The thinking behind your everyday tech

There is a reason why merchants, not users, scan the QR codes when SG60 vouchers are used.

- Josephine Teo

Asked about Singapore's attractiveness to start-up founders, a leading venture capitalist pointed to our "state of mind". "You built something out of nothing. And when things go well, you look for ways to do better. There's nothing more inspiring!"

This unexpected response got me thinking.

Some 99 per cent of all transactions between government agencies and citizens can already be completed online. What "state of mind" would help us better excel, as a digital government and Smart Nation?

When developing digital products and services, I believe three aspirations should guide us.

DESIGN AS A KEY TO DIGITAL INCLUSION

A familiar product is our SG60 vouchers. It works the same way as CDC vouchers. All citizens aged 21 and above get them.

To redeem these vouchers, we present a QR code to a participating merchant for scanning. Why this approach instead of the usual practice of scanning the merchant's SGQR to make payment?

It is to make redemption as manageable for 80-year-old pioneers as it is for Gen Z digital natives.

To guide its design decisions, the team of developers at Open Government Products ran multiple experiments on voucher redemptions and scrutinised user responses.

The conventional approach proved unfriendly to seniors. Many had trouble accessing the camera to scan the merchant's QR code. On the other hand, merchants were already familiar with scanning paper vouchers and could easily switch to scanning the digital copies.

Other features of the digital vouchers, such as the denominations of $2, $5 and $10, make them more intuitive for people accustomed to paying in cash.