Tasks at ED.gov Survey Memo

DOCUMENTATION FOR THE GENERIC CLEARANCE

OF CUSTOMER SERVICE SATISFACTION COLLECTIONS

TITLE OF INFORMATION COLLECTION: Tasks at ED.gov

[ ] SURVEY [ ] FOCUS GROUP [ ] SOFTWARE USABILITY TESTING

DESCRIPTION OF THIS SPECIFIC COLLECTION

1. Intended purpose: ED.gov is the Department's main website. The latest research in usability shows that to truly be successful, websites have to be designed around the top tasks customers hope to accomplish. The language of government is rarely the language of customers. The way government thinks is rarely the way customers think. The purpose of this survey is to allow our customers to vote on the range of tasks we offer them when they come to our website. When they vote they will tell us very clearly what matters to them and what doesn't. They will vote conclusively for their top tasks and it will be very clear which tasks do not interest them. We would like to move ED.gov from an organization-centric design, to a customer-centric design, and we can do that only if we know what customers top tasks are.

2. Need for the collection: We see this survey as a unique tool to help us identify the most important tasks for the largest number of customers. We -- as an organization -- need to move away from the endless, internal, opinion-driven debates about what should and shouldn't be featured on ED.gov. We need to arrive at the hard, defensible, compelling data that shows exactly what our customers want -- and nearly as importantly, don't want.

3. Planned use of the data: The survey is brief and can be completed in 5-10 minutes. It is designed to help ED develop a list of top tasks so we can create a website that is truly customer-centric; built around what customers really need.

4. Date(s) and location(s). Plans to post this survey will occur upon OMB approval. Users can access the survey while visiting the ED.gov website at http://www.ed.gov/

5. Collection procedures. The public affected by this survey is limited to those who visit the ED.gov website and choose to take the survey. A link to the survey will appear on every ED.gov page that has global navigation. Anyone who visits the ED.gov pages will have the opportunity to click on that link and take the survey, but the survey will in no way interfere with or affect anyone's ability to use the site.

6. Number of focus groups, surveys, usability testing sessions. Not applicable.

7. Description of respondents/participants. The respondents will be ED.gov website visitors. According to our current survey, the participants of the survey are: students, 22.2%; teachers, 16.6%; education administrator or manager, 12.5%; parent or family member, 19.9%; researcher or analyst, 7.6%; policy maker or legislator, less than 1%; librarian, less than 1%; writer or reporter, less than 1%; and other, 16.7. The ED.gov home page receives on the average between 200,000 - 250,000 visitors daily. We estimate that one out of 50 visitors will actually take the survey. However, we feel we will have strong statistical validity if we reach a 400 respondents target.

AMOUNT OF ANY PROPOSED STIPEND OR INCENTIVE

No payments are planned. N/A

BURDEN HOUR COMPUTATION (Number of responses (X) estimated response or participation time in minutes (/60) = annual burden hours):

Category of Respondent	No. of Respondents	Participation Time	Burden
ED.gov survey respondents	250/week	10 minutes	42 Hours/Week

BURDEN COST COMPUTATION

Category of Respondent	No. of Respondents	Hourly Rate	Response Time	Total
				Minimal cost if any

STATISTICAL INFORMATION

N/A

REQUESTED APPROVAL DATE: June 10, 2008

NAME OF CONTACT PERSON: Peter Kickbush

TELEPHONE NUMBER: 202.401.8589

MAILING LOCATION: Room 5E229

400 Maryland Ave. SW

Washington, DC 20202

ED DEPARTMENT, OFFICE: Office of Communication and Outreach

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