21319 ID_Generic Clearance Submission_ODPHP Usabilty Testing_0990-0379

Request for Approval under the “Generic Clearance for the Collection of Routine Customer Feedback” (OMB Control Number: 0990-0379)

TITLE OF INFORMATION COLLECTION: ODPHP Website Usability: ‘Tree Testing’

PURPOSE:

The Office of Disease Prevention and Health Promotion (ODPHP) wants to evaluate the organization of their two most utilized websites: HealthyPeople.gov and healthfinder.gov. The goal is to ensure that users are able to quickly and easily find needed information on these websites.

• HealthyPeople.gov provides science-based, 10-year national objectives for improving the health of all Americans.

• healthfinder.gov provides actionable health information and tools to help individuals and their families stay healthy.

In order to test and validate HealthyPeople.gov and healthfinder.gov’s current site maps, ODPHP will conduct two online ‘tree testing’ studies (one for each site). Tree testing is a usability research technique for evaluating how easy it is for users to locate information within a site’s organizational structure. It is sometimes referred to as ‘reverse card sorting.’ Participants are given a topic to find by clicking through a simplified version of the site structure.

Specifically, ODPHP wants to learn:

1. How well can participants locate information using HealthyPeople.gov and healthfinder.gov’s current site map?

2. How intuitive are labels and categories on each site?

This activity will help ODPHP refine the HealthyPeople.gov and healthfinder.gov site organization by identifying labels and categories that could be changed to improve users’ ability to quickly find information on each site.

To conduct the testing, ODPHP plans to use Treejack,¹ an easy-to-use online tool that allows participants to look for content on a site by clicking through a text version of the site’s structure (see attachment A for sample screen shots). A web link will be given to participants with instructions and contact information in case of questions or technical difficulties.

The sessions will be unmoderated, meaning participants will be able to complete the study on their own time.

The tree test will also include a brief questionnaire to collect basic demographic information about participants. No personally identifiable information will be collected.

See attachment B for the HealthyPeople.gov tree-testing research instrument including consent language, test instructions, tasks, and demographic questionnaire.

See attachment C for the healthfinder.gov tree-testing research instrument including consent language, test instructions, tasks, and demographic questionnaire.

DESCRIPTION OF RESPONDENTS:

HealthyPeople.gov Tree Testing Respondents

ODPHP will recruit 40 participants representing a mix of public health professionals in the federal government, state and local health departments, non-governmental organizations, and academia.

healthfinder.gov Tree Testing Respondents

ODPHP will recruit 40 participants representing members of the general public.

TYPE OF COLLECTION: (Check one)

[ ] Customer Comment Card/Complaint Form [] Customer Satisfaction Survey

[X] Usability Testing (e.g., Website or Software) [ ] Small Discussion Group

[] Focus Group [ ] Other: ______________________

CERTIFICATION:

I certify the following to be true:

1. The collection is voluntary.

2. The collection is low-burden for respondents and low-cost for the Federal Government.

3. The collection is non-controversial and does not raise issues of concern to other federal agencies.

4. The results are not intended to be disseminated to the public.

5. Information gathered will not be used for the purpose of substantially informing influential policy decisions.

6. The collection is targeted to the solicitation of opinions from respondents who have experience with the program or may have experience with the program in the future.

To assist review, please provide answers to the following question:

Personally Identifiable Information:

1. Is personally identifiable information (PII) collected? [ ] Yes [X] No

2. If Yes, is the information that will be collected included in records that are subject to the Privacy Act of 1974? [ ] Yes [ ] No

3. If Applicable, has a System or Records Notice been published? [ ] Yes [] No (Not Applicable)

Gifts or Payments:

Is an incentive (e.g., money or reimbursement of expenses, token of appreciation) provided to participants? [X] Yes [] No

ODPHP will offer $25 to consumers for the healthfinder.gov tree testing. Based on previous experience conducting online surveys with the general public, a small incentive is required to ensure participation.

No incentive will be offered to professionals for the HealthyPeople.gov tree testing.

BURDEN HOURS

Category of Respondent	No. of Respondents	Participation Time	Burden
HealthyPeople.gov Users: Private Sector/State, Local or Tribal Governments/Federal Government	40	20 minutes	13.3 hours
healthfinder.gov Users: Individuals or Households	40	20 minutes	13.3 hours
Totals	80		26.6 hours

FEDERAL COST: The estimated annual cost to the Federal government is _$10,000_

If you are conducting a focus group, survey, or plan to employ statistical methods, please provide answers to the following questions:

No statistical methods will be used.

The selection of your targeted respondents

1. Do you have a customer list or something similar that defines the universe of potential respondents and do you have a sampling plan for selecting from this universe? [] Yes [X] No

If the answer is yes, please provide a description of both below (or attach the sampling plan)? If the answer is no, please provide a description of how you plan to identify your potential group of respondents and how you will select them?

HealthyPeople.gov Tree Testing Respondents

To recruit participants for the HealthyPeople.gov tree test, ODPHP will reach out to existing stakeholder lists and take advantage of contacts in professional organizations such as the Society for Public Health Education (SOPHE) and the American Public Health Association (APHA).

healthfinder.gov Tree Testing Respondents

To recruit participants for the healthfinder.gov tree test, ODPHP will reach out to adult learning programs in the Washington D.C. metropolitan area and western Massachusetts.

Administration of the Instrument

1. How will you collect the information? (Check all that apply)

[X] Web-based or other forms of Social Media

[ ] Telephone

[ ] In-person

[ ] Mail

[ ] Other, Explain

2. Will interviewers or facilitators be used? [ ] Yes [X] No

Please make sure that all instruments, instructions, and scripts are submitted with the request.

1 Treejack http://www.optimalworkshop.com/treejack.htm

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