Issue No. 39 | July 2026

From "meh" to meaningful: measuring customer experience

We had a wonderful presentation at our July community of practice meeting! Anne Althauser and Nerissa Lemon with Your Washington joined us to share the importance of measuring customer experience (CX) and how to create meaningful measurements for learning and improving.

Often, CX measurements miss the point. They’re too technical, compliance-driven, flat, or disconnected from their true purpose. Anne and Nerissa highlighted the importance of linking service performance to lived experiences by answering “human questions” that connect to your organization’s mission and values. This makes sure you’re measuring what matters to not only your agency but also your customers.

They also shared how to choose measures that are useful, not just available. Results-Based Accountability is a great framework to make sure you’re seeing the full story of your efforts (how much did we do?), including its quality (how well did we do?) and human impact (is anyone better off?). They walked us through spotting what “meh” measures look like so that we can enhance them to make them more meaningful for our organizations.

Getting customer feedback does not have to be a huge feat, but it does create an expectation that something will be done with whatever is shared. It’s important to only ask for feedback on what’s in your power to addresschange. Anne and Nerissa recommend starting small with low-touch questions that get to the root of what you want to learn. “Were you able to complete what you came here to do?” “How difficult was the process?” “What could have made it easier?” Feedback doesn’t have to be statistically perfect to be useful!

Finally, Anne and Nerissa shared how to use the data you get from your customers to decide what to improve. They shared tips and tricks on creating a data dashboard so your organization can see the full story and how to create a learning loop that turns measurement into visible action. Creating visibility into your improvements and closing the loop with customers builds trust, and it encourages the public to continue sharing their thoughts and experiences with us.

We are so grateful for this presentation and the reminder that meaningful measurement is not about proving we are perfect, but about getting honest enough to learn and focused enough to act. We hope you all are inspired to continue your CX journey and make meaningful change!

Missed the presentation or want to rewatch it? Check out July's presentation materials and recording.

Save the date for our 2026 CX conference!

We are very excited to announce our second annual Washington State Customer Experience Conference!

Happening October 27–29, 2026, this free, virtual conference brings together people from across state government, local agencies, tribes, nonprofits, and the private sector who are working to improve how we serve our customers.

This year’s theme, “From Policy to People: Human-Centered Government”, highlights the importance of designing services with, not just for, those we serve. We’ll explore real case studies and strategies that invite leaders, practitioners, and frontline staff to consider how empathy, accessibility, and inclusivity can be embedded at every stage of the policy and service lifecycle. We'll also explore how we can collectively prioritize human needs, reduce friction, and build trust with the public.

By better understanding the lived experiences of the people who government is meant to serve, we can close the gap between intention and impact, ensuring that government works not just efficiently, but meaningfully, in the lives of our customers.

You can expect:

• Three days of virtual, interactive sessions (about 4 hours each day)
• NEW! One keynote speaker each day to inspire and kick off the learning activities
• NEW! Three specialized tracks (leadership, CX practitioner, and general) that attendees can explore to tailor their learning experience
• A variety of topics, from customer experience basics to advanced strategies, from speakers from across government and the industry
• Opportunities to learn, ask questions, and connect with others

Conference details, including the schedule, presenters and registration, will be shared early September. In the meantime, you can learn more about the conference on our website.

Please share this bulletin with anyone you think might be interested. We hope to see you there!

Passwords for our meeting series

We've gotten a few emails stating that folks are having trouble joining our meetings. For all of our 2026 community of practice meetings, the password for logging onto the Zoom meeting from your computer is “YWCOP”. If you're tuning into the meeting via audio-only, the password is "141313". 

Coming up next!

September 15, 2026 10:30am - 12:00pm Zoom Registration Topic: Targeted Universalism Presenter: Amber Ortiz-Diaz, Washington State Office of Equity