Abraham Marinez - website usability testing - November 2012

DOCUMENTATION FOR THE GENERIC CLEARANCE

OF STUDENTAID.GOV MOBILE USABILITY COLLECTIONS

TITLE OF INFORMATION COLLECTION:

(the collection that is the subject of the 10-day review request)

[ ] SURVEY [ ] FOCUS GROUP [ X] WEBSITE USABILITY TESTING

DESCRIPTION OF THIS SPECIFIC COLLECTION

Purpose of the Research, Need for the Collection, and Planned Use of the Data

The primary goal of this usability testing component is to develop and provide the most intuitive and user-friendly means for visitors to navigate the StudentAid.ed.gov website with a mobile device.

The study will cover:

1. User navigation through the site and ease of content discoverability

2. Task completion/efficiency/ease of use to determine the amount of time and number of steps taken to complete a selection of basic tasks (e.g., access loan and aid data, use a calculator), accuracy and recall

3. Assessing the users’ emotional response – how the user feels about the tasks they completed (e.g., confident, stressed)

4. Evaluate the relevance and impact of videos and infographics featured on the website

The study will collect feedback from participants that will be used to assist in providing an intuitive, user-friendly means for users to navigate, perform key tasks and otherwise engage with the studentaid.gov website.

Dates, Locations, and Collection Procedures

The sessions will be conducted from December 11-13, 2012. The research will be conducted via 45 minute, one-on-one in-person interviews. Participants will provide their feedback on-site at a professional focus group facility in the metro Washington, DC area. This methodology replicates the experience respondents will have when viewing the live website and minimizes research bias.

Description of Respondents/Participants

The research will be conducted among five core audiences determined by FSA’s communication priorities for 2012: high school junior and seniors, borrowers in repayment, adult/nontraditional students, college students and parents of high school seniors.

The participants will be recruited from a sample local to the Washington, DC metro area. Respondents must have access to the Internet via one of four specific mobile devices (iPhone, Android Phone, iPad, Android tablet) – quotas will be set for such usage.

There are no hard quotas for income level, urban/rural residency or ethnicity, although a broad mix will be aimed for.

24 Total Sample

4 General Market, high school juniors and seniors, age 16-20

4 General Market, borrowers in repayment, age 18-45

4 General Market, current college (aim for 2) /adult students (aim for 2), age 18-45

4 General Market, parents of high school seniors, age 30-50

Recruit 8 back-up participants to replace any no-shows from the categories above

Parents of high school seniors must not be related to the students participating in the study. They must also be planning to contribute to their child’s education by signing or co-signing a loan, as opposed to solely drawing on savings, assets or current income.

Borrowers in repayment must be at least jointly responsible for making the financial decisions in their household, and have used federal student loans to pay for college.

Current college students and adult students must be enrolled in a two or four-year college, graduate school or trade or professional school, either full time or part time.

AMOUNT OF ANY PROPOSED STIPEND OR INCENTIVE

To ensure participation in a study of this type, and in accordance with established best practices for qualitative research recruiting, it is critical to offer an adequate cash incentive to participants.

We therefore recommend an incentive of $75 (regular participants) to $125 (back-up participants). The cost of the incentives is already covered under the existing contract for this study and there is no additional cost to offer the incentive.

Recommended incentive amount

• High school juniors or seniors: $75

• Borrowers in Repayment $75

• Adult/Non-traditional students $75

• College students $75

• Parents of high school seniors $75

Please note: we strongly recommend that the back-up participants for these segments (who will be called upon to participate in the interview should the scheduled participant fail to show) be paid a higher incentive amount: $125. This higher amount recognizes their presence on-site of up to two hours.

BURDEN HOUR COMPUTATION (Number of responses (X) estimated response or participation time in minutes (/60) = annual burden hours):

Category of Respondent	No. of Respondents	Participation Time	Burden
High School Juniors or Seniors (16-20 years old)	4	45 minutes	3 hours
Borrowers in Repayment (18-45)	4	45 minutes	3 hours
Adult/Nontraditional Student (25-45)	2	45 minutes	1.5 hours
College Students (18-24 years old)	2	45 minutes	1.5 hours
Parents of High School Seniors (30-50)	4	45 minutes	3 hours
Back Up Participants	8	120 minutes	16 hours
Totals	24	345 minutes	28 hours

BURDEN COST COMPUTATION

Category of Respondent	No. of Respondents	Hourly Rate	Response Time	Totals
High School Juniors or Seniors (16-20 years old)	4	$93.75	45 minutes	$300
Borrowers in Repayment (18-45)	4	$93.75	45 minutes	$300
Adult/Nontraditional Student (25-45)	2	$93.75	45 minutes	$150
College Students (18-24 years old)	2	$93.75	45 minutes	$150
Parents of High School Seniors (30-50)	4	$93.75	45 minutes	$300
Back Up Participants	8	$62.50	120 minutes	$1000
Totals	24	$531.25	345 minutes	$2200

STATISTICAL INFORMATION

If statistical methods are to be used, fully describe the methodology, sample selection, expected response rates, and any other concepts needed to provide a full understanding of those methods.

Since this is a qualitative study, statistical methods will not be used.

NAME OF CONTACT PERSON: Abraham Marinez, MBA, MS

Customer Engagement Advisor

TELEPHONE NUMBER: 202-377-3069 (Office) | 202-577-9113 (Mobile)

MAILING LOCATION (ED DEPARTMENT, OFFICE, DIVISION, BRANCH)

U.S. Department of Education
Federal Student Aid
Customer Experience Office
830 1st ST. N.E., Union Center Plaza, 114G2
Washington, DC 20202

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