Stop Automating Broken Processes: How to Redesign Before You Digitize
- Doug Ehlert
- Sep 22
- 2 min read
Digital tools are only as good as the processes they automate. If the underlying workflow is slow, fragmented, or full of exceptions, “going digital” just makes the pain happen faster and at a higher cost.
Agencies and organizations can spend millions rolling out new software only to discover they’ve simply replicated inefficiency in a shinier interface. Before you digitize, you have to redesign.
Here’s what that looks like in practice, along with a few ideas on how your team can get started.
The Hidden Cost of Automating “As Is”
Rolling out technology on top of an unexamined process doesn’t just fail to fix the problem, it quietly creates new ones. Three common (and expensive) side effects:
Increased error rates: When legacy workarounds are digitized, mistakes get propagated faster and at larger scale.
Ballooning maintenance costs: Custom code, extra integrations and exception handling pile up to accommodate a flawed process.
Loss of staff trust: Employees and constituents become skeptical of “modernization” when it simply adds steps or moves the pain online.
Example: A benefits agency launches an online application portal without redesigning its review workflow. Applicants can now submit forms 24/7, but the same manual back-office reviews, duplicative data entry and approvals remain. Instead of shorter turnaround times, the backlog doubles and overtime costs spike.
Step Zero: Redesign Before You Digitize
Map the current state. Walk through every step, approval, and data entry point. Ask “Why?” at each stage. Identify the desired outcome. What should happen for the customer/constituent and for staff? Simplify and eliminate. Remove redundant approvals, combine steps, clarify ownership. Then look for technology to support the new flow.
Doing this work first means you’re automating a leaner, clearer process, and technology will amplify the improvement instead of the dysfunction.
Practical Tips
Bring in the people who do the work. Frontline staff often know exactly where the friction is.
Use quick wins. Pilot redesigned workflows on a small scale before building a full system.
Document decisions. Capture why each change was made so future tech updates stay aligned.
Measure outcomes. Track time saved, errors reduced, or satisfaction improved — not just system uptime.
The Payoff
When you redesign before you digitize:
Technology projects scope faster and cost less.
User adoption improves because the new system matches a better workflow.
Future changes are easier because the process and the system are both cleaner.
It’s the difference between “we automated our backlog” and “we eliminated it.”
Bottom Line
Digital transformation is not about taking old processes and making them electronic; it’s about improving how work gets done. Start by redesigning the process. Then digitize. Otherwise, you risk spending a lot of money to make a bad process run faster.
Ready to rethink before you rebuild? Let’s talk about how to map, simplify, and then automate for real impact.
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