Building trust and transforming service: A decade of partnership between USDS and SSA

The United States Digital Service (USDS) has collaborated with the Social Security Administration (SSA) for almost a decade. Over time, this partnership has evolved into a strong relationship rooted in mutual trust, focused on incremental change and building capacity. SSA has transformed how it serves the American public—and it continues to make progress that focuses on its customers.

The History of USDS and SSA Collaboration

How It All Started

USDS began working with SSA to modernize how it processed disability claims. At the time, USDS team members were engaged in separate projects at SSA, making it challenging for them to see the full landscape. This began to change in 2021 when USDS shifted focus to SSA.gov, which receives more than 225M visitors each year.

Improving the SSA Website

To address customer needs, USDS observed how people interacted with, searched, and navigated SSA.gov. The insights were instrumental in delivering a new website with consolidated functionality and self-screening tools for several SSA services. This focused effort was a proof of concept, demonstrating how targeted, small-scale initiatives could lead to significant improvements in user experience.

Before the redesign of SSA.gov, site visitors relied on a single, static page with several dozen links to navigate the content. The multiple pages would frustrate and challenge users to find information and complete necessary tasks. The new dynamic version of the website is far simpler to navigate and follows standard information architecture practices while using a primary navigation system that aligns with the tasks customers need to complete, namely applying for benefits and replacing a Social Security card. Through the newly revamped, straightforward eligibility screening process, 50.2% of customers start an online application after learning they are eligible. USDS’ successful collaboration with SSA helped the agency continue making site enhancements on its own that help its customers access benefits and services.

Addressing Retirement Life Experience

When the Customer Experience (CX) Executive Order was released in 2021, the USDS team worked with SSA to improve the retirement life experience. Through the discovery process, the team uncovered a lack of consolidated and connected CX data. It was difficult to fully understand the holistic customer experience and journey due to the disparate data sources.

To assist in solutioning the data challenge, USDS engaged with SSA two years later on a comprehensive CX data strategy, focusing on more than just customer satisfaction, but also system performance and employee burden. Through the various project phases – discovery, identifying and analyzing data, and strategy development – USDS further surfaced that the challenges and opportunities with retirement and Medicare processes were not unique to those specific programs. Instead, solving these common CX and employee experience pain points was foundational to improving outcomes with SSA’s highest priorities related to disability programs and various service channels (online, phone, in-person, etc.).

Enhancing the Call Center Experience

SSA requested assistance with one of their top agency priorities – wait times on the national 1-800 number which receives over 70M calls annually. Many callers faced long wait times and unresolved issues, leading to frustration and increased call volumes. In collaboration with a broad-based SSA team, USDS sought to identify the top reasons for calls to the 1-800 number and how many of those calls are resolved.

Leveraging artificial intelligence (AI) to analyze over 500,000 call transcripts and other system data, the USDS team was able to generate new insights on caller behaviors. The information was used to prioritize specific improvements across multiple platforms to reduce call volumes and speed resolution. These efforts dropped call wait times to the 1-800 number from 42.3 minutes in November 2023 to less than 16 minutes one year later. This transformation underscores a vital takeaway: modernization should not be pursued for its own sake; it should aim to empower people to access the services they need more efficiently.

Looking Ahead: Building Capacity and Ensuring Sustainability

In recent years, USDS’s work with SSA has evolved into wider collaboration on the highest agency priorities. Building on their established strong foundation, the continued partnership will foster an environment where trust and innovation can thrive with the purpose of delivering better service to the American public.