NYCHA Improves Design of Annual Recertification Portal
As part of its Transformation Plan to become a better and more responsive organization, NYCHA recently released a redesign of the online portal that residents use to complete their Annual Recertification. The new portal represents what Lakesha Miller, Executive Vice President for Leased Housing, calls a “win-win” for NYCHA and residents: “Resolving and eliminating hurdles in the participants’ experience increases the quality of information provided to NYCHA for processing.”
The newly enhanced portal was released in February to a select group of residents at Vladeck and Lafayette Houses and about 250 Section 8 voucher holders. During the soft launch period of approximately three months, NYCHA’s project team will monitor the application and gather feedback from residents and staff to refine the application and its full rollout.
The project began last spring; NYCHA staff worked closely with residents, the City’s Service Design Studio, and advocates to determine how to make the Annual Recertification process easier and the portal more user-friendly. Sylvia Aude, Vice President for Tenancy Administration, described the approach: “We worked really hard to address many of the pain points our residents and stakeholders shared with us to make this a much better experience. We are excited to share this new, easy-to-use platform with our residents!”
Collaboration was key to the initiative’s success. Project Manager Serita Edwards-Maughn said: “A highlight of this project was the commitment from our partners. We worked with colleagues from Management Services, Leased Housing, Strategy and Innovation, Communications, Resident Engagement, PTAD, and others across NYCHA. And, residents were very involved in design and in testing. It was a truly collaborative experience.”
As Ireti Bobb-Lewis, Senior Director for Leased Housing Bronx Client Services, noted: “We came together with a common goal: to improve this process. And with commitment and purpose, we showed that together we can do great things! Thank you to all members of this team for your hard work, time, and effort on this very important project.”
The experience will have a positive impact on future IT projects as well. NYCHA IT Tech Lead Venkata Chitrapu confirmed, “The experience and knowledge of user-centered design principles will help us on all our implementations going forward.”
The full rollout of the new portal to all NYCHA residents and Section 8 participants is scheduled for this June.
