Energy Efficiency and Renweable Energy Website Usability Test

Request for Approval under the “Generic Clearance for the Collection of Routine Customer Feedback” (OMB Control Number: 1910-5160)

T ITLE OF INFORMATION COLLECTION:

Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy Website Usability Test

PURPOSE:

The Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE) has developed an online usability test to evaluate the experience key audiences have when interacting with the EERE website.

Information gathered from this test will provide us with insight into the current user experience, which will help us gauge the effectiveness of the website and provide guidance for making customer service improvements in preparation for moving the content into a new template.

The test questions and online exercises are simple, brief, and straightforward – we have restricted the test to only the important questions to respect the time of all our participants. No personally identifiably information will be collected during this test.

We will administer the test using User Zoom, an online usability testing tool (a short video showing how the tool works is available here: http://www.userzoom.com/products/online-usability-testing).

Participation is completely voluntary and anonymous. The test should take about 15 minutes to complete, and can be taken at a time that is most convenient for each participant. Users interested in participating will simply click on the link provided in the email or newsletter announcement.

The test will be available for a period of approximately 4 weeks, starting on or about February 29th and ending on either March 28th or when we have receive 300 responses, whichever comes first.

Data collected will not be publically disseminated. All results will be aggregated before analysis.

Burden to public: The usability test contains 3 pre-test questions, 4 exercises, and 4 post-test questions. It will take an estimated 15 minutes to complete. The total burden to the public is estimated to be 75 hours.

DESCRIPTION OF RESPONDENTS:

The usability test respondents will consist of anyone who has visited the EERE website before and chooses to respond to our invitation to complete the test (see recruitment strategy outlined below).

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.

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

3. If Yes, has an up-to-date System of Records Notice (SORN) been published? [ ] Yes [ ] No

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	No. of Respondents	Participation Time	Burden
Individuals or households	100	15 mins/survey	25 hrs
Private sector	100	15 mins/survey	25 hrs
State, local, or tribal governments	50	15 mins/survey	12.5 hrs
Federal government	50	15 mins/survey	12.5 hrs
Totals	300	15 mins/survey	75 hrs

FEDERAL COST: The estimated cost to the government is $18,000. This includes the cost of a two-month subscription to User Zoom plus 120 hours of contractor time to develop, pilot, deploy, and analyze study results. The program will use existing staff and contracts to conduct the test and evaluate the results.

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? [X] Yes [ ] 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?

EERE website users will be invited to participate in one of two ways:

• Email invitation to previous survey participants who volunteered to provide future feedback on the website and contacts suggested by EERE programs

• Announcement to EERE Network News subscribers as part of our weekly newsletter.

The exercise is completely voluntary for anyone who receives the invitation.

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.

Instructions for completing Request for Approval under the “Generic Clearance for the Collection of Routine Customer Feedback”

TITLE OF INFORMATION COLLECTION: Provide the name of the collection that is the subject of the request. (e.g. Comment card for soliciting feedback on xxxx)

PURPOSE: Provide a brief description of the purpose of this collection and how it will be used. If this is part of a larger study or effort, please include this in your explanation.

DESCRIPTION OF RESPONDENTS: Provide a brief description of the targeted group or groups for this collection of information. These groups must have experience with the program.

TYPE OF COLLECTION: Check one box. If you are requesting approval of other instruments under the generic, you must complete a form for each instrument.

CERTIFICATION: Please read the certification carefully. If you incorrectly certify, the collection will be returned as improperly submitted or it will be disapproved.

Personally Identifiable Information: Provide answers to the questions. Note: Agencies should only collect PII to the extent necessary, and they should only retain PII for the period of time that is necessary to achieve a specific objective.

Gifts or Payments: If you answer yes to the question, please describe the incentive and provide a justification for the amount.

BURDEN HOURS:

Category of Respondents: Identify who you expect the respondents to be in terms of the following categories: (1) Individuals or Households; (2) Private Sector; (3) State, local, or tribal governments; or (4) Federal Government. Only one type of respondent can be selected per row.

No. of Respondents: Provide an estimate of the Number of respondents.

Participation Time: Provide an estimate of the amount of time required for a respondent to participate (e.g. fill out a survey or participate in a focus group)

Burden: Provide the Annual burden hours: Multiply the Number of responses and the participation time and divide by 60.

FEDERAL COST: Provide an estimate of the annual cost to the Federal government.

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. Please provide a description of how you plan to identify your potential group of respondents and how you will select them. If the answer is yes, to the first question, you may provide the sampling plan in an attachment.

Administration of the Instrument: Identify how the information will be collected. More than one box may be checked. Indicate whether there will be interviewers (e.g. for surveys) or facilitators (e.g., for focus groups) used.

Submit all instruments, instructions, and scripts are submitted with the request.

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