The state of Maryland sent letters telling homeowners they might qualify for tax relief. The letters were so confusing that eligible residents didn't apply.
The Homeowners' Tax Credit and Homestead Tax Credit make up 20 percent of all OneStop (Maryland's online portal where residents apply for tax credits and state services) submissions. Most applicants are seniors on fixed incomes who own their homes outright but struggle with property taxes. Many learned about the credits years after becoming eligible. Those who did apply encountered dense legal language, unclear eligibility requirements, and forms that asked for a Property Account Number located on a separate website. After submitting, homeowners had no reliable way to track progress. If something went wrong, they faced a contact center with long wait times. Many gave up.
Maryland Digital Service had no research to draw on. The agency was founded in 2024 and inherited OneStop without understanding how residents actually used it. No analytics beyond a basic customer experience survey. No conversations with the people filing these forms.
We needed to understand the full journey, not just the form. What did residents know before they applied? Where did they get stuck? What happened after they hit submit?
We started by reviewing what existed: desk research, a heuristic evaluation of OneStop, and the CX survey responses. Then we surveyed 3,400 constituents and interviewed SDAT staff who process applications daily. But the real insight came from sitting with 13 homeowners across the state, hearing them describe the experience in their own words. We recruited across race, income, age, geography, and homeowner experience. If the research was going to shape policy, it needed to reflect the people the policy was meant to serve.
What we found reframed the problem. Residents rated OneStop 84 percent satisfactory score. The application itself wasn't the issue. The breakdowns happened before and after: confusing outreach letters, unclear eligibility rules, and correspondence that left applicants unsure what to do next.
SDAT staff had worked on tax credits for decades. They believed they understood the customer. Our research changed that. The CIO told staff the findings revealed disparities they hadn't seen, patterns that would shape how they make decisions going forward. Within weeks, SDAT partnered with DoIT on a plain language initiative to rewrite all resident-facing communications.
The artifacts we delivered gave Maryland a foundation to build on: two service blueprints mapping the full journey, four journey maps showing where residents struggle, and strategic recommendations prioritized by impact. Leadership across Legal, Communications, Data Privacy, and SDAT had been involved throughout, which meant the findings had buy-in before the final presentation. Maryland is now using these artifacts as a model for upcoming initiatives.
"This is what good looks like. This is the standard we are going to hold everyone to." — Maryland Digital Service Leadership
