self-care, travel, and connection with the community, but not employment or educational-related goals) are primarily older adults. Program leaders wanted to reach more people, reach them earlier, and start service more quickly - all aimed at helping customers regain or keep their personal independence despite vision loss.
One irony we uncovered was that many customers who had achieved their self-sufficiency goals still did not want their case 'closed.' They called closing out the relationship with the counselor 'devastating' and 'plunging them back into isolation.'
In a design lab, we tackled this barrier to self-sufficiency. The designers came up with a new metaphor. Rather than closing the case, we worked with the concept of graduating into the universe of self-sufficient adults. As a result, the designers created a future where:
- personal incentives to graduate are articulated up front. For example, we imagined a corporate sponsor such as Target or LensCrafters offering graduation presents that meaningfully symbolize that person's return to self-sufficiency. Maybe it is a coveted CCTV. Maybe it is a trip to visit family members -- a trip that the customer now has the confidence to take. The main point is that the customer chooses what would be meaningful to them—and sets the 'reward' at the same time they set the self-sufficiency outcomes they desire.
- once the goals are achieved, the customer's case doesn't get closed in silence, but, rather, the person graduates with celebration. The customer can choose to attend a ceremony where his/her milestones and self-sufficiency skills achieved are honored. Family members are invited to attend. The above 'gifts' are given.
- customers don't 'graduate' into isolation, but into a 'system' of other self-sufficient alumni. Graduates will be asked if they would be willing to be contacted by others. Graduates could choose to create their own support network from among other alumni who are experiencing the same kind of sight loss and have achieved or increased their self-sufficiency. Graduates could also choose to be peer mentors for current customers.
- Graduation is not considered a one-time event. Consistent with the concept of life-long learning, the designers see self-sufficiency as a life-long endeavor. There may be other times the customer is in need of specialized skill development as their sight worsens, a spouse dies, or another event undermines their self-sufficiency. Their case is not closed. The cycle of setting and attaining self-sufficiency goals can occur again.
The designers conceived other breakthrough aspects of service redesign as well. However, I consider this concept of 'graduation' rather than 'case closure' directly relevant to other public service organizations. Do you agree?
At PSG, we deem this a new way to use the Consequences lever to incent customer commitment to the achievement of service outcomes. Let me know of real life examples that might extend this thinking.
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