One year after its implementation the Social and Behavioral Sciences Team (SBST) has scored some success regarding the efficient re-design of government programs based on behavioral economic insights.
- A current pilot-project was conducted in collaboration with the US-Department of Defense. 140.000 members of the Armed Forces were asked to re-enroll online regarding the savings plan in order to continue their contributions.
- When re-designing the enrollment form the experts used more concise language, spelled-out clear actions for members to take and personalized the emails.
- After only one week this re-designed application process led 22% more members to re-enroll as compared to the original version.
The US-Defence Department and the US-Government see this success as a confirmation of this approach. Therefore an expansion of the funds for the SBST in the President’s FY 2016 Budget has been announced.
US-President Barack Obama comments on this step as follows: “It makes sense for us to be able to redesign government so that it can deliver on the functions that the American people are looking for. We should all want a government that’s smarter, quicker, and more responsive to the needs of the American people.”
Further Information
Source: The White House Blog