0920-1050 GenIC Request Template

Request for Approval under the “Generic Clearance for the Collection of Routine Customer Feedback” (OMB Control Number: 0920-1050)

TITLE OF INFORMATION COLLECTION: My Family Health Portrait - Usability Study

PURPOSE:

Executive Order 12862 directs Federal agencies to provide service to the public that matches or exceeds the best service available in the private sector. In order to work continuously to ensure that our programs are effective and meet our customers’ needs, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (hereafter “the Agency”) seeks to obtain OMB approval of a generic clearance to collect qualitative feedback on our service delivery. By qualitative feedback we mean information that provides useful insights on perceptions and opinions but are not statistical surveys that yield quantitative results that can be generalized to the population of study.

This collection of information is necessary to enable the Agency to garner customer and stakeholder feedback in an efficient, timely manner, in accordance with our commitment to improving service delivery. The information collected from our customers and stakeholders will help ensure that users have an effective, efficient, and satisfying experience with the Agency’s programs. This feedback will provide insights into customer or stakeholder perceptions, experiences, and expectations, provide an early warning of issues with service, or focus attention on areas where communication, training or changes in operations might improve delivery of products or services. These collections will allow for ongoing, collaborative, and actionable communications between the Agency and its customers and stakeholders. It will also allow feedback to contribute directly to the improvement of program management.

1. Purpose and Use of the Information Collection

Improving agency programs requires ongoing assessment of service delivery, by which we mean systematic review of the operation of a program compared to a set of explicit or implicit standards, as a means of contributing to the continuous improvement of the program. The Agency will collect, analyze, and interpret information gathered through this generic clearance to identify strengths and weaknesses of current services and make improvements in service delivery based on feedback. The solicitation of feedback will target areas such as: timeliness, appropriateness, accuracy of information, courtesy, efficiency of service delivery, and resolution of issues with service delivery. Responses will be assessed to plan and inform efforts to improve or maintain the quality of service offered to the public. If this information is not collected, vital feedback from customers and stakeholders on the Agency’s services will be unavailable.

The Agency will only submit a collection for approval under this generic clearance if it meets the following conditions:

• Information gathered will be used only internally for general service improvement and program management purposes and is not intended for release outside of the agency (if released, procedures outlined in Question 16 will be followed);

• Information gathered will not be used for the purpose of substantially informing influential policy decisions ¹;

• Information gathered will yield qualitative information; the collections will not be designed or expected to yield statistically reliable results or used as though the results are generalizable to the population of study; 

• The collections are voluntary;

• The collections are low-burden for respondents (based on considerations of total burden hours, total number of respondents, or burden-hours per respondent) and are low-cost for both the respondents and the Federal Government;

• The collections are non-controversial and do not raise issues of concern to other Federal agencies;

• Any 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 near future; and

• With the exception of information needed to provide renumeration for participants of focus groups and cognitive laboratory studies, personally identifiable information (PII) is collected only to the extent necessary and is not retained.

If these conditions are not met, the Agency will submit an information collection request to OMB for approval through the normal PRA process.

To obtain approval for a collection that meets the conditions of this generic clearance, a standardized form will be submitted to OMB along with supporting documentation (e.g., a copy of the comment card). The submission will have automatic approval unless OMB identifies issues within 5 business days.

The types of collections that this generic clearance covers include, but are not limited to:

• Customer comment cards/complaint forms

• Small discussion groups

• Focus Groups of customers, potential customers, delivery partners, or other stakeholders

• Cognitive laboratory studies, such as those used to refine questions or assess usability of a website

• Qualitative customer satisfaction surveys (e.g., post-transaction surveys; opt-out web surveys)

• In-person observation testing (e.g., website or software usability tests)

The Agency has established a manager/managing entity to serve for this generic clearance and will conduct an independent review of each information collection to ensure compliance with the terms of this clearance prior to submitting each collection to OMB.

As part of the overall evaluation plan for the Division of Cancer Prevention and Control (DCPC) My Family Health Portrait: Cancer (MFHP: Cancer) mobile application, a diary study will be conducted to assess application effectiveness in assessing and relaying personal cancer risk to users, and overall usability of the application (Appendix A).

The purpose of this study is to gather feedback on the current DCPC MFHP: Cancer mobile application and gather information about the utilization of currently offered features and functionalities, user experience with the process and results, and identify any areas for improvement.

Data collected from this study will be used to: (1) determine whether the app is meeting its purpose and goals; (2); document user experience with the using the app, and (3) identify any areas for improvement.

DESCRIPTION OF RESPONDENTS:

User feedback will be collected through online surveys and personal interviews. The subpopulation will be individuals from the general public/consumer participants who meet the study inclusion criteria (Appendix B). We are seeking respondents with a mix of demographics (e.g., education, age, gender, and known risk of cancer).

TYPE OF COLLECTION: (Check one)

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

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

[ ] Focus Group [X] Other: Personal Interviews; Diary Study

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: Nita Patel

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

Personally Identifiable Information:

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

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

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

Gifts or Payments:

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

We intend to provide incentives for all participants who complete the entire study. Research shows that response rates are improved by the use of incentives (particularly for groups that don't typically participate). A recruiting firm will be used to recruit and interview participants. The recruiting firm will provide an incentive of $240 ($40 per survey; 6 surveys total) to thank participants who successfully complete the study. proposed study is atypical in duration – a total of six hours over the course of four weeks since the testing includes discussion with family members to gather health history for use in the mobile application. The incentive is consistent with monetary standards for usability testing studies provided by CDC ($40). Participants will only be provided an incentive for the number of surveys they complete (so $240 is the maximum a participant can receive). The recruitment firm will have access to PII for recruitment and scheduling purposes and is needed so that the firm can send the incentive to participants, but CDC will not have access to PII.

BURDEN HOURS

A variety of instruments and platforms will be used to collect information from respondents. The annual burden hours requested (137) are based on the number of collections we expect to conduct over the requested period for this clearance.

Type of collection		No. of respondents	Annual Frequency per response	Hours per response	Total Hours
In person surveys, online surveys, telephone surveys, in person observation/testing, interviews	Recruitment Screener	100	1	10/60	17
	Pre-Study Brief	20	1	60/60	20
	Diary Study (weekly tasks and associated surveys)	20	1	240/60	80
	Post-Study Interview	20	1	60/60	20
Totals		160			137

FEDERAL COST: The anticipated cost to the Federal Government is approximately $4,375 annually. These costs are comprised of an estimate of applicable costs, such as operational expenses (e.g., equipment, overhead, printing, postage and support staff), contractor payments and any other expense that is necessary to collect the information approved under this generic clearance.

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? [X] Yes
   [ ] 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?

We are seeking 20 participants with a mix of education, age, gender, and known risk of cancer for the following participant role:

• 20 General Public/Consumer Participants

We are seeking a mix of demographics, including:

• A mix of age

• A mix of education

• A mix of participants who already know they are at an increased risk of cancer and participants who have no known risk

• A mix of race and ethnicity

• A mix of gender

• A mix of Android and iOS users

Additional details are provided in Appendix B.

Administration of the Instrument

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

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

[X] Telephone

[ ] In-person

[ ] Mail

[ ] Other, Explain

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

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

Please see the attachments for the invitation and scheduling emails and instruments.

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 instruments under the generic, you must complete a form for each instrument.

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.

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:

The selection of your targeted respondents. Please provide a description of 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.

Administration of the Instrument: 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 that all instruments, instructions, and scripts are submitted with the request.

1 As defined in OMB and agency Information Quality Guidelines, “influential” means that “an agency can reasonably determine that dissemination of the information will have or does have a clear and substantial impact on important public policies or important private sector decisions.”

8