Case Study

How South Dakota Brought Its Government Forms Online

“If you saw our website before, you would have absolutely no question why we wanted to change it,” laughed Adams. “It looked like this…”

“We wanted to modernize the look and feel of the site, but more importantly we wanted to improve its usability. From our research, we discovered that the functionality most important to our constituents was the ability to complete forms digitally.” The demand was especially true for younger generations. “Citizens, especially those around my kids’ age, don’t want to print and mail documents anymore. They want to access them online.” So, Adams hired Lawrence & Schiller (L&S) to oversee the project and help turn their vision into reality.

Travis Adney, Senior Digital Strategist/Marketing Technologist at L&S, led the team that constructed what the website’s redesign and rebrand could look like. In particular, they focused on improving citizens’ experience of finding relevant digital documents. For Adams and Adney, it was important for the Department of Revenue to have full control over editing, accessing, and processing online documents, while also providing a cohesive experience for the end-user.

Here’s a look at the new South Dakota Department of Revenue website:

To have the best of both worlds, Adney emphasized the importance of finding a digital document and signature solution with:

1. GovOS API: A platform that could easily integrate into existing technology without burdening the IT team.
2. Customization options: The tech needed to also have robust configuration capabilities so that when it was implemented into design constituents wouldn’t feel friction, or a siloed experience while completing forms online.

After an extensive search for a software platform that would provide the kind of control, and government-specific expertise they were looking for, the L&S team was elated to find GovOS checked all of the “must-have” boxes for forms, eSignatures and payments. The new website launch, coupled with the new online document and signature options, has changed the way The South Dakota Department of Revenue conducts business. The agency now has full control and autonomy over its forms, and can conduct transactions with citizens and local businesses entirely online.

This was particularly important this year in the run-up to the 80th annual Sturgis Motorcycle Rally. This legendary motorcycle rally is among the largest events held in South Dakota every year, attended by hundreds of thousands of tourists and citizens, and fueled by hundreds of vendors, each of whom needs to complete a sales tax application.

Each year the Department of Revenue receives approximately 1,000 applications. In previous years, vendors had to complete their application process by printing and mailing in paperwork for processing. This paper-based process left room for plenty of error: applications lost in the mail, incomplete documents, illegible handwriting, missing pages, incorrect filing of received submissions—the list goes on. These hiccups added lag time, and additional back-and-forth before vendors could get approved.

With its new website this year, the Department of Revenue ran the entire application process online, with immediate, real-time access to each applicant’s application. They were also able to automate email responses to let applicants know the status of their submission, or request additional information if needed. For staff, every application is available right at their fingertips if someone calls in asking for an update.

Furthermore, Adams and her team were able to add and update COVID-19 guidelines to forms in real-time, a process that in the past would have taken days and required assistance from a third-party vendor. With GovOS, forms could be edited in minutes to reflect the most recent updates from state agencies.

Adams says that the success and optimism she and the entire department have about digital documents and eSignatures wouldn’t be possible without agile technology. “GovOS is so responsive to our needs,” says Adams, “Our department requires a lot of customization and GovOS has been a great partner to work with. It’s important for us to have something more than just ‘off-the-shelf.”

Adney added that finding technology that won’t get left behind was top-of-mind for him. “Throughout our partnership, the GovOS team has worked with us to build a solution that meets our design and functionality standards, and the needs of South Dakota employees and citizens. The integration between website, frontend form submission, and backend data processing is truly seamless, and can grow and evolve to meet future parameters of the site.”

As the South Dakota Department of Revenue continues to bring more forms online, it has even rolled out some social media messaging to encourage more citizens to use the forms available online. Using the hashtag #OnlineAndOutOfLine, citizens are reminded they don’t have to show up in person to get important jobs done.