc . Application We have broken down the entire process into multiple subtasks and determined owner for each task as shown below . Below table shows example of few tasks that we started . Key Assumption Who How Time Frame Create Website Designs • Design State Website • Design Department Pages • Creating online forms • Gathering images , logos , Team A Existing Software tools , State Department Images 2 Months Create process flows for each department services ( Process flow consists of all steps to complete a simple transaction manually ) Team B Meeting with State Department Officials and gathering information 1 Month Converting the Manual process to online service – Coding Team C Inputs from above step are used to create designs 1 Month Payment gateway setup Team D 3rd party vendor will provide the service . Implemented this for many clients in the past . Will implement the same approach . 2 Weeks Creating central repository and establishing connectivity with state portals / websites Team E Implemented solutions to similar use cases in the past . We will customize and reuse the pattern . 2 Weeks Here is an example of process flow for license renewal manually . We have started so many tasks in parallel . We started interactions with each department official to understand the number of services they have and started drawing process flow diagram for each service . We verified each process flow diagram after completion with department officials for final completion and then my teams started creating online forms and designs for each service in department . My team started creating prototype websites and started integrating with central repository and verifying payment gateways . Insight We discovered that the departmental services are almost similar in different states . The best example is Driver license renewal which has similar approach in different stated for manual / offline renewal . This helps us to reuse the online service logic developed in one state to another state . Service transaction time in offline mode largely depends on the availability of officials . We had interacted with few customers to get feedback and understand few processes . Long waiting times in the queues in department offices is leading to customer dissatisfaction . Every state has 8 departments and 5 services in each department which leads to total 40 services in each state . We categorized total services into 3 categories based on service transaction time . Category A is where service transaction time is less than 2 hours and Category B is where service transaction is between 2 hours and 2 days and Category C is where service transaction is greater than 2 days . Out of 40 total services , 27 services fall under category A , 9 services fall under category B and 4 services fall under category C. We have shared these insights with department officials and asked them to prioritize top 3 services to build online versions initially . Approach We built prototype models on the top 3 prioritized services by the officials . We then added 25 services in the next iteration and finally 12 services in 3rd iteration . We used the prototype developed for one state to demo to other state officials and this approach really helped us in moving fast . Below is the detailed launch process . State Your Hypotheses - > Presented prototype ideas to the department officials of each state State Key Assumptions - > Presented list of assumptions and get clarifications with key officials and end customers Value Creation - > Shared the value generation with prototype to the officials by implementing prototype ( E.g. Faster Service Transactions , Ease of work to Customer and Officials , etc . ) Execution - > My teams started split the tasks and worked parallelly and in collaboration with key department officials to convert the ideas into actions Dependability - > Collaboration with department officials and feedback from customers Scalability - > Once prototype is accepted then the same formula will be applied to other state services as well Prioritize Key Assumptions - > Inputs were taken from Key officials and prioritized services in prototype Design Test for Key Assumptions - > Key assumptions were incorporated in the prototype and executed Do the Tests - > The prototype was tested , and the results were validated . Verified payment gateway working and integration of state department services with Central Repository Confirming / Disconfirming Data - > we iterated the development based on the data . We were able to wrap up everything within 7 months and able to finish everything within 80 % of allocated budget for the project . With this project the state departments has created additional channel for transactions . This will reduce the number of offline transactions and save a lot of time for the public to visit offices and waiting in the queue . Instead most of the service transactions can be made from the home . The average wait time in department offices came down from 45 minutes to 20 minutes with in first 3 months and the service transactions are getting completed at 2x rate compared to original with new approach . One thing that might help in next time is considering end user feedback before designing the final product . We need to change designs of forms couple of times to make it user friendly . We spent lot of time in the business requirement gathering phase and confirmation from different officials . We noticed that 90 % of the process remain same for similar services in different states . We might have saved a lot of time if we have meetings with all the state department officials at same time which may be hard but will try to see the possibility .