CASE STUDY · GOVTECH SOLUTIONS
Modernizing a municipal permitting portal from paper to digital.
- 21 daysApproval time down from 21 days to 7
- 80%80% of applications submitted online
01 · PROJECT OVERVIEW
The client and the brief.
An anonymised municipality. Name withheld under confidentiality.
Online forms, payments and a workflow with status tracking. Applicants fill in a guided form, upload documents, pay fees and follow progress. Staff receive applications in a queue, review them, request corrections and record decisions. Counter staff can enter paper applications into the same system, so there is one record for every case.
- 1Permit applications reached the municipality as paper forms.
- 2Counter staff checked each one, retyped details into a register and walked files between departments.
- 3Missing attachments were found late, and applicants came back in person to fix them.
- 4Processing took weeks, and applicants could not see where their file was, so they phoned or visited.
- 5Staff spent much of their time on status enquiries and data entry rather than on reviewing applications.
02 · WHAT WENT WRONG
What went wrong, and how we fixed it.
Every engagement hits problems. These were the ones that mattered here, and what we changed so they did not come back.
- PROBLEM 01After the pilot began, applicants submitted incomplete files because the form allowed uploads in any order and many did not know which documents were required
Staff were rejecting applications and the queue filled with corrections. We changed the form to show a checklist of required documents for each permit type, blocked submission until each was attached, and added plain-language help beside each field. We also gave staff a standard correction message.
- PROBLEM 02Rejections for missing documents fell sharply
- PROBLEM 03A second hurdle was staff habit
Some reviewers kept printing applications and annotating them, so the system showed stale status. We ran short sessions at the desks of the reviewers, moved the annotation fields into the review screen, and set a rule that a decision only counts once recorded in the system. A senior officer supported the rule, and within weeks printing fell away.
- PROBLEM 04A senior officer supported the rule, and within weeks printing fell away
03 · THE PROCESS
How we ran it.
We began by following real applications through the offices for about three weeks, noting every handoff and rule. We drew the process with staff and removed steps that existed only because of paper. We chose one permit type for the first release and built it in weekly sprints, with demos to the staff who would use it. A pilot ran with a small group of applicants and staff, with the paper process kept in parallel. Additional permit types followed one by one. The programme met a steering group every two weeks, which kept approvals moving.
- 01Step 1
We began by following real applications through the offices for about three weeks, noting every handoff and rule.
- 02Step 2
We drew the process with staff and removed steps that existed only because of paper.
- 03Step 3
We chose one permit type for the first release and built it in weekly sprints, with demos to the staff who would use it.
- 04Step 4
A pilot ran with a small group of applicants and staff, with the paper process kept in parallel.
- 05Step 5
Additional permit types followed one by one.
- 06Step 6
The programme met a steering group every two weeks, which kept approvals moving.
04 · RESULTS
What changed.
Measured against the way the work ran before the engagement began.
- NOW 01
Staff review applications from a queue instead of walking files.
- NOW 02
Status questions are answered by the portal, which frees counter staff for people who need help.
- NOW 03
Managers see volume and delays by permit type, and adjust staffing and rules from that.
- NOW 04
Paper is still accepted at the counter but entered into the same system.
- 21 days
Approval time down from 21 days to 7
- 80%
80% of applications submitted online
05 · WHAT WE BUILT
How it works.
- The portal is a web application that works on low-cost phones and slow connections.
- Forms are configurable, so office staff can change fields and fees without a code release.
- A workflow engine moves each application through defined states with assigned roles and time limits.
- Payments use a licensed gateway and are reconciled with the municipality's accounts.
- Documents are stored in private storage with access limited by role.
- Every action is written to an audit log.
06 · QUICK ANSWERS
The short version.
- What problem did the client have?
- Permit applications reached the municipality as paper forms. Counter staff checked each one, retyped details into a register and walked files between departments. Missing attachments were found late, and applicants came back in person to fix them. Processing took weeks, and applicants could not see where their file was, so they phoned or visited. Staff spent much of their time on status enquiries and data entry rather than on reviewing applications. The municipality wanted to move to a digital process without stopping service or excluding people who could not apply online.
- What did Brandsmashers build?
- Online forms, payments and a workflow with status tracking. Applicants fill in a guided form, upload documents, pay fees and follow progress. Staff receive applications in a queue, review them, request corrections and record decisions. Counter staff can enter paper applications into the same system, so there is one record for every case.
- How was the work run?
- We began by following real applications through the offices for about three weeks, noting every handoff and rule. We drew the process with staff and removed steps that existed only because of paper. We chose one permit type for the first release and built it in weekly sprints, with demos to the staff who would use it. A pilot ran with a small group of applicants and staff, with the paper process kept in parallel. Additional permit types followed one by one. The programme met a steering group every two weeks, which kept approvals moving.
- What were the results?
- Approval time down from 21 days to 7; 80% of applications submitted online.
YOUR TURN
Have a similar requirement?
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