Digital Doorways to Public Benefits: Understanding User Experiences with Identity Management

How does interacting with digital identity processes impact people’s experiences of accessing public benefits?

Public benefits agencies may use account creation, authentication steps, or digital identity proofing to understand who users are, secure systems, and protect private data. However, these processes can pose undue barriers to people accessing benefits. This project aims to provide administrators with information about the first-hand experiences of members of the public who use digital identity systems as they apply for and access public benefits.

Project Background

When people across the United States apply for public benefits online, they may be asked to create a username and account, and in some cases, prove who they are by verifying their identity. “Digital identity” refers to the ways someone represents themself online while “identity proofing” gives a service or system confidence that a person is who they say they are. When implementing identity management approaches, public benefits administrators must balance security with accessibility, ensuring verification and account requirements don’t create unnecessary barriers. Digital identity tools can affect service access, raise equity and data privacy concerns, and impact staff workload.

Since 2022, the Digital Benefits Network (DBN), a project of the Beeck Center for Social Impact + Innovation at Georgetown University, has been providing research and resources about how identity proofing and authentication practices are integrated into online public benefits applications in the U.S. The DBN has published multiple reports and recommendations addressing digital identity issues across jurisdictions, established a new, cross-sector community of practice focused on digital identity and access in public benefits, and launched an ongoing collaboration with the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) and the Center for Democracy and Technology (CDT) to develop voluntary resources for benefits administrators.

Research Overview

In 2025, the DBN collaborated with Public Policy Lab to conduct human-centered research with beneficiaries across the United States about their experiences with digital identity processes and technology. Throughout research, our team collected multimedia stories from research participants to enrich the report and disseminate these perspectives to the public.

During research, our team engaged 33 participants across Boston, Massachusetts; Phoenix and Tucson, Arizona; and Yonkers, New York. We spoke to people who have recently applied online for programs like Medicaid, SNAP, and Unemployment Insurance (UI). The team also spoke with subject matter experts, including legal aid staff, and librarians who often assist folks in benefits access. These interviews were conducted with the support of community-based organizations, libraries, and non-profits who opened up their spaces to us.

We honed in on four key inquiry areas: access, consent, support, and trust.

  • Access: What accessibility challenges do beneficiaries face when navigating digital identity processes (e.g., account creation, authentication, and identity proofing) across different contexts, devices, and personal circumstances?
  • Consent: How do beneficiaries experience choice, control, and transparency in digital identity systems?
  • Support: What support systems are available to enrollees and beneficiaries and how do they interact with them?
  • Trust: How do digital identity systems and/or external forces affect beneficiaries’ trust, agency, and experience accessing public benefits?

During interviews, we used design stimuli to aid our conversation. These included a journey map of benefits portal screens to visualize the account creation, log-in and, when relevant, identity proofing steps across Medicaid, SNAP, and UI for each state. This visualization helped jog participants’ memories and ground the conversation in specific features. After finishing interviews, the team spent several weeks analyzing what we learned to produce a comprehensive set of insights and recommendations, designed to support state administrators working on system improvements.

Learn More

  • In September 2025, the Digital Benefits Network will publish our full-length report, highlighting our learnings. The report will embed photos, quotes, and video material to help audiences hear directly from beneficiaries about their experiences.
  • Join the Digital Benefits Network and Public Policy Lab on Monday, September 15th from 3-4pm eastern for a webinar introducing our findings. Register today to join via Zoom. During the hour-long webinar, attendees will hear directly from the research team about our process, what we learned, and the recommendations we’re making to support state agencies. Attendees will also have the option to join informal breakout rooms to ask questions and share ideas for future research.