Happy With Your TSA Experience? Press A Button. Angry? Press Another Button

You may see new customer service technology at the airport soon. It's part of an effort by federal agencies to make it easier for people to give the government feedback, according to the Washington Post.

The equipment has a simple design, and it looks more like it belongs in a playroom than in an airport.

There are four round buttons with emoticons that represent different satisfaction levels, which we've interpreted as happy, kind of happy, not happy, really unhappy. The survey kiosk will ask people a simple question, such as, "Were you satisfied with your service?" Users can then press one of the buttons to submit their responses.

According to feedback.usa.gov, it takes less than a second — and it's anonymous. "Agency partners will see this anonymous feedback in real time, so they can act quickly to resolve any issues and improve their services to the public."

As the Post reports, travelers at airports in Washington, D.C., California and New York will soon see the technology.

The kiosks are already at 27 passport and 14 Social Security offices. The Department of Veterans Affairs also plans to use them.

This is part of a yearlong pilot program that is supposed to let federal agencies quickly address customer service complaints, writes the Post:

" 'We've learned that the best place to start when diagnosing a citizen problem is data,' said Victoria McFadden, deputy chief customer officer with the General Services Administration's Office of Customer Experience, which rolled out the Feedback USA program in late July.

" 'This is the first time we've had a real-time effort to measure customer service,' McFadden said. 'We want to see if there's something agencies will react to if it's real-time data.' "

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