Documents Submission in Just Two Days
Lists can be overwhelming. Whether it’s a To Do list or a grocery list, it can be tiring to think about checking off a long series of items.
At mRelief, we’ve worked to combat “List Paralysis” in the documents submission process for SNAP. We found that when we presented our users with their full list of outstanding documents, which could include an ID, passport, birth certificate, and pay stubs, only a small fraction were able to submit them immediately after applying.
The "One-by-One Flow"
To increase the number of people who submit documents right away, we came up with the “One-by-One flow,” an automated series of texts that takes users through each of their required documents and prompts them to send pictures. We start with the simplest document to procure (usually the State ID) so that it’s easy to get started.
There are many different reasons that people delay submitting their documents. From conversations with users and feedback from user surveys, we’ve found that the most common reasons are confusion around how to submit documents, lack of technological comfort, not having the documents on hand, and uncertainty about moving forward with the application process.
In order to assuage these concerns, we tailor each text that we send out to address the reasons that people hesitate to submit.
We ask whether someone has her specific document on hand, to ensure that we are not prompting someone to submit a document that she doesn’t have access to:
We let users know that they can submit documents through a variety of platforms, and empower them to choose the platform with which they feel most comfortable:
In order to catch any outlying concerns, we ask an open-ended question:
One Client Story
One mRelief user, Anna T*, had a lot going on in her life when she applied for SNAP through mRelief. She had given birth just 4 days before applying! mRelief’s simple documents submission process allowed her to decrease the time she spent applying for SNAP and increase time spent with her new baby.
First, our automated system asked for her California ID and pay stubs, which she sent right away. Next, we had to ask Anna a question about her maternity leave, since the CalFresh office wanted to know whether she would be paid while she was away. After we got that information, we created a DocuSign statement that was sent to her email to be signed electronically. Signing the statement only took Anna a few minutes and then she was done with the documents submission process!
It only took two days from the time Anna applied to submit all of her documents. For mRelief staff, the intervention to assist Anna only took a few minutes. The combination of automation and human intervention allowed Anna to be approved on the fastest timeline possible and quickly relieved her of the stress of putting food on the table. Now she can focus her energy on enjoying time with her family.
*Privacy note*
mRelief user’s name has been changed for privacy.
mRelief does not facilitate the submission of Social Security cards via text messaging.
