Fast Track Submission Form - Usability testing: Pathways to Work Evidence Clearinghouse website

Request for Approval under the “Generic Clearance for the Collection of Routine Customer Feedback” (OMB Control Number: 0970-0401)

TITLE OF INFORMATION COLLECTION: Usability testing for the “Pathways to Work Evidence Clearinghouse” website

PURPOSE:

The Office of Planning, Research, and Evaluation (OPRE) within the Administration for Children and Families (ACF) requests to conduct usability testing for a new website to share findings from the “Pathways to Work Evidence Clearinghouse.”

As part of this initiative, the team will identify projects that aim to improve employment outcomes, reduce employment challenges, and support self-sufficiency for low-income populations, especially Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) and other public program recipients, and systematically evaluate and summarize the evidence of their effectiveness. We will share the Clearinghouse findings on a new federal website.

This information request is to conduct usability testing of the website throughout the development of the website, including at the mock-up and prototype stages, two beta versions, and the production version of the site. We also anticipate testing one enhancement to the site after its launch. The information collected from our customers and stakeholders will help ensure that users have an effective, efficient, and satisfying experience with the website. It will allow us to identify improvements to ensure that funding is used efficiently to provide a useful website for our users.

For each round of testing, we plan to test with three to five users representing the site’s different audiences. During the tests, we will evaluate the site on four usability dimensions:

1. Efficiency. Do testers find it easy to complete tasks? This will be measured by time spent on task.

2. Success rate. Can testers complete tasks? This will be measured as the percentage of test participants who complete tasks successfully without critical errors.

3. Accuracy. Are testers able to complete tasks correctly? This will be measured depending on the task at hand. For example, can they find relevant results for their search?

4. Satisfaction. Are testers satisfied with their experience? This will be measured qualitatively, based on tester feedback and facilitator’s observations of testers’ struggles and success.

DESCRIPTION OF RESPONDENTS: The primary audience for the website will be workforce services practitioners, including individuals at the state and local levels, who contribute to decision making about services provided to low-income workers. Individuals from these groups will make up the main group of usability testers.

Secondary audiences for the website are policymakers, including federal staff, and researchers. We will include a few individuals from these groups in the usability testing.

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.

Name: Kim Clum, Senior Social Science Analyst, OPRE_________________________________

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

3. If Yes, has an up-to-date System of Records Notice (SORN) been published? [ ] Yes [ ] No

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 (minutes)	Burden (hours)
Private sector	7	60	7
State, local, or tribal governments	22	60	22
Totals	29	Avg = 60	29

1. FEDERAL COST: Annual costs to the Federal government will be approximately $14,792 for the proposed data collection under this OMB clearance number (0970-0401).

If you are conducting a focus group, survey, or plan to employ statistical methods, please provide answers to the following questions: N/A

The selection of your targeted respondents

2. 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?

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

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