In-person service design is one of the most immediate and visible ways government touches the lives of New Yorkers. Every day, our customers walk into state offices to apply for licenses, register vehicles, ask questions about benefits, or seek help navigating a complex process. For many, that moment of contact, whether it’s standing at a counter, waiting in a lobby, meeting with a staff member, is what shapes their impression of state government as a whole.
Designing in-person services begins with seeing the experience through the eyes of the customer. Consider the full journey: how someone gets to the office, how they are greeted, what signage they encounter, the environment they wait in, how long they wait, the way their questions are answered, and how easily they can move on to the next step.
Each of these touchpoints either builds confidence or creates frustration. For employees, it can be easy to normalize a confusing form, a hard-to-find location, or an unclear process. For customers, those same barriers can feel overwhelming. Service design challenges us to step outside of our own perspective and experience the moment as a first-time visitor would.
One of the most powerful tools in service design is journey mapping. By walking through the entire in-person experience step by step, employees can identify points of friction and opportunities for improvement. For example, a customer may arrive at a state office only to find that parking is scarce, or payment requires exact change. That frustration has nothing to do with the quality of staff assistance, yet it colors the entire visit. Journey mapping helps teams see these hidden hurdles. It also invites staff to consider emotions: Where are customers most anxious? When do they feel relieved? How can we design the environment, so those moments of stress are minimized, and positive emotions are amplified?
Physical space itself is part of the service. Lighting, seating, noise levels, and layout all influence how customers perceive the quality of service. A lobby with clear signage, comfortable seating, and an obvious check-in desk immediately reduces confusion. Conversely, a maze of hallways and unclear lines breeds tension. Sometimes the improvements are low-cost, with better wayfinding signs, translated materials, or a simple welcome board noting approximate wait times. Other times, they may involve rethinking how offices are configured, such as adding self-service kiosks or creating dedicated spaces for private conversations.
Employee interaction remains at the heart of in-person service. Employees benefit when processes are designed to support them. If systems are clunky, if rules are unclear, or if workloads are unmanageable, staff can feel just as frustrated as customers. Service design asks us to consider not only the customer journey, but the employee journey as well, because the two are inseparable.
Another essential element is accessibility. An in-person service that is difficult to navigate for people with disabilities, for those with limited English proficiency, or for individuals unfamiliar with government processes, is not a complete service. By designing or reimagining processes with accessibility in mind from the start, you take on the meaningful and sometimes challenging work of ensuring that buildings are physically accessible, interpretation and translation services are available, and forms are simple and quick to complete.
Feedback is the final piece of the puzzle. The only way to know how customers experience our services is to ask them. Simple surveys, suggestion boxes, or digital kiosks can collect valuable insights, but the most meaningful feedback often comes through observation and conversation. Listening to customers as they describe their challenges, or even watching how they navigate a lobby, reveals opportunities that no form could capture.
In-person service design is about continuous improvement and the recognition that every interaction is an opportunity to build trust. Those moments New Yorkers spend visiting a state office stay with them. They talk about them with friends, they carry them into their communities, and they shape perceptions of government. When we design those experiences with care, we not only serve individuals better—we strengthen the relationship between the state and the people it serves.
Whether you are on the front-line greeting customers, working behind the scenes to process applications, or shaping policies that govern service delivery, you contribute to the customer experience. By embracing service design principles, you can help identify pain points, champion small improvements, and bring forward ideas that make in-person interactions more respectful, efficient, and supportive.
Every New Yorker who walks through our doors deserves to feel that we are on their side. By centering their experience, we can make that promise real.