The silent crisis in government customer experience: When digital gains don’t reach the people
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COMMENTARY | Despite major tech investments, over half of U.S. states saw their customer experience scores fall in 2025.
A new nationwide report from Adobe lays it bare: despite major improvements in site speed and digital infrastructure, citizen satisfaction is on the decline. In a year already defined by instability, the digital disconnect is growing — and the public isn’t staying silent.
According to Adobe’s 2025 Digital Government Index, average customer experience scores dropped by 1.09 points between 2024 and 2025, while a staggering 29 states saw their customer experience scores decline. This signals a growing disconnect between technical upgrades and the human-centered outcomes constituents actually care about.
More Power, Less Joy: The Digital Experience Dilemma
On the surface, it seems like governments are making progress. The report highlights a 37.4% improvement in mobile site speed and a 16.9% improvement on desktop over the past year. And yet, while site performance improved by 17% overall, the average CX score fell by 2%.
Why the disconnect? The report makes it clear: faster doesn’t always mean better when digital services aren’t designed around the real, often complex, journeys of constituents. States still struggle to connect siloed services, personalize experiences, and provide frictionless enrollment for benefits and essential services.
“It’s not clear how to seek help when experiencing an issue,” noted one CX survey respondent — a sentiment echoed across multiple states.
Accessibility & Personalization Gaps Undermine State Progress
While there’s modest progress in areas like digital self-service — with average scores improving by 5% — persistent gaps remain. Only 23 states now offer language translation, a critical shortfall given that 26.9 million Americans read below a sixth-grade level and over half of U.S. residents have limited English proficiency.
Additionally, 52% of state sites have more than 10 accessibility issues, a sharp increase from last year, limiting equitable access to critical services.
When it comes to personalization, often seen as the holy grail of modern digital experience, few states stand out. Only 34% of state sites offer frictionless enrollment experiences, and a mere 20% have implemented chatbot functionality, leaving constituents on their own to navigate complicated benefit processes.
Top Performers and Rising Stars
Not all states are falling behind. New York, Washington, and Pennsylvania emerged as leaders in digital maturity, with New Jersey and New Mexico making double-digit improvements in their scores. New York, in particular, stood out for its advanced self-service capabilities, multilingual support, and accessible services for residents with disabilities.
These high performers are investing in omnichannel engagement, AI-powered content personalization, and centralized dashboards that offer residents real-time updates on applications and services — capabilities the report recommends other states urgently adopt.
What’s Next: Digital Government at a Crossroads
The data makes one thing clear: while investing in site speed and infrastructure matters, it’s insufficient without a corresponding focus on journey-based service design, personalization, and accessibility.
The report urges states to:
- Move from service management to digital experience platforms
- Prioritize omnichannel engagement over single-portal reliance
- Leverage generative AI for content creation, translations, and accessibility improvements
- Embed dynamic search, chatbots, and benefit finders to simplify service discovery and enrollment
In an environment of tight budgets and rising public expectations, governments can no longer afford for digital investments to outpace experience improvements. The risk isn’t just inefficiency — it’s eroding public trust.
For state agencies, the mandate is clear: design for what the people need, not for what the limitations of their technology allows.
Brian Chidester is the Head of Global Strategy & Innovation for Public Sector at Adobe and the host of the award-winning podcast “The Government Huddle” from GovExec.