Explanation of Card Sort for Easy-to-Use Site

Request for Approval under the “Generic Clearance for the Collection of
Routine Customer Feedback” (OMB Control Number: 3084-0159)
TITLE OF INFORMATION COLLECTION: Easy-to-Use Site Card Sort
PURPOSE:
The FTC is creating a new, easy-to-use website to better reach underserved populations with
simple and direct consumer information, written for people who have trouble reading. The new
site will be located at consumer.gov. Before developing the new site, we would like to get input
from potential users about the organization of site content by asking them to complete an online
card sort.
We will provide participants with the names of a sample of our consumer advice articles, and ask
them to organize the articles into topics that make sense to them, and then name the topics
they’ve created. We will use responses to help determine how best to organize the site. We will
conduct two tests: one on the overall organization of topics on the site, and one to validate
category names and the organization of articles on the site.
We plan to use OptimalSort.com to host the test.
DESCRIPTION OF RESPONDENTS:
The FTC’s easy-to-use site is intended for consumers with limited reading proficiency who want
to avoid frauds and scams and make informed buying decisions. For this test, respondents will
be those who work directly with this group: legal services attorneys, English for Speakers of
Other Languages (ESOL) teachers, community leaders. Each respondent will first be contacted
by a member of the FTC’s Legal Services Initiative, staffers with reach into the community, to
determine their interest in participating. We will then contact by email those who express
interest, to ask them to participate.
TYPE OF COLLECTION: (Check one)
[ ] Customer Comment Card/Complaint Form
[x] Usability Testing (e.g., Website or Software)
[ ] Focus Group

[ ] Customer Satisfaction Survey
[ ] Small Discussion 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.
Name: Jennifer Leach_______________________________
To assist review, please provide answers to the following questions:
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 [x] No
3. If applicable, has a System or Records Notice been published? [ ] Yes [ ] No [x] N/A
Gifts or Payments:
Is an incentive (e.g., money or reimbursement of expenses, token of appreciation) provided to
participants? [ ] Yes [x] No
BURDEN HOURS
Category of Respondent
Usability Testing

No. of
Participation
Respondents Time
60
10 minutes

Burden
10 hours

Totals
FEDERAL COST: The estimated annual cost to the Federal government is $3,415.
If you are conducting a focus group, survey, or plan to employ statistical methods, please
provide answers to the following questions:
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.
We will ask FTC employees, both within the Division of Consumer and Business Education and
those who are part of the FTC’s Legal Services Initiative, to reach out to their contacts to ask if
they would be willing to participate in the survey. We will focus on the following groups: legal
services attorneys, ESOL teachers, and community leaders. Given their day-to-day interaction
with underserved populations, we believe these groups are best positioned to make

recommendations for our target audience. We will use this information to build a diverse list of
possible participants (making sure that each group is well-represented). Once we have
developed the list, we will send participants an email with a generic link to the online card sort.
There will be no record of who clicked on the link to take the survey, and the card sort does not
ask for any personally identifiable information, so the answers will be anonymous.
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