DCHS Insights CX Human-Centered Design @ DCHS PROTOTYPE no real data With service integration
Marisol Reyes
Works full time. Came to fix one document. Left with needs we would not have seen.
Who they are
Marisol Reyes, 33, is Honduran American, born and raised here. She lives in the West End off Van Dorn in a two-bedroom apartment she has rented for four years. She is a certified pharmacy technician at a chain pharmacy on Duke Street, earns about $46,000 a year, and works a rotating schedule that runs past six twice a week. She has two children: Ethan, 13, in seventh grade, and Lily, 6, in first grade. She receives SNAP, and the children are on Medicaid. She has no case manager, no service plan, and no reason to think she needs one. Her widowed mother, Rosa, came from Honduras and lives with her. Rosa watches the children some evenings and speaks mostly Spanish, so Marisol handles most English-language paperwork for the household. She is competent, organized, and mildly annoyed by us.
In their words
I'm not a case. I just need this fixed so I can get back to work.
I've got until 1:40. Then I have to be back.
Nobody ever asked me about him. I didn't know that was something you all did.
What they are good at
- Runs a tight household on a rotating schedule
- Reads her mail and keeps documents
- Advocates for her kids at school
- Digitally fluent and would use self-service tools if they worked
What they are carrying
- Ethan has been withdrawn since the fall and everything she found had a waitlist
- A childcare gap for Lily two evenings a week
- About $380 behind on her electric bill
- Her widowed mother Rosa lives with her and speaks mostly Spanish
What they hope for
- Ethan back to himself
- A schedule that does not move every week
- To not have to think about any of this
What they would never volunteer
- Domestic violence, substance use, or immigration status in an open lobby
- Her sonβs behavioral health concerns when she came about SNAP
- That her mother is part of the service equation
What we do not actually know
- Whether she would accept a referral from someone she just met
- Whether Ethan would go
- Whether Rosa is someone we have any way of reaching
- How many Marisols we see every week and never ask
- Whether the portal failure is common or rare
Today
The current experience across six stages, including its human cost and the indignities created along the way.
a letter in the mail
one document
none
fixed
no follow-up
fine is the problem
Second identical letter after two portal uploads. Calls, gets a queue. Takes an unpaid lunch.
Waits 18 minutes. Hands over one pay stub.
Nobody asks a question beyond the mismatch.
Document accepted. Benefit continues.
None. No follow-up.
Leaves at 52 minutes. Three needs walk out with her.
Benefits lobby
Counter
Same counter
Benefits desk
None
Parking garage
Parking garage ticket and 50 minutes
Unpaid lunch hour
Three needs stay invisible
One form completed
No one knows what walked out
Needs surfaced 1 of 4
Today vs Integrated
How coordinated service delivery changes the same six-stage experience while keeping unresolved constraints visible.
a letter in the mail
one document
none
fixed
no follow-up
fine is the problem
Second identical letter after two portal uploads. Calls, gets a queue. Takes an unpaid lunch.
Waits 18 minutes. Hands over one pay stub.
Nobody asks a question beyond the mismatch.
Document accepted. Benefit continues.
None. No follow-up.
Leaves at 52 minutes. Three needs walk out with her.
Portal accepts the upload, flags the mismatch, and offers a 90-second optional check-in. She skips it.
Alt path - she still comes in. While waiting, a tablet offers: Most people qualify for more than they came for. Two minutes? She taps yes.
Six plain questions. She flags Ethan and the childcare gap. Skips the rest - and skipping is visibly fine.
Document accepted. Worker sees two flags, says one sentence about each. Youth BH referral sent with consent; childcare eligibility screened on the spot - she qualifies.
Text two days later: Ethan's appointment is Thursday the 14th at 4:30. Reply 2 to change it. Not a phone tag chain.
Leaves at 56 minutes. Two needs met, one declined by her, one already handled.
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noneShift
Parking garage ticket and 50 minutes -> No extra visit if self-service works
Added intervention
Unpaid lunch hour -> +4 minutes total
Added intervention
Three needs stay invisible -> No open-lobby interrogation
Shift
One form completed -> Consent-based action
Shift
No one knows what walked out -> Follow-up without a call chain
Shift
Needs surfaced 1 of 4 -> Needs surfaced 4 of 4
Fragmented touchpoints
Each service can do its own work while the person is left to carry the thread between them.
Where the thread drops
Coordinated service path
Shared context and explicit handoffs reduce the work required of the person without hiding constraints the system cannot remove.