1225-0093 - Supporting Statement - EBSA Customer Interviews Discussion Guide

Request for Approval under the “Generic Clearance for Improving Customer Experience: OMB Circular A-11, Section 280 Implementation”

(OMB Control Number: 1225-0093)

TITLE OF INFORMATION COLLECTION: Customer Interviews for Soliciting Feedback about the Department of Labor

Employment and Benefits Security Administration

PURPOSE OF COLLECTION: To explore and understand the current awareness and satisfaction levels with EBSA and the information and resources needed; to explore the knowledge, perceptions, beliefs, intentions, barriers, motivators, and behaviors of customers; to gather insights on information and preferences on website content and features that will increase their familiarity, satisfaction, and desired behaviors related to engaging with EBSA

TYPE OF ACTIVITY: (Check one)

[X] Customer Research (Interview, Focus Groups)

[ ] Customer Feedback Survey

[ ] User Testing

ACTIVITY DETAILS

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

[ X ] Web-based or other forms of Social Media

[ X ] Telephone

[ ] In-person

[ ] Mail

[ ] Other, Explain

2. Who will you collect the information from?

Multicultural workforce with employment-based health benefit or retirement benefit plans or their beneficiaries, who are customers of EBSA

3. How will you ask a respondent to provide this information?

The format of collection is a virtual in-depth interview. The moderator will ask questions to assess customers’ knowledge/awareness and satisfaction level of EBSA and their perceptions, beliefs, intentions, barriers, motivators to engaging with EBSA and the resources available.

The moderator will screen share and review designated pages on the EBSA website to explore the information and content on these pages that help or hinder the customers’ understanding and satisfaction with EBSA and the resources it offers. The moderator will ask questions to understand the customer journey to awareness and engagement with EBSA and motivators for desired behaviors like visiting the website, contacting EBSA if information is needed, increased satisfaction, and recommending the organization/resources to others.

4. What will the activity look like?

The moderator will conduct the interview on a virtual platform and use a share screen format to engage the customer in the discussion about EBSA. By showing various pages on the EBSA website, the moderator will be able to assess the customer’s familiarity/satisfaction with EBSA and perceptions about the organization and its resources.

A think-out-loud protocol will be followed which includes asking customers to share their experiences engaging with EBSA and their perceptions out loud. As the moderator shows EBSA’s website, customers will be asked to discuss information and resources on the website that have been helpful (or could be helpful) and information that they desire/that EBSA provides in the future.

During the interview, the moderator also will probe about preferred sources of information, website content and formatting preferences, and other helpful resources for learning more about EBSA and increasing their satisfaction with the organization.

5. Please provide your question list.

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

See attached

Consent Form

Discussion Guide

6. When will the activity happen?

A list of potential customers will be sourced by a sample provider, Marketing Systems Group. Customers will receive invitations to participate in the interviews through email/text messages. Those who are interested will complete a digital survey with screening questions to ensure they meet the customer criteria for inclusion in the interviews. The invitation email/text messages and screening questions are submitted as a separate ICR.

After customers qualify for the interviews through the invitation/screening process mentioned above, we will schedule the interviews at a day/time that the customers designate as being convenient for them and provide them with information to sign the consent form and connect to the virtual platform. Consent forms must be signed before the start of the interview. The invitation email/text messages and customer interviews will be conducted in December 2022 - January 2023.

7. Is an incentive (e.g., money or reimbursement of expenses, token of appreciation) provided to participants?

[ X ] Yes [ ] No

Invitation emails/text messages will inform customers that they will receive a $75 electronic gift card incentive if they qualify and successfully complete the interviews. After successful completion of the interviews, customers will receive the electronic gift cards via emails through a digital incentive platform called Rybbon/BHN Rewards. The platform has data protection and security systems in place to protect personal identifiable information.

BURDEN HOURS

Category of Respondent	No. of Respondents	Participation Time	Burden Hours
Multicultural workforce with employment-based health benefit or retirement benefit plans or their beneficiaries	15	40 minutes	10 hours
Totals	15	40 minutes	10 hours

CERTIFICATION:

I certify the following to be true:

1. The collections are voluntary;

2. The collections are low-burden for respondents (based on considerations of total burden hours or burden-hours per respondent) and are low-cost for both the respondents and the Federal Government;

3. The collections are non-controversial and do not raise issues of concern to other Federal agencies;

4. Any 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 near future;

5. Personally identifiable information (PII) is collected only to the extent necessary and is not retained;

6. Information gathered is intended to be used for general service improvement and program management purposes

7. Upon agreement between OMB and the agency aggregated data may be released as part of A-11, Section 280 requirements only on performance.gov. Summaries of customer research and user testing activities may be included in public-facing customer journey maps.

8. Additional release of data will be coordinated with OMB.

Name: Leyla Mansur, Employee Benefits and Security Administration

All instruments used to collect information must include:

OMB Control No. 1225-0093

Expiration Date: 02/29/2024

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