Office of Customer Experience (OCX)

 

Tamieca Hamlin

Deputy Chief Customer Experience Officer, Office of Customer Experience

Tamieca Hamlin became the Deputy Chief Customer Experience Officer in the Office of Customer Experience in April 2022. Prior to being promoted to this position, Ms. Hamlin served as a Sr. Customer Experience Strategist where she led efforts to assess the effectiveness and efficiency of operating programs and functional activities in USDA and developed and implemented strategies, procedures, and practices to improve the customer experience and transform USDA to respond to the continuously evolving customer needs. More...

OCX Services: Key Initiatives

OCX is proud to offer the following services, which encompass what it will take to move USDA toward more customer-focused operations and create an environment where critical decision making by leadership is driven by insights of our customers and employees.

• AskUSDA Contact Center: The AskUSDA Contact Center is an initiative working to ensure there’s no wrong door for customers to get answers and information from USDA. Customers will be able to access a Contact Center representative via various channels and feedback from those interactions will be leveraged for further enhancements.
• Strategy and Design Services: This initiative partners up with Mission Areas on different projects with the goal of gaining valuable customer insights. Projects focus on interviewing customers about their experiences with USDA and using their insights and feedback to shape the design of new products and services.
• Customer Measurement and Improvement: Leveraging digital surveys that collect real-time actionable feedback from our customers, we are focused on instituting and tracking experiences across the Department that will empower USDA leaders to make data-driven decisions.

News and Updates

Recent initiatives and projects led by the Office of Customer Experience.

(PDF, 14.8 MB)

USDA Telework Survey

In March 2021, Secretary Tom Vilsack pledged to look at workplace flexibilities across the board. To re-envision USDA’s workplace into one informed by our values of trust, respect, equity, inclusion, and service, the Office of Customer Experience engaged with a diverse group – employees, supervisors, senior leadership, labor unions, and advisory groups – to design and launch a survey that carefully considers the needs and unique perspectives of employees.

Results of the Telework Survey are available here (PDF, 14.8 MB). The report highlights key areas we must focus on to improve our efficiency, culture, and morale.

Overarching Policies

These recently released policies enacted across the Federal government fundamentally support the need for developing an organized approach to improving CX at USDA.

• Executive Order on Transforming Federal Customer Experience and Service Delivery to Rebuild Trust in Government (2021)
• President's Management Agenda (PMA) (2021)
• OMB Circular A-11 Section 280 (2022)
• 21st Century IDEA (2018)
• Federal Agency Customer Experience Act (2017)

Past Work

• USDA Direct Farm Loans Journey
• The OneUSDA Ecosystem
• What Is a Customer Journey Map?
• How Do You Read a Journey Map?
• How Do You Use a Journey Map?

Resources and Tools

• USDA Digital Strategy Playbook
• 13 Plays of Our Customer Experience Approach
• Checklist of Requirements for Federal Websites and Digital Services
• Digital.gov
• U.S. Web Design System
• Performance.gov
• 18F Human-Centered Design Methods
• Usability.gov User Research Basics