Reflecting on Human-Centered Design in SNAP
I first joined Rachel Cahill Consulting to fulfill two roles, one as a presentation designer and the other as an administrative assistant. I have since grown into a project manager, but still hold many design support responsibilities and tasks, both for the company and for our clients. I work with a lot of pictures and design elements in my work, to help create engaging and ethical designs and graphics. I spend time thinking about how elements enhance a message, and contribute to the design as a whole. Design is something I enjoy and believe is important in many professional fields, but especially for SNAP advocacy. In a sense, all of the ways we engage with others - and how SNAP agencies engage with the public - is designed - for better or for worse.
My desire to help improve the SNAP enrollment experience through design led me to learn about human-centered design. Human-centered design places people at the focus of interactive systems and products. This could be placing the user of a website at the center of all developmental decisions and design principles, including picking accessible fonts, colors, and shapes to engage users. In business, this could be placing the customer at the center of all product or service decisions, including if a product is needed, wanted, and if it adds value to the customer’s daily life. So what does human-centered design look like in SNAP?
Human-centered design beyond the “digital experience”
Over the past decade, there has been a notable shift towards human-centered design in public benefits programs. Technology barriers are being re-evaluated by organizations like Nava, Civilla, and Code for America, to name a few. Thanks to these and other partners, advocates have a blueprint and field guide to apply human-centered design to digital benefits nationwide.
However, this looks at only one aspect of benefits enrollment - the digital experience. Our current view of human-centered design often focuses on technology and web design, but human-centered design should be applied everywhere, because everything is designed. City planning is a great example of this - every street, building, and residential area was designed (though often poorly and un-equitably) in major U.S. cities. The questions SNAP advocates must ask are, “Is this [form, notice, interview guide, lobby, etc] the result of human-centered design? If not, how do we make it better?”
How advocates can apply human-centered design
I’ve been thinking about human-centered design in regards to the SNAP enrollment experience. In Ohio, we have four main routes to apply for SNAP – online, in-person, over the phone, and by mail, with some variation county-to-county. All four routes have major access barriers and lack human-centered design. When I think about how to evaluate (and eventually tackle) these barriers in my home state, here are some questions I used:
Online:
Is the application website easy to navigate?
Is the application website accessible for people with disabilities (including those with auditory disabilities)?
Is there an option to upload documents on a desktop computer?
Is there an option to upload documents on a mobile phone?
Are uploading instructions clear?
In-Person:
Are there an adequate number of SNAP offices that provide in-person access? If yes, what are the hours of operation?
Are benefits applications easily accessible (clearly labeled, at a reachable height, etc.)
Is there a document drop off box? Is it secure?
Is there a scanning station at the office for documents? Are scanning instructions clear?
Is there a human available to assist those with low literacy and/or technology skills?
Phone:
Are phone lines being answered?
Can the call menu be navigated? By whom?
Can applicants easily confirm they submitted documents?
Can applicants easily request assistance for auditory disabilities?
Is a document mailing address clearly stated or easily found, without having to wait on a phone queue?
By Mail:
Are paper applications available in multiple languages, including braille?
Are applicants given the opportunity to have any mail notices forwarded to a new address?
Are notices sent in the applicant’s requested language?
Are notices clear, concise, and provide instructions and information on next steps?
The Big Picture
By using the principles and language of human-centered design, advocates may be able to get a seat at the table in conversations about the future of benefits access. Advocates are well-positioned to point out that a narrow view of human-centered design applying only to digital benefits can be harmful, because it leaves out all of the other ways that residents interact with benefits enrollment systems. If we can collectively learn to apply principles of human-centered design to all aspects of SNAP, we can serve our communities more effectively.