Benjamin Stough

CASE STUDY 2 IMPROVING THE USER EXPERIENCE IN A MODERN COURTHOUSE STOUGH PROFESSIONAL SERVICES THE PROBLEM Large courthouses can be confusing places. People are rarely there because they want to be. Signage is cryptic and often there is no-one to ask where to go. This case study looks at a realignment of five small units under one supervisor and the positive effect it had on the front lobby user experience. CASE STUDY 2 2 BACKGROUND The 17th Judicial District is the fourth largest within the Colorado Courts system. The Adams County Courthouse contains over 170 court employees, 30 judicial officers, and receives nearly 2,000 visitors each day. It is in Brighton, Colorado. Upon entering the main lobby, one is confronted with several directional choices: continue straight towards the clerk’s offices, go to the right towards self-help center, several meeting rooms, and the jury assembly room, take the stairs to the first appearance center on the second floor, or take one of four elevators to the courtrooms on the upper floors. CASE STUDY 2 3 THE SOLUTION The Opportunity There were five small functions that needed direct supervision but had none: • Information Desk • Court Reporter Deployment • Transcript Production • Visiting Judge Assignments • Self-Help Center The Information Desk had sat vacant due to staffing constraints. The Court Reporters had been expected to self-deploy, Transcript Requests and Visiting Judge Assignments were handled by administrative staff. An opportunity to staff a Self-Help Center made it possible to create a new court services unit and new supervisory position. This in turn allowed the other small functions to be moved under the new supervisor’s responsibility. By aligning all five functions into one unit prior to recruiting for the position, applicants for the position would understand and accept the broadly diverse scope of responsibility. A recruitment for the new supervisor was conducted, an internal candidate with significant court experience was selected, and an office behind the Information Desk was made available. The results were impressive. The performance of all five functions improved immediately. The results were impressive. Performance improved immediately. First, the court reporters no longer had to struggle with self-deployment. The court services supervisor followed the judges’ priority policy to the letter, putting and end to rancorous conflict between reporters and judges. Second, transcript requests were now centralized with the court services supervisor. With the assistance of a part time clerk, she was able to turn around the requests quickly, reducing the number of phone calls going into other parts of the court. CASE STUDY 2 4 Third, a new Self-Help Center was developed in a space adjacent to the court services supervisor. This proximity allowed tremendous flexibility in coverage as well as direct support with difficult customers. Fourth, the Information Desk that had sat vacant was now staffed and, like the Self-Help Center, was co-located to the court services supervisor’s office in the lobby. Again, this allowed for staffing flexibility and support. Finally, the visiting judge program was centralized with the court services supervisor, facilitating clear communication with the visiting judges. Judicial coverage requests were acted upon quickly and complete records were maintained to address any concerns from the court regarding the program. An unanticipated benefit from this realignment was the job satisfaction derived from the diverse range of responsibility. The court services supervisor enjoyed the broad cross-section of people with whom she regularly interacted, as well as the flexibility that came with being trusted to use her best judgment in resolving issues. Organizational design is one of the business solutions I provide. CASE STUDY 2 5