Justification of use 0596-0226

Request for Approval under the “Generic Clearance for the Collection of Routine Customer Feedback” OMB Control Number: 0596-0226

TITLE OF INFORMATION COLLECTION:

USDA Forest Service Customer Journey Mapping and Field Research

PURPOSE:

The Customer Experience Center of Excellence (CX CoE) – based in the Washington Office and co-sponsored by Government Service Administration (GSA) and Office of American Innovation – is one of five GSA IT Modernization Centers of Excellence. The CX CoE is focused on supporting federal agencies in designing and providing outstanding customer experiences. This is done by demonstrating the business value of customer experience as a discipline, supporting the adoption of customer-centered approaches across the organization, and strengthening the infrastructures needed to consistently deliver these experiences.

For this effort we are gathering customer, employee, and program data on USDA’s Forest Service. Specifically, we are investigating the strategies and structures of public engagement during environmental analysis and public decision-making in order to bring clarity to the process and inform action plans. During this research activity we will observe Forest Service staff in performing their tasks, conduct interviews with staff concerning public engagement and their understanding of the needs of their constituents, and interview members of the public with a self-identified vested interest in decisions about forest land to discover their needs and concerns with respect to Forest Service services.

Research findings will be used to build customer journey maps reflecting the current and potential future-state journeys of tourists, ranchers, community members and foresters as they interact with FS public engagement programs. These visual guides will provide USDA with a research-based understanding of community members’ needs and experiences with respect to USDA services. Research outcomes are intended to guide program development and decision making to improve the customer experience, and to help operationalize a customer-centric approach throughout the USDA.

DESCRIPTION OF RESPONDENTS:

The following category of participants are being sought for this research:

• Community members — Farmers, ranchers, foresters, commercial providers, recreational tourists, public engagement leaders, and other members of the community who attend FS public engagements or identify as having an interest in forest projects

TYPE OF COLLECTION: (Check one)

[ ] Customer Comment Card/Complaint Form [ ] Customer Satisfaction Survey

[ ] Usability Testing (e.g., Website or Software [X] Small Discussion Group

[ ] Focus Group

[x] Other: Field visits to interview regional staff and community members

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:__Simchah Suveyke-Bogin_____________________________________

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

Personally Identifiable Information:

1. Is personally identifiable information (PII) collected? [x] Yes [ ] No

   1. Information to collect: Name, zip code, email, phone number, age, gender, ethnicity

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

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

• A SORN is not necessary because we are not accessing any agency-maintained information technology (IT) system or paper file system that contains information on individuals. To safe guard participant’s PII, code names will be used to refer to participants in any digital documents.

BURDEN HOURS

Category of Respondent	No. of Respondents	Participation Time Per Individual (minutes)	Total Burden (Hours)
Individual Interviewees (civilians only)	45 (15 per forest site; total of 3 visits)	90	67.5
Totals	45	90	67.5

FEDERAL COST: The estimated annual cost to the Federal government is __$3,211__________

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 [ X] 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 team plans to use a mixture of convenience, voluntary, and snowball sampling for selecting both Federal government (USDA field staff) and individual respondents (community members). We will connect to USDA field staff through already-established connections at the USFS Washington Office. We will then ask USDA field staff to connect us to community members who might be willing to participate in this study.

• The team also aims to recruit participants in locations where community members are likely already convened, such as already-planned events (i.e., collaborative meetings) and outside of visitor centers at the National Forest.

• After each of our interviews with community members, we will ask the individual to suggest others who might be willing to participate in this study.

Administration of the Instrument

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

[ ] Web-based or other forms of Social Media

[ X ] Telephone

[ X ] In-person

[ ] Mail

[ ] Other, Explain

2. Will interviewers or facilitators be used? [ X ] Yes [ ] No

Please make sure that all instruments, instructions, and scripts are submitted with the request.

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