Waitlist - 03 - Discussion Guide

Waitlist Data Management & Burden Improvement

Discussion Guide

Waitlist Data Management and Burden Improvement

Discussion Guide for Concept Testing Conversations

Discussion Outline

Introductory script 2

1.0 Build rapport 3

2.0 Interview questions [if applicable] 3

3.0 Concept testing 4

3.1 Describe the concept back to us 4

3.2 Likes & dislikes 4

3.3 Feasibility & viability 4

3.4 Features ranking 5

3.5 Closeout 5

It is not the intent to ask participants a standardized set of questions. Instead, participants will engage in a loosely guided conversation with facilitators in which they will be asked to share their lived experiences and opinions related to a series of concepts developed by the HUD Customer Experience team designed to show how the waitlist experience could be improved. Specific question phrasing and areas of deeper exploration will be determined on an ad hoc basis by facilitators during the conversation. The questions below represent the types of things a facilitator may ask the participant.

These sessions will be timed to ensure they do not exceed 60 minutes. The facilitator will be responsible for ensuring that they leave adequate time to wrap up the conversation before the end of the session within the allotted time.

1.0 Concept testing

8 mins

Thank you for taking the time to speak with us today.

HUD is exploring how they can support local partners and housing agencies to help improve the experience of individuals and families finding affordable housing through waitlists. To better understand the needs, HUD began by talking to a variety of customers including, public housing agencies, housing providers, families, and others. From these conversations, our team identified some pain points in the process, and we have developed some ideas for improvements that we are hoping to get your feedback on today.

Throughout this conversation, we urge you to share your honest, candid feedback. We’ll be showing you some of our ideas, and we’d love for you to “think out loud” as we move through this conversation.

I’m also required to read the following statement:

[Share screen showing this language and read aloud]

A Federal agency may not conduct or sponsor, and a person is not required to respond to, nor shall a person be subject to a penalty for failure to comply with an information collection subject to the requirements of the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 unless the information collection has a currently valid OMB Control Number. The approved OMB Control Number for this information collection is 2511-0001. The expiration date for this Control Number is 09/30/2024. Without this approval, we could not conduct this interview. Public reporting for this information collection is estimated to be approximately 60 minutes per response. All responses to this information collection are voluntary. Send comments regarding this burden estimate or any other aspect of this information collection, including suggestions for reducing this burden to the HUD Customer Experience Team at CX@hud.gov.

[Remind them of the consent form]

1.0 Build rapport

2 mins

• Tell me a little about yourself.

2.0 Interview questions

50 mins, asked instead of concept testing questions

[These types of questions will be used for interview sessions with those who are subject matter experts in other forms of finding and applying for services or products (e.g., other government services, college applications, adoptable pets). The team will use these conversations to better understand best practices and lessons learned and uncover possible solution opportunities.]

• Tell me more about the product/service you provide.

• Can you walk me through at a high level how the process [of finding/applying] works?

• [if they feel the process works fairly well] How do you account for this process’s success?

• [if they feel the process doesn’t work well] What would you think would improve the effectiveness/efficiency of this process?

3.0 Concept testing

50 mins, divided across all concepts relevant to the participant type

[We would begin this section by reading a statement about the concept, such as “We want to understand whether this idea would help improve the affordable housing waitlist experience.” We will show (e.g., a storyboard, a process map, a sample application) and describe the concept as a whole and then will ‘zoom into’ each part of the concept, describing as we go.]

3.1 Describe the concept back to us

• From your perspective, what is this idea trying to accomplish?

• How would you as a [participant type] use this [thing]?

• How does this process differ from how things currently are?

• Who else would this idea impact? How so?

3.2 Likes & dislikes

• What do you like about this idea?

  • What about it would make things easier or simpler?

  • What about it would decrease your burden or effort?

  • What catches your attention in a good way?

• What don’t you like about this idea?

  • What about it would make things harder or more complicated?

  • What about it would increase your burden or effort?

  • Is anything confusing?

3.3 Feasibility & viability

• In your mind, what would need to happen to make this idea a reality?

  • Who would need to be involved?

  • What type of resources would be necessary?

• [for HUD and housing providers] What would be needed to sustain this idea for the long term?

  • Who should own this idea?

  • If this idea were to be real, how do you see it affecting your day-to-day work?

    • Given that impact, are there things about it you would change to lessen your burden?

3.4 Features ranking

[Highlight a set of features for the concept on a single slide/view. Have the participant rank these concepts least favorite to most favorite. After ranking, ask the following.]

• Why did you rank these features the way you did?

• If money/effort/time were no object, would you rank them differently?

3.5 Closeout

• If you had a magic wand, what would you change about the affordable housing waitlist experience for yourself and for others?

[Thank the participant for participating in this session and that we appreciate their thoughts and time.]

HUD Customer Experience | Draft – For discussion Purposes Only CX@HUD.gov 4