FastTrack GenIC - HomVEE Website Information Architecture Testing

Request for Approval under the “Generic Clearance for the Collection of Routine Customer Feedback” (OMB Control Number: 0970-0401)

TITLE OF INFORMATION COLLECTION: Home Visiting Evidence of Effectiveness – Website Information Architecture Testing

PURPOSE AND USE: The Department of Health and Human Services launched the Home Visiting Evidence of Effectiveness (HomVEE) review to conduct a thorough and transparent review of the research on early childhood home visiting models. The HomVEE website provides users with an assessment of the evidence of effectiveness for early childhood home visiting models that serve families with pregnant people and children from birth to kindergarten entry (that is, up through age 5) and additional information about models and implementation details provided by model developers or other model stakeholders.

The Administration for Children and Families (ACF) Office of Planning, Research, and Evaluation (OPRE) is planning to review and test the HomVEE website under controlled test conditions with members of the site’s audience. The materials proposed in this request are to implement Website Information Architecture Testing through tree testing, card-sort testing, and first-click testing. These unmoderated navigability tests will test website architecture, functionality and usability by providing users with a link to a self-administered set of tasks. This request is related to and supplements a prior request under this umbrella generic: “Home Visiting Evidence of Effectiveness – Website Usability Testing”.

Information collected will allow the HomVEE team to better understand any usability issues and their underlying cause so that they can be resolved. Potential usability issues may include:

• Messaging issues – Users should be able to easily determine the purpose and value of the site.

• Navigation issues – Users should be able to easily locate features and information.

• Scannability issues – Information should be presented in a way that is hierarchical, and easy to scan and consume.

• Accuracy issues – Users’ actions should produce desired results.

• Language or terminology issues – Site should use language and terms familiar to users. Help understanding site terms should be readily available.

DESCRIPTION OF RESPONDENTS: The test participants will include members of the website’s intended audience, recruited from two primary listservs: (1) subscribers to the HomVEE email distribution list, and (2) subscribers to OPRE’s newsletter. These individuals include researchers and experts in the field of child welfare and related fields, home visiting implementation agencies and providers, and state policy makers and federal staff.¹

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 primary purpose of the results is not for public dissemination.

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 and affiliation:___Shirley Adelstein, OPRE/ACF________________

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, 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

Tokens of Appreciation or Honoraria: 

Will a token of appreciation or honoraria be provided to participants?  [ ] Yes [X] No

BURDEN HOURS

Information Collection	Category of Respondent	No. of Respondents	No. of Responses per Respondent	Estimated Time per Response	Burden Hours
Website Information Architecture Testing	Individuals or Households	100	1	.33	33
Website Information Architecture Testing	State, local, or tribal governments	100	1	.33	33
Totals		200	1	.33 (20 minutes)	66

FEDERAL COST: The estimated annual cost to the Federal government is _$3,148____

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.

This is a self-administered task. Any user that reads the announcement in either of the two listservs described above and clicks the link will be able to participate in the test. The announcement will describe the context for the usability test and the types of user testers requested.

Administration of the Instrument

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

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

[ ] Telephone

[ ] In-person

[ ] Mail

[ ] Other, Explain

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

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

1 This collection of information is part of the federal employee’s work-related duties and therefore are not subject to the Paperwork Reduction Act. These respondents are not included in the burden estimates.

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