An ‘interface first’ bureaucracy: Interface design, Universal Credit and the digital welfare state

Jed Meers; Simon Halliday; Joe Tomlinson

doi:10.1111/spol.13053

An ‘interface first’ bureaucracy: Interface design, Universal Credit and the digital welfare state

Jed Meers, Simon Halliday, Joe Tomlinson

Law

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

Abstract

The front-line of the welfare state is increasingly not a letter, phone call or face-to-face visit, but an online user-interface. This ‘interface first’ bureaucracy is a fundamental reshaping of social security administration, but the design and operation of these interfaces is poorly understood. Drawing on interview data from senior civil servants, welfare benefits advisors and claimants receiving the UK’s flagship Universal Credit working-age benefit, this paper is a detailed analysis of the role played by interfaces in the modern welfare state. Providing examples from across the Universal Credit system, it sets out a five-fold typology of user-interface design elements in the social security context: (i) structuring data input, (ii) interaction architecture, (iii) operative controls, (iv) prompting and priming, and (v) integrations. The paper concludes by considering the implications of an ‘interface first’ welfare bureaucracy for future research.

Original language	English
Number of pages	16
Journal	Social Policy & Administration
Early online date	30 Jun 2024
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1111/spol.13053
Publication status	E-pub ahead of print - 30 Jun 2024

Bibliographical note

Access to Document

10.1111/spol.13053Licence: CC BY

Soc Policy Adm - 2024 - Meers - An interface first bureaucracy Interface design universal credit and the digital
© 2024 The Author(s)
Final published version, 1.48 MBLicence: CC BY

Cite this

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abstract = "The front-line of the welfare state is increasingly not a letter, phone call or face-to-face visit, but an online user-interface. This {\textquoteleft}interface first{\textquoteright} bureaucracy is a fundamental reshaping of social security administration, but the design and operation of these interfaces is poorly understood. Drawing on interview data from senior civil servants, welfare benefits advisors and claimants receiving the UK{\textquoteright}s flagship Universal Credit working-age benefit, this paper is a detailed analysis of the role played by interfaces in the modern welfare state. Providing examples from across the Universal Credit system, it sets out a five-fold typology of user-interface design elements in the social security context: (i) structuring data input, (ii) interaction architecture, (iii) operative controls, (iv) prompting and priming, and (v) integrations. The paper concludes by considering the implications of an {\textquoteleft}interface first{\textquoteright} welfare bureaucracy for future research.",

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