TTB Formulation Online Guidance Usability Analysis and Click Test Study (2019)

Request for Approval under the “Generic Clearance for the Collection of Routine Customer
Feedback” (OMB Control Number 1513–0132)

TITLE OF INFORMATION COLLECTION:
TTB Formulation Online Guidance Usability Analysis and Click Test Study (2019)
PURPOSE:
TTB regulations require formula approval for some alcohol beverages, most commonly
when flavoring or coloring materials are added. To assist alcohol industry members in
submitting formula approval requests to TTB, our TTB.gov website (www.ttb.gov) contains
guidance on alcohol beverage formulation and formula approval request submissions. However,
TTB has noted that a high percentage of formula applications must be sent back to the applicant
for correction. As a result, TTB desires to reorganize and augment the formulation guidance on
TTB.gov, with the goal of improving the percentage of formula applications that may be
approved as submitted.
To that end, TTB has developed an online usability activity to help its Web team and
formulation experts understand if core audiences can find key formulation resources on our
website. By using this qualitative data to better understand how the TTB website’s actual users
understand and locate formulation-related content on the site, TTB can revise its website to
better match their mental models before the new webpage is released. After the webpage
redesign, users should be able to find content they are looking for more quickly and easily than
before.
The click test will be administered using Chalkmark, an online usability tool. The link to
the tool will be sent to industry members via the TTB Newsletter, and through an email that will
be sent to current users of our Formulas Online system. The click test will be available for a
period of no longer than 3 weeks in July and August 2019, and it will be closed once we have
reached 100 participants or 3 weeks have passed, whichever occurs first.
Each respondent will be given 8 randomized tasks to complete, as well as pre- and posttask questions to answer. TTB estimates that this click test will take each respondent 10 minutes
or less to complete, for an estimated total burden to the public of 16.7 hours. Participation in this
usability activity is voluntary and data collected will not be publically disseminated. All results
will be aggregated before analysis.
DESCRIPTION OF RESPONDENTS:
The respondents will consist of alcohol industry members who file formulas with TTB or believe
they will need to file formulas with TTB in the future.

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.
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.
signed by Wendy C.
Wendy C. Littman Digitally
Littman (affiliate)
Date: 2019.07.16 14:43:05 -04'00'
Name: (affiliate)
________________________________________________

Wendy Littman
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 [X] N/A
3. If Yes, has an up-to-date System of Records Notice (SORN) 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

No. of Respondents

Participation Time Burden

Private Sector

100

10 minutes

16.7 hours

Totals

100

10 minutes

16.7 hours

FEDERAL COST: The total estimated annual cost to the government is less than $4,000. This
includes staff and contractor time for administering and analyzing the activity one time and the
cost of the online service. The program will use existing staff and contracts to conduct the
activity 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.
•

We plan to release an announcement about the study in the TTB newsletter, which will
describe the study and ask people to participate by providing a direct link to the study.
The study itself will be housed on Optimal Workshop, an external website. We will run
the announcement up to 3 weeks in the newsletter, pending response rates.

•

We will also compile a list of email addresses of Formulas Online users, as they are most
likely to need this new guidance page, and send an email invitation to all addresses on the
list.

•

The study will be open for three weeks. At the end of the three week time period, or once
we reach around 100 respondents, whichever comes first, we will stop administering the
survey and compile the results.

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.