Consumer Complaint Database 4.1 User Research & Usability Testing

CCDB 4.1 User Interviews
Moderator’s Guide for Researchers and Reporters
Introduction
Thank you for talking to us today. My name is _________, and I work for the Consumer
Financial Protection Bureau, or CFPB. We’re conducting research about how
researchers and journalists are using the CFPB’s Consumer Complaint Database and
other datasets related to consumers’ experiences with financial products and
services. We’re looking to make our complaint data more useful for people like you,
so we’re interested in both your positive and negative feelings about your
experiences.
Our entire conversation will last about 45 minutes. Do you have any questions so
far?

Some things to note:
We are making an audio recording of your voice during this conversation, but your
name and personal information will not be associated with the recordings. There
are no right or wrong answers, as we’re most interested in your thoughts and
emotions about your experience. Your comments and opinions will only be used in
combination with the feedback that we get from other people.
Any questions so far?
Before we begin, we’d like to provide you with a copy of our privacy act
statement. Feel free to read it now, if you’d like. Do you have any questions about
it?

Questions
About the interviewee:
What kind of work do you do that involves customer’s experiences with financial
products, services or companies?
Walk me through your (research or writing) process. At what points during your
process do you find or use information relating to a customer’s financial
experiences?
What do you currently find most frustrating during your (research or writing)
process?

General data sources:
What data sources do you use when you research [for reporters, write about]
consumers' experiences with financial products and services?
What attributes make those sources useful?

Are there any kinds of data about consumer finance that you would like to see that
aren't available?
Data usage with the CCDB:
Have you used data from the CFPB’s Consumer Complaint Database?
If yes:

What types of research did you use the Consumer Complaint Database for?
Were you able to find the data that you were looking for?
Did you run into any problems with the data?

How did you access the data? Did you run into any problems with the website?

Are there any reasons why you wouldn't use the CFPB's complaint database for your
research? [for reporters, a story]
Can you tell us about the types of research you may use the CCDB for in the future?
[for reporters, types of stories]
Processing data:

What software or tools have you used to analyze this data?

How often do you collaborate with others in your research?
How do you share your data with others?
What are the challenges in sharing data?
Data Visualization:
(show 3-5 data visualization examples, ask the following questions for each example)

Would a data visualization like this be helpful for you?
How might you use it?

What would be more helpful?

Is there anything you would recommend to improve it?
Regional searches:
Are you interested in conducting regional searches of the data (eg. Cities, states,
etc)?
Have you previously used CCDB data concentrating on a particular region?
If yes, what were the challenges in doing this research?
Summary
What kinds of complaint data do you wish you had easy access to?
What would make the CFPB's complaint data more useful?

Do you have any other recommendations for ways to improve the CFPB's complaint
database?
Would you recommend the CFPB’s complaint database to a colleague? Why or why
not?
How would you describe the complaint data to a colleague?
Is there anything else you’d like to add?