UX in government: Why we need to stop calling it “citizen experience”

Cultural anthropologist Jamie Lee writes that she is fully on board with UX’s role in the public sector, and that she is an advocate for its unique role in more ethical governance with, rather than just for, communities. She just can’t understand choosing to call it “Citizen Experience”. In this article she articulates why, and what she think we can call it instead: community experience.

Why not Community Experience? I know it puts less emphasis on an individual user than the word “Citizen” — but let’s admit it — citizen actually refers to someone who belongs in or to a context. And the communities our “customers” (users, citizens) belong to, or feel excluded from, directly impacts how they experience our services in any case.