Modernizing Unemployment Benefits in New Jersey: A Case Study and Guide for Implementing New Technologies and Methods to Improve Benefit Systems

On September 20th, members of the New Jersey Office of Innovation, the New Jersey Department of Labor and Workforce Development, and the Heldrich Center for Workforce Development convened to present a virtual workshop on their successful efforts to modernize New Jersey’s unemployment benefit system. Joined by approximately 40 public service professionals from across the country and abroad, the panel covered every aspect of this project, from problem definition to building new technologies.

Defining the Problem

Jill Gutierrez, Senior Advisor in the New Jersey Office of Unemployment Insurance Modernization, opened the discussion with context on how the COVID-19 pandemic highlighted certain inefficiencies within New Jersey State government. The pandemic exacerbated the inflexibility of the technology in place for handling Unemployment Insurance (UI) benefits. Furthermore, according to Gutierrez, “It showed us that we had a long way to go in terms of thinking about government technology as a way to serve human needs.” The system that previously existed was outdated, worked with older technology, and failed to incorporate user experience into the process  

New Jersey’s UI benefit system is one example of how states have had to respond to similar circumstances: identifying and creating ways to upgrade outdated systems in order to implement new changes and policies in a short time-frame, and in the midst of national crisis. Gutierrez touched upon how the pandemic amplified the unique and important abilities that public service professionals on both the program development and the technology teams have, and how constant collaboration was crucial in connecting the new policy to successful implementation. 

Working Towards Transformation

Gutierrez walked attendees through the goal of the project and the plan of action for how they would achieve this target. 

The goal

Updating the unemployment system so that benefits can quickly get into the hands of eligible New Jerseyans.

How this would be achieved

• Implementing a new claimant intake application that began with United States Department Of Labor /United States Digital Service​

• Redesigning the self-service claim status​

• Continuing a comprehensive revamp of electronic and paper notices​

• Pursuing a mainframe modernization strategy using agile development​

• Following the U.S. Digital Service playbook

Laurie Harrington, Assistant Director of Evaluation at the Heldrich Center for Workforce Development at Rutgers University discussed the paper 

written and published by Michelle Evermore in collaboration with the Center on “New Jersey’s Worker-centered Approach to Improving the Administration of Unemployment Insurance”, which explores New Jersey’s effort to improve the UI system described above.

Giuseppe Morgana, former founding digital director for New Jersey’s Office of Innovation highlighted the strategies he used in  structuring and building the team that worked on this project and setting them up for success. 

Morgana outlined a three-point system for building a team 

1. Partner with experts in your government 

• Consult with experts in your government who have a firm understanding of the mechanisms available in building a team and the process that it involves.

2. Don’t reinvent the wheel (except where you need to)

• Understand the contract mechanisms available to you. 

• Find templates and sample materials. 

• Reach out to those who have gone through this process (including the New Jersey team).

• Start with standard government contracts and layers in the domain-specific materials.

3. Project manage the process (but be flexible along the way)

• Document the process such as an interview guide, evaluation process, roles, and responsibilities.

• Use a scorecard and clear scoring criteria.

• Manage a very transparent calendar.

• Create individual and group time for evaluating submissions.

Updating the Communications System

Design 

Janice Cho, design and product expert and consultant for the New Jersey Office of Innovation, then guided attendees through the user-centered communications process that the team implemented. New Jersey’s previous UI system did not account for the needs of claimants and employers and according to Cho, jeopardizing the ability of claimants and employers to be successful in the journey of navigating the UI system. 

Cho outlined the three major factors in changing the communications system:

1. Action-Forward Language 

• Instead of using plain language, communications were adapted to be “action-forward”. This mobilizes the reader to take the necessary steps through the UI process and informs them when action is required on their behalf.

• Action-forward models remove filler words (such as please and thank you) and use action verbs.

2. Visceral Reaction 

• The way we present ourselves through communications as agencies sets the tone for how users interact with us and can solicit patience in users. 

3. Selective Filtering 

• The composition of content is crucial for user navigation and impacts how users interact with and are able to absorb a large amount of information. All communications were designed in a ‘three-tier’ model, with primary information being the most visible, and respectively more detailed secondary and tertiary information being accessible but less prominent. 

Using the organization’s past communications, Cho demonstrated how these design tools and methods were implemented in broadcasting information about the state’s UI system to constituents. Cho highlighted that each communication was formatted to accommodate users accessing the email in both desktop and mobile format, an element of the previous communication system that was outdated and inefficient.

“The mobile version is very important because more than 60% of people actually access their emails via mobile.”

The visual above represents how the design elements described above impacted New Jersey constituents’ experiences with the new UI communications system and streamlined the administrative process. 

To get access to New Jersey’s Email Template Kit visit this Figma link.

Writing the Code 

Noah Marcus, Technology Operations Engineer for the New Jersey Office of Innovation,    then guided workshop participants through the process of converting the email designs created in figma into email format to send to users. Marcus described the problems and roadblocks associated with writing code for this process, including unpredictable user behavior, the plethora of email platforms that constituents may use to access their emails, and the outdated infrastructure of sending emails. In his step-by-step guide, Marcus showed participants how to overcome each of these challenges in detail and provided additional resources for those navigating similar constraints. 

To access the team’s open-source HTML code, request access here. 

Redesigning a Legacy Application 

Naman Agrawal, Software Engineer and Innovation Fellow for the New Jersey Office of Innovation, addressed participants on some of the tactics he has used during his time modernizing the UI system for New Jersey in partnership with the New Jersey Department of Labor. Agrawal specifically covered the methods he used to incrementally improve the content, design, and functionality of the existing legacy application, rather than replacing the entire document. 

To view the gallery of components Agrawal utilized to maintain New Jersey State’s  website presence and guidelines visit this link.

Visit this link to view the code that Agrawal mentions in his tutorial. 

Strategies to Build the Human Infrastructure 

 To close the workshop, Jill Gutierrez shared three strategies that she, and the New Jersey Department of Labor used to transform the organization into one that can handle complex human-centered project management, as described in the New Jersey UI modernization effort. 

1. Growth 

Gutierrez explained that the first step in transforming an organization is understanding how the existing internal staff at the organization contribute to existing projects. Agile development may be a new concept, and introduce unfamiliar concepts which can result in a steep learning curve for employees. An important aspect of project development that organizations must keep in mind is the team who maintain the project after the launch date has passed and further develop the infrastructure.

2. Energy 

Involving staff in processes which are typically overlooked or computer generated can lead to more efficient solutions to problems. Gutierrez explained that instead of simply using a 1:1 translation app, like Google Translate, to convert English text into Spanish for constituents, the team consulted staff who communicate with constituents in Spanish to tailor the language to reflect the conversations and concerns that the people they communicate with daily bring up. 

3. Collaboration

Gutierrez described how organizations working on projects with many moving parts and different teams focused on different areas, come together in bi-weekly meetings to update each other and work through problems together. These meetings are vital, and provide opportunities for program leads to discuss their related goals, share updates and maintain transparency throughout the process. These meetings allow teams to unblock certain barriers to moving the work forward and allows the collective to assess the project’s health. 

Missed out on the workshop? Watch the recording here!