Memo

Request for Approval under the “Generic Clearance for the Collection of Routine Customer Feedback” (OMB Control Number: 0990-00379)

TITLE OF INFORMATION COLLECTION:

Womenshealth.gov Homepage Redesign Testing

Included in this memo are three materials related to testing:

• A screening guide for recruitment

• A discussion guide for the testing

• Mockups of the homepage (mobile and desktop)

PURPOSE:

Under Public Law 111–148 section 3509 the Office on Women’s Health (OWH) is required to “establish a National Women’s Health Information Center.” The foundation of the National Women’s Health Information Center is the https://womenshealth.gov website, visited by approximately 1 million people each month. This website is where OWH publishes women’s health information in plain language at the 6^th to 8^th grade reading level. Under the law, OWH is responsible for facilitating access to this health information. As a result, OWH must ensure that the https://womenshealth.gov website is easy for all Americans to navigate and understand. The homepage of the website was last redesigned in 2014 to make it readable on a mobile device. Now that the entire website is readable on a mobile device, the homepage design must be updated to make sure it meets new 508-compliance requirements and to keep pace with new technologies in mobile websites.

Government regulations and policies, including OMB’s memorandum M-17-06 “Policies for Federal Agency Public Websites and Digital Services” requires that “Federal websites and digital services should always meet and maintain high standards of effectiveness and usability…” The OMB regulations say:

All public facing websites and digital services should be designed around user needs with data-driven analysis influencing management and development decisions. Agencies should use qualitative and quantitative data to determine user goals, needs, and behaviors, and continually test websites and digital services to ensure that user needs are addressed.

In OMB memorandum M-11-26, the Fast Track clearance process under the Paperwork Reduction Act is specifically recommended for in-person website usability testing. As a result, we would like to use this clearance process to test a new homepage design to make sure all women, and others interested in women’s health, can easily find the health information they need.

The website is “responsive,” which means that the webpage is automatically arranged to fit whatever size screen a person is using, whether it’s a mobile phone, tablet, or laptop computer. Therefore, our usability testing will focus on one new homepage design in two different formats: one for a mobile phone and one for a laptop computer or the “desktop” version. During a 1-hour in-depth interview, usability testing participants will be asked questions about different elements of each design to understand if the intended design meets user needs and expectations. The testing will take place in three locations across the country, in an effort to obtain feedback from a diverse population of users. The locations are Columbia, SC, Omaha, NE, and Spokane, WA.

DESCRIPTION OF RESPONDENTS:

In order to get feedback from a very diverse target audience of all women in the U.S. who read English, we need to recruit respondents who are diverse with regard to education, income, racial and ethnic identity, insurance coverage, and employment status. We will recruit 16 respondents per site - 8 actual participants and 8 standby participants in each location. In total we will recruit 48 people, which includes 24 actual participants and 24 standby participants.

OWH prioritizes meeting the needs of rural Americans who live outside of a metro area with easy-to-understand digital health information that is readable on a mobile device. As a result, we require that at least 3 participants in each testing location live in a rural area outside of the testing location. We anticipate that these respondents will need to travel up to an hour to reach the testing location.

TYPE OF COLLECTION:

[ ] 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:_____Brooke Leggin_____________________ (Project manager’s name)

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

Personally Identifiable Information:

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

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

3. If Applicable, has a System or Records Notice been published? [ ] Yes [ ] No

Gifts or Payments:

Is an incentive (e.g., money, reimbursement of expenses or token of appreciation) provided to participants? [x ] Yes [ ] No If Yes, please describe the incentive and provide a justification for the amount.

The professional research firm we are working with to conduct usability testing across the U.S. suggests a $50 incentive for a 60 minute in-depth interview for usability testing. This incentive is similar with government-wide incentives for cognitive interviews. The rate is designed to cover costs of participation (travel, child or elder care, etc).

Because OWH requires at least 3 participants at each site to be from a rural area, we anticipate that travel time to the testing site could be up to 1 hour. Additionally we require at least half of the participants be of reproductive age (18 – 44) and all participants will be adult women 18 and older. Therefore we expect a majority of participants to have childcare or eldercare responsibilities and some to be employed full-time professionals. OWH will not be reimbursing participants for travel costs, nor providing childcare or eldercare at the testing site. Therefore the incentive is necessary to recruit participants from all income levels and employment categories, in addition to geographic areas. Without a sufficient incentive to cover the cost of transportation, possibly missing work, and childcare or elder care, we would exclude sections of the population who cannot afford to participant in an in-depth interview. Research shows that people with less income and resources are not as healthy. It is especially important that our usability testing be accessible to people in poor health, with a disability, with a low income, or lower levels of education.

BURDEN HOURS

Category of Respondent	No. of Respondents	Participation Time	Burden
Screening - Women over 18 in the recruitment firm’s database who do not qualify for testing	720	5 minutes	60 hours
Screening - Women over 18 in the recruitment firm’s database who do qualify for testing	240	15 minutes	60 hours
Participant - Women who use the internet for health information and agree to participate	24	1 hour	24 hours
Backup participant - Women who meet criteria above to fill-in for no-shows	24	1 hours	24 hours
Totals			168 hours

FEDERAL COST: The estimated annual cost to the federal government is __$59,300__

(Note: Amount should include contractor costs if the contractor is involved in the survey/collection)

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

We are not conducting a focus group or survey and do not plan to employ statistical methods.

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?

For this effort, we will be working with professional recruiting partners who have proprietary “opt-in” databases of potential research participants. The recruiting partners can filter by gender and age as a starting point based on information they already have about individuals. Individuals who reside on these databases will then receive a telephone screening questionnaire to ensure they meet all the specific qualifications. All individuals must meet the criteria listed in the screening questionnaire, and they will provide consent to participate before any research can take place.

Administration of the Survey

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

[ ] Web-based or other forms of social media.

[ ] Telephone.

[x ] In-person.

[ ] Mail.

[ ] Other, explain.

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

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

INCLUDE:

• SCREENER

• DISCUSSION GUIDE

• HOMEPAGE DESIGNS (DESKTOP AND MOBILE)

Instructions for completing Request for Approval under the “Generic Clearance for the Collection of Routine Customer Feedback”

TITLE OF INFORMATION COLLECTION: Provide the name of the collection that is the subject of the request. (e.g. Comment card for soliciting feedback on xxxx)

PURPOSE: Provide a brief description of the purpose of this collection and how it will be used. If this is part of a larger study or effort, please include this in your explanation.

DESCRIPTION OF RESPONDENTS: Provide a brief description of the targeted group or groups for this collection of information. These groups must have experience with the program.

TYPE OF COLLECTION: Check one box. If you are requesting approval of other surveys under the generic clearance, you must complete a form for each survey.

CERTIFICATION: Please read the certification carefully. If you incorrectly certify, the collection will be returned as improperly submitted or it will be disapproved.

Personally Identifiable Information: Provide answers to the questions.

Gifts or Payments: If you answer ‘yes’ to the question, please describe the incentive and provide a justification for the amount. For example, explain the need for incentives to improve response rates, validity and reliability; describe higher out-of-pocket costs to respondent or unusual demands; provide data showing impact of incentives on response rates and survey responses; demonstrate need due to special populations.

BURDEN HOURS:

Category of Respondents: Identify who you expect the respondents to be in terms of the following categories: (1) individuals or households; (2) private sector; (3) state, local or tribal governments; or (4) federal government. Only one type of respondent can be selected.

No. of Respondents: Provide an estimate of the Number of respondents.

Participation Time: Provide an estimate of the amount of time required for a respondent to participate (e.g. fill out a survey or participate in a focus group)

Burden: Provide the annual burden hours: Multiply the number of responses and the participation time and divide by 60.

FEDERAL COST: Provide an estimate of the annual cost to the federal government.

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

• Describe how you plan to identify your potential group of respondents and how you will select them. If the answer is Yes, to the first question, you may provide the sampling plan in an attachment.

• Identify how the information will be collected. More than one box may be checked. Indicate whether there will be interviewers (e.g. for surveys) or facilitators (e.g., for focus groups) used.

Please make sure all survey materials such as interview/survey questions, scripts, etc are submitted with the request. See next page for the Survey Materials Template.