How Digital “Efficiency” is Leaving People Behind

At the advice centre, we are increasingly walking alongside service users  trying to help them overcome a digital barrier.  In this post, we explore three major hurdles currently creating barriers to people’s access to services:

• the ‘one-size-fits-all’ website,
• the dead-end chatbot loop,
• and the callback trap.

Each section below breaks down why these digital-first systems are failing the very people they are meant to serve.

Part 1: One Website Does Not Answer All Queries

We used to be able to call services on the phone, speak to a human, and work together to solve an issue. Increasingly we are seeing more and more services moving online. While many websites are being updated and improved, some of the modern digital interfaces are similar to  ‘one-size-fits-all’ clothing. It’s designed to cover the majority, but it never fits everyone. Not every website will be able to cater to every query with a link. 

 A notorious example is the delivery company “starting with E” that many of us have battled. You have a specific problem, but the user interface gives you no way to explain it to a human. It certainly never answers your question or finds the lost parcel.

We are increasingly seeing local public services and statutory bodies following this trend. Across the city, telephone hotlines are increasingly directing people online due to call volumes. This makes the assumption that every citizen has the hardware, the literacy, and the time to navigate a complex web portal. And that the web portal has the answer to every question. Spoiler: it doesn’t.

Rather than reduce the number of telephone handlers, would a better solution be trying to address the reason why so many are calling with questions in the first instance? 

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Part 2: Chatbots, creating a digital graveyard

In addition, chatbots are increasingly replacing live agents, often simply looping users back to the same generic information they already found. This is commonly seen when trying to locate lost parcels, but it’s creeping into public services now too. While this might save the service provider money, it “burns” the citizen’s most precious resource: time. For those already struggling with digital, language or age barriers, this isn’t just a waste of time, it’s a total denial of service. It is creating a digital graveyard, where queries are directed to go and die.

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Rather than using a chatbot as a ‘gatekeeper’ to reduce staff workload, could it be used to identify where the system is failing? If a chatbot is looping a user back to the same page three times, shouldn’t that be a signal to us that the digital information provided isn’t clear enough for a human to understand? Alternatively if a chatbot fails, could this automatically trigger a human intervention like a ‘live chat’ or a ‘help’ button? 

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Part 3: The Callback Trap: Delaying the Inevitable

Even when a system offers a “human” option, it can be buried deep within a labyrinth. If you are lucky enough to navigate past the chatbot and find a “Request a Callback” section, the victory is short-lived.

Often, the first available slot is a few days or even weeks away.

For a citizen trying to resolve an issue, that is seven more days of sitting with the stress of the unknown. It’s seven more days of financial uncertainty. In our experience, people come to an advice centre specifically to break this cycle, but even we find ourselves hitting the same digital wall. These systems aren’t designed to solve problems in real-time; they are designed to manage queues at the expense of the users. This can have a negative impact on mental health and a definite impact on a person’s most limited resource: their time.

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If the goal of a callback is to manage demand, is it really efficient if the user’s problem escalates during the wait? Instead of a blind ‘waiting list,’ could a triage system be utilised that identifies urgent needs before they become a crisis or debts mount up?

 

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The Bottom Line 

Whether it is a website that can’t answer your question, a chatbot that won’t listen or a callback that won’t happen for a week, the result is the same: the most vulnerable citizens are being locked out of the services they rely on. Digital “efficiency” shouldn’t come at the cost of human dignity.

The solution isn’t to switch off the computers. There will be solutions that can utilise digital efficiencies but provide a human touch. True digital efficiency isn’t measured by how many people we keep off the phones or out of our offices, it’s measured by how quickly and with how much dignity a citizen’s problem is actually resolved. 

 

This is part of our ongoing series on Digital Barriers.