FTC Clearance Request for Card Sort re FTC.gov

Request for Approval under the “Generic Clearance for the Collection of
Routine Customer Feedback” (OMB Control Number: 3084-0159)
TITLE OF INFORMATION COLLECTION: FTC.gov Online Card Sort
PURPOSE:
The FTC is creating a new website for the agency to replace the one at FTC.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. Card sort results will inform the
development of the site’s taxonomy and information architecture.
We will provide participants a sample set of FTC.gov pages and ask them to organize the pages
into topics that make sense to them, and in some cases name the topics they’ve created. We will
use their responses to help determine how best to organize the site.
The online card sort will be conducted by Rock Creek Strategic Marketing, the FTC’s vendor for
the overhaul of FTC.gov.
DESCRIPTION OF RESPONDENTS:
The FTC plans to have a mix of internal and external stakeholders complete the card sort.
Internal stakeholders will be FTC staff and on-site contractors representing a range of offices and
professions. Ideally, external stakeholders would represent a mix of professions and professional
interests, including economists, attorneys, consumer advocates and others. External stakeholders
will be identified by FTC staff. We will contact them by email 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: Nat Wood_______________________________
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: Online Card Sort

No. of
Participation
Respondents Time
25
20 minutes

Burden
8 hours

Totals
FEDERAL COST: The estimated annual cost to the Federal government is $7,280.
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 to provide the email addresses of professional contacts who might
be willing to participate in this test. We also will ask them to provide very limited basic
information about possible participants, including their familiarity with the site content. We will
use this information to build a diverse list of possible participants. Once we have developed the
list, we will send select participants an email with a generic link to the online card sort. We
understand that this is not a strictly representative sample of our site users, but we feel it is still a
useful approximation.
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