Request for Approval

Request for Approval under the “DOI Generic Clearance for the Collection of Qualitative Feedback on Agency Service Delivery”

(OMB Control Number: 1090-0011)

TITLE OF INFORMATION COLLECTION:

Usability Study Focus Group – Great Lakes Coastal Wetland Web-tools

PURPOSE:

The USFWS is contracting with Gunner Technology to conduct a usability assessment of two web-based coastal wetland decision support tools. The USFWS funded the development of these tools to support on-the-ground conservation practitioners, purveyors of coastal wetland grant programs, and academics in identifying the best coastal wetland conservation projects, or to further research into coastal wetland conservation. Although first versions of the tools were developed with end user input, the USFWS is planning to make future investments in these web-tools and desire to both improve tool functionality and expand into other geographic areas with the most interest by the users.

The data collected by Gunner Technology will inform a report with recommendations including a list of potential site improvements based on user experience and needs, estimated cost to implement improvements, and the amount of effort to complete each improvement. This will allow the USFWS to serve the conservation community and others with the best possible information for Great Lakes coastal wetland conservation and research.

DESCRIPTION OF RESPONDENTS:

Web-tool users – conservation practitioners, decision makers, and academics

TYPE OF COLLECTION: (Check one)

Customer Comment Card/Complaint Form Customer Satisfaction Survey

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.

Name: _/s/ Bradley Potter______

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

Personally Identifiable Information:

1. Is personally identifiable information (PII) collected? Yes 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 If “Yes”, please include the SORN title, number, and Federal Register citation for the publication:

Gifts or Payments:

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

BURDEN HOURS

Category of Respondent	No. of Respondents	Participation Time	Total Hour Burden
Web-tool users (Individuals)	15	2 hrs	30 hrs

FEDERAL COST: The estimated annual cost to the Federal government is $9,000. The USFWS is contracting with Gunner Technology for a usability study that includes this focus group and a web-tool survey. The total cost of that contract is $9,000. Gunner Technology will implement the focus group and handle the response data. No other federal costs beyond the contract will be incurred.

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 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.

The starting pool of potential focus group participants include 1) individuals that volunteered to provide feedback on the web-tools during a recent Great Lakes Coastal Wetland stakeholder meeting, 2) individuals that have volunteered to offer feedback in the past, and 3) individuals responding to an email invitation to participate. From this starting pool, we will try to get approximately equal representation of conservation practitioners, grant program administrators, and academics. The Co-Chairs of the Great Lakes Coastal Conservation Work Group will work with Gunner Technologies to identify an initial primary list of 15 individuals to invite to participate. An additional 10 secondary individuals will be identified to replace the primary individuals in situations where the primaries are not willing or cannot participate.

Administration of the Instrument

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

Web-based or other forms of Social Media

Telephone

In-person

Mail

Other, Explain

2. Will interviewers or facilitators be used? Yes No

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