Office of Customer Experience (OCX)

What We Do

Customer experience (CX) in the Federal Government is more important than ever as expectations have drastically changed and raised the bar for customer service standards.

With that in mind, the Office of Customer Experience (OCX) works to address complex challenges across programs and services that may impact the experiences of our customers and employees. Through various forms of research methodologies and insights, OCX creates actionable solutions that improve the USDA customer experience by identifying and meeting the core human needs at the heart of every interaction.

The need for improved customer experience in government is both mandated by policy as well as the need to provide customers with efficient and effective services. A good customer experience will increase trust in government, likelihood to use products and services, and improve services at decreased costs.

What is Customer Experience (CX)?

Customer Experience (CX) is the public’s perceptions of and overall satisfaction with interactions with an agency, product, or service. CX skills are the tools used to find the best solution to customer challenges. It helps you implement policies using the approach you know is best for your customers.

USDA Office of Customer Experience (OCX) 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.
• USDA CARES: An initiative to collaborate with USDA partners, act on what we’ve heard, rebuild trust, empower underserved communities and strengthen partnerships through improved access to resources.
• 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.

USDA Customer Experience (CX) Policy

The USDA Customer Experience (CX) Policy outlines the frameworks, responsibilities, and metrics across the USDA to place customers at the center of its work.

View the full USDA CX Policy (PDF, 253 KB).

The CX Policy frequently discusses the role of the Executive Order on customer experience. Here is the full Executive Order on Transforming Federal Customer Experience and Service Delivery to Rebuild Trust in Government.

• What does this policy do?
  • Creates a CX framework and outlines resources for service delivery and design.
  • Outlines a CX governance structure to incorporate customer insights into USDA strategy and decision-making.
  • Suggests responsibility measures tying CX to organizational and individual performance, budget decisions, and strategic planning.
• Who does this policy apply to?
  • All USDA Mission Areas, agencies, staff offices, employees, contractors, cooperative partners, and others working for, or on behalf of, the USDA. Everyone has a part to play in CX.
• Why is this policy important?
  • This policy aims to empower, enable, and collaborate with USDA’s diverse customer base of farmers, scientists, children, families, foresters, state governments, and so many others. This approach aims to provide human-centered solutions, delivering services equitably and efficiently. Human-centered solutions focus on the experiences of the people it aims to serve.
  • Customer experience utilizes a powerful set of tools to address customer challenges. Implementing the USDA Customer Experience (CX) Policy helps us to identify the tools we already use effectively as well as areas where we can better engage with our customers.

How can I apply Customer Experience to my work?

Chances are, you already do! You might not adhere to frameworks or outlined policies, but you likely already use many of the skills that are a part of customer experience. Identifying the skills and behaviors you already use can help find new skills to further your knowledge and improve your practice.

• Understand and foster a customer-centric environment at USDA
• Use frameworks to integrate CX in day-to-day work
• Adhere to governance and accountability guidance to ensure consistent implementation
• Approach hiring and onboarding through the lens of customer experience
• Approach training through the lens of customer experience
• Use metrics to identify the best customer-centric solutions to challenges
• Apply the guidance provided by Voice of the Customer programs
• Use key performance indicators to steer decision-making
• Apply a customer experience approach to procurement
• Expand your knowledge of customer experience with additional resources

Creating a Shared CX Vocabulary

• Customer Experience (CX): Customer experience means the public’s perceptions of and overall satisfaction with interactions with an agency, product, or service.
  • At USDA, external customer experiences are addressed with sincerity and efficiency to provide the best outcome for everyone.
• Employee Experience (EX): The way in which employees internalize and interpret the interactions they have with their organization, as well as the context that underlies those interactions.
  • At USDA, internal customer experiences are handled with the same eye for helpfulness for our colleagues as we do any request from an external customer.
• Customer: Individuals, businesses, and organizations (such as grantees, state and municipal agencies) that interact with a Federal Government agency or program, either directly or via a Federal contractor or Federally-funded program. Federal government customers also include public servants and employees themselves in their interactions with Federal processes.
  • At USDA, Employee Experience is an extension of customer experience. Colleagues are internal customers. We aim to provide equal professionalism and helpfulness to them as we do external customers.
  • Your customers have many names: “partners”, “users”, “stakeholders”, “friends of...”, and more. These terms are important in establishing mutual respect and working relationships with customers. At USDA, we encourage the use of specific terms for specific customers.
• CX Governance: the processes and mechanisms by which accountability measures for customer experience are outlined and overseen.
  • At USDA, we view accountability as a mechanism for tracking CX achievements within the Department.
• CX Metrics: the standards by which customer experience is measured.
  • At USDA, we believe that measuring CX progress is the only way to ensure positive progress towards our goals as a Department.
• Voice of the Customer (VOC): A USDA program, framework and policy that enables USDA to exceed customer expectations by putting our customers first, promoting accountability in mission and program delivery, and facilitating collaboration across the entire department.
  • At USDA, we prioritize the voices of our customers, ensuring that we use feedback and metrics as the driving factors in our decision-making for improving CX.
• Key Performance Indicator (KPI): a measurable target that indicates how individuals or businesses are performing in terms of meeting their goals.
  • At USDA, we use KPIs to identify CX metrics and goals so that we can track our progress towards a better Department-wide customer experience.

Contact Information

Office of Customer Experience (OCX)
1400 Independence Avenue, S.W.
Washington, DC 20250