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A to Z: Modernizing Arizona’s Public Notices

A to Z: Modernizing Arizona’s Public Notices

How might Arizona modernize its public benefit notices to improve user experience, expedite benefit delivery, and improve program efficiency?

Partners & Funders

Arizona Department of Economic Security
The Families & Workers Fund

The Project

The State of Arizona Department of Economic Security (DES) provides a range of public benefits programs for residents and recognizes opportunities to improve the ease and efficiency of its communication with applicants and participants. PPL is partnering with the state to modernize key materials—improving clarity, tone, and usability.

The Outcome

PPL will rewrite and redesign the notices associated with multiple state programs with the ultimate goal of increasing administrative efficiency while reducing the time from application to benefit receipt or renewal. Clearer communication will reduce errors, streamline interactions, minimize client frustration, and make better use of public resources.
Child & Family Services

A to Z: Modernizing Arizona’s Public Notices

How might Arizona modernize its public benefit notices to improve user experience, expedite benefit delivery, and improve program efficiency?

Partners & Funders

Arizona Department of Economic Security
The Families & Workers Fund

The Project

The State of Arizona Department of Economic Security (DES) provides a range of public benefits programs for residents and recognizes opportunities to improve the ease and efficiency of its communication with applicants and participants. PPL is partnering with the state to modernize key materials—improving clarity, tone, and usability.

The Outcome

PPL will rewrite and redesign the notices associated with multiple state programs with the ultimate goal of increasing administrative efficiency while reducing the time from application to benefit receipt or renewal. Clearer communication will reduce errors, streamline interactions, minimize client frustration, and make better use of public resources.

Project Background

The state of Arizona is working on a multipronged effort to enhance the client experience and operational efficiency of the state’s public benefits programs, including the launch of a new integrated benefits online platform, A to Z Arizona. Once live, the platform will streamline clients’ application to and management of programs including Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF),
Child Care Assistance, and others. As one element of this initiative, DES is focusing on the modernization of program notices—such as application confirmations, eligibility determinations, and renewal notices—sent to members of the public in multiple languages.

Public Policy Lab is partnering with DES to lead the modernization of these notices over the course of eighteen months, with redesigned notices rolling out in stages and implemented at scale by mid-2026. Clear, streamlined communications between clients and agency staff will mean less time spent clarifying requests and correcting errors, increased client satisfaction and response rates, and a more efficient use of the public resources that support these programs.

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Notices Reviewed

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Research Participants

What We Found

We conducted research focusing on the following inquiry areas:

  • The Context What are the parameters for program operations and client communications as defined by policy, technology, and staffing?
  • The Journey How are notices situated within the broader service journey, for both DES staff and clients?
  • The Clients What are the preferences of clients in terms of notice design, contents, and how they interact with the notices?

Our research began with reviewing policy resources from federal and state sources, contextual resources on Arizona demographics and DES benefits programs, and past work in this area.

We then assessed over 150 notices across the SNAP and Child Care Assistance programs. After reading, cataloguing, and summarizing each notice, we tagged them across a variety of form elements–like the journey phase in which the notice is distributed, what triggers the notice, and what category of information the notice falls under.

Notices Review

We assessed over 150+ notices across SNAP and Child Care Assistance programs.

Through workshops and small group interviews, we also conducted human-centered research with 18 participants, including Arizona DES frontline staff, community-based organization (CBO) staff, subject matter experts, and members of the public who receive benefits.

We learned that the notices are produced using backend systems that vary across programs and have different capabilities and limitations when it comes to notice design.  Some benefit programs are able to use formatting tools to create notices with bolded headers, icons, and easy-to-read fonts, while other programs must distribute notices directly from mainframe systems that don’t allow much formatting. This means that clients who apply for or are enrolled in multiple programs may receive notices that look different from one another, which can be confusing.

Policy and System Expert Workshop

In a workshop with Policy and Systems experts, we visualized the AZ Notices journey from awareness to renewal.

We also found that the policies that govern these notices are clear on what needs to be included in different types of notices, but don’t give detailed guidance regarding appearance or exactly what needs to be said.

To better understand the journey of DES staff and clients, we conducted workshops with Policy and Systems experts. Together, we visualized the journey for both clients and staff as they navigate the five stages to access and maintain Arizona’s SNAP and Child Care benefits: Awareness, Pre-Application, Application, Certification Period, and Renewal. We mapped where notices appear along this journey and used sticky notes to represent conversations between clients and staff. 

In exploring client preferences, we heard three principles repeatedly:

Consistent Information

Clients value consistent information across service interactions, whether in the form of paper notices or conversations with DES staff. Inconsistency leads to confusion and distrust.

Knowing What's Next

Clients value knowing exactly what they need to do next with clear, actionable steps. Simple layouts with clear visual cues help clients focus on what matters most.

Journey-Based Notices

Clients value when notices are in sync with their journey through the program. Notices should arrive at the right time, convey the correct steps, and should not contradict other information clients receive.

What We're Designing

Based on what we learned in research, we are now re-designing a set of notices that we’ll test during a pilot period. This includes streamlining the overall notice inventory and reimagining the visual design, structure, and written contents of others.

Our redesign will focus on elements such as:

  • accessible, welcoming language that’s compliant with policy requirements
  • recommendations to combine or retire notices at known points of redundancy
  • design guidelines to help keep visuals consistent across programs
  • clear structure that highlights the most important information
  • supplemental graphics
  • action-oriented links

During the co-design phase of this work, we’ll also explore creating additional tools that could further improve how clients receive and experience notices. This may include redesigning elements of the back-end notice templates used by mainframe systems or the creation of client-facing orientation materials to answer clients’ common questions and prepare them for a successful benefits experience.

What We'll Implement

We are currently in the co-design phase of this project. We plan to implement the new notices and accompanying tools at scale in 2026.

PPL is a tax-exempt 501(c)(3)
nonprofit organization.

info@publicpolicylab.org
+1 646 535 6535

20 Jay Street, Suite 203

Brooklyn, NY 11201

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