There is a significant overlap between people who are supported by income-related social welfare benefits, often in precarious situations, and those who experience greater digital exclusion. We report on a study of claimants using the UK's Universal Credit online welfare benefit system designed as, and still, "digital by default". Through data collection involving remote interviews (n=11) and online surveys (n=66), we expose claimants' own lived experiences interacting with this system. The claimants explain how digital channels can contribute to an imbalance of power and agency, at a time when their own circumstances mean they have reduced abilities, resources and capacities, and where design choices can adversely affect people's utility to leverage help from their own wider socio-technical ecosystems. We contribute eight recommendations from these accounts to inform the future design and development of digital welfare benefit systems for this population, to reduce digital barriers and harms.

翻译：依赖收入型社会福利支持的人群，通常处于不稳定状态，且与遭受更严重数字排斥的人群存在显著重叠。我们报告了一项针对使用英国"通用福利金"在线福利系统的申请者的研究。该系统自设计之初便以"默认为数字化"为原则，至今仍遵循这一模式。通过远程访谈（n=11）和在线问卷（n=66）的数据收集，我们揭示了申请者与该系统交互的真实生活体验。申请者阐释了数字渠道如何在其自身处境导致能力、资源与精力下降的时期加剧权力与能动性的失衡，而设计选择又可能妨碍他们从更广泛的社会技术生态系统中获取帮助的能力。基于这些反馈，我们提出了八项建议，旨在指导未来针对该人群的数字福利系统的设计与发展，以减少数字障碍与伤害。