Fast Track Clearance for WIC User Testing 8 24 23

Request for Approval under the “FNS Fast Track Clearance for the Collection of Routine Customer Feedback” (OMB Control Number: 0584-0611)

TITLE OF INFORMATION COLLECTION:

FNS WIC: Usertesting.com screener for usability testing model applications with eligible participants

PURPOSE:

The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) Food and Nutrition Service mission is to increase food security and reduce hunger by providing children and low-income people access to food, a healthful diet and nutrition education in a way that supports American agriculture and inspires public confidence. To this end, the Food and Nutrition Service (FNS) is working on a variety of modernization activities for the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC) with the primary goal of increasing enrollment and participant retention, while reducing disparities in program access and delivery.

To support FNS’s goal of increasing enrollment in WIC, a key strategic objective is improving the customer experience (CX) for WIC eligible individuals applying for WIC benefits. Currently, 47% of WIC State agencies do not have an online application which prevents WIC eligible individuals from being able to apply for WIC outside of clinic hours or at a time and place that is convenient to them. This is a negative customer service experience that increases burden on WIC eligible individuals. FNS intends to improve the customer experience by increasing the availability of online applications and improving current online applications at WIC’s 89 State agencies.

FNS has partnered with 18F, a digital consulting team within the General Services Administration, to improve the customer experience by making it easier for families to apply, reducing operational burden for WIC State and local agency staff, and helping State agencies navigate implementation barriers.

As part of this project, the team is conducting qualitative research on Usertesting.com with up to 9 people who are eligible for, but not yet enrolled in, WIC. The qualitative research is 20-minute unmoderated usability sessions of two online application prototypes.

This PRA fast track clearance is for the screener. While we are only holding qualitative sessions with up to 9 people, more than 9 people could fill out the screener.

Each of the two variations of the same screener will ask the same questions but accept slightly different answer options for household income and household size.

DESCRIPTION OF RESPONDENTS:

These participants should be eligible for, but not yet enrolled, in WIC based on household income, household size, and/or participation in other government programs that could make them adjunctively eligible for WIC.

TYPE OF COLLECTION: (Check one)

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

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

[ ] Focus Group [X ] Other: Usability testing screener

[ ] Quick census or surveys

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:______Antoinette Coleman__________________________________________

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

Sensitive Information:

1. Will sensitive information, such as demographic characteristics, be collected from respondents?

[ X ] Yes [ ] No

2. If yes, explain the necessity of such information to the programmatic objective(s)?

• We will collect income and household size to understand if people filling out the screener could qualify for WIC. We are looking for participants who are eligible, but not enrolled, in WIC.

• We will collect race and ethnicity and gender to ensure diverse representation in our studies. The content of the test is not dependent on, or related to, their responses.

• We will collect age to target the age range for those who typically are enrolled in WIC.

• The information collected in the screener will only be used to determine eligibility to participate in usability testing. This information will not be analyzed.

Gifts or Payments:

Is an incentive (e.g., money or reimbursement of expenses, token of appreciation) provided to participants? [ ] Yes [ X ] No

• No incentive is provided for filling out the screener specifically.

• However, to clarify: once someone gets through the screener and completes our 20-minute unmoderated usability session, they will receive an incentive of $10 through PayPal via Usertesting.com.

BURDEN HOURS

Category of Respondent	No. of Respondents	Participation Time	Burden
Individuals (respondents)	9	2 minutes	18 minutes
Individuals (non-respondents)	approx. 35	1 minute 30	53 minutes
Totals			1 hr 10 min

A total of approximately 44 individuals will be contacted in order to conduct research among 9 individuals. The 35 screener non-respondents are participants who choose not to complete the full screener or who do not qualify for the focus groups. The screener will accept only 9 respondents (individuals who meet recruitment criteria).

FEDERAL COST:

The estimated annual cost to the Federal government is $0. No federal employees or contractors will select respondents for the unmoderated usability study based on screener responses since Usertesting.com will do so automatically.

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

2. 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 will be using the usertesting.com service which has a database of individuals who have opted in to be considered for such tests. The screener will be shown to individuals in this database who meet certain general criteria (live in the United States, are between the ages of 18 and 34, and use a smartphone). The screener will ask about household size, income range, gender, and participation in government programs to understand their potential eligibility for WIC, and we also collect race and ethnicity data to ensure diverse representation in our studies. Only 9 people will be accepted by the screener to proceed to the usability test.

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

[ X ] Other, Explain: Screener created for usertesting.com.

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

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

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