Agency Information Collection Activity: United States Digital Service (USDS), Office of Management and Budget Collection of Formative Research on Agency Service Delivery
| Published date | 01 December 2021 |
| Record Number | 2021-26081 |
| Section | Notices |
| Court | Management And Budget Office |
Federal Register, Volume 86 Issue 228 (Wednesday, December 1, 2021)
[Federal Register Volume 86, Number 228 (Wednesday, December 1, 2021)]
[Notices]
[Pages 68287-68289]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2021-26081]
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OFFICE OF MANAGEMENT AND BUDGET
[OMB Control No. 0348-NEW]
Agency Information Collection Activity: United States Digital
Service (USDS), Office of Management and Budget Collection of Formative
Research on Agency Service Delivery
AGENCY: United States Digital Service (USDS), Office of Management and
Budget.
ACTION: Notice and request for public comment.
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SUMMARY: The United States Digital Service (USDS) within the Office of
Management and Budget is announcing an opportunity for public comment
on a new proposed collection of information by the agency. Under the
Paperwork Reduction Act (PRA) of 1995, Federal agencies are required to
publish notice in the Federal Register concerning each proposed
collection of information, including each proposed extension of a
currently approved collection, and to allow 60 days for public comment
in response to the
[[Page 68288]]
notice. This notice solicits comments on a new collection proposed by
USDS.
DATES: Consideration will be given to all comments received on or
before January 31, 2022.
ADDRESSES: You may submit comments by any of the following methods:
Web: Persons with access to the internet may comment on
this notice by going to www.regulations.gov. You can search for the
document by entering ``Docket Number: XXXX'' in the Search field. Then
click the ``Comment Now'' button and complete the comment form.
Email: [email protected]. Please include the information
collection title and the OMB control number (0348-NEW) in any
correspondence.
Fax: 202-969-0364.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Requests for additional information
should be directed to Rachel Sauter, who may be reached at 202-881-7793
or [email protected].
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
Purpose
Under the PRA (44 U.S.C. 3501-3520), Federal agencies must obtain
approval from the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) for each
collection of information they conduct or sponsor. ``Collection of
information'' is defined in 44 U.S.C. 3502(3) and 5 CFR 1320.3(c) and
includes certain agency requests or requirements that members of the
public submit reports, keep records, or provide information to a third
party. Section 3506(c)(2)(A) of the PRA requires Federal agencies to
provide a 60-day notice in the Federal Register concerning each
proposed collection of information, including each proposed extension
of an existing collection of information, before submitting the
collection for OMB approval. To comply with this requirement, USDS is
publishing notice of a proposed generic clearance to conduct a variety
of formative data collections with more than 9 respondents. The data
collections will inform future research and program support but will
not be highly systematic nor intended to be statistically
representative.
The mission of USDS is to deliver better government services
through technology and design. In support of that mission, USDS engages
directly with program applicants and beneficiaries, and other people
who use or need to use the government systems and services we are
helping to improve, and incorporates their feedback into our work and
recommendations. By employing human-centered design practices like user
research, USDS prioritizes the user's needs and learns what works as
quickly as possible, saving time and money while improving services to
the public. USDS deploys small, responsive groups of designers,
engineers, product managers, and other specialists to work with and
empower civil servants, working with many agencies simultaneously.
Under this generic clearance, USDS would engage in a variety of
formative data collections with people who use or need to use
government systems and services, such as program participants,
practitioners, and service providers. The data collections would occur
primarily through Discovery Sprints, which are short research projects
designed to quickly understand complexities of systems or services in
order to identify issues with service delivery, their root causes, and
opportunities for improvement. Data collections would also occur during
longer projects, as needed. USDS's research serves to provide further
understanding of whether people engaging directly with government
services are having an effective, efficient, and satisfying experience.
USDS anticipates undertaking a variety of new research projects related
to social safety net and general welfare programs, economic recovery
efforts, healthcare, and more. Many Federal agencies and field offices
find a need to learn more about the public's perceptions, experiences
and expectations; early warnings of issues with service delivery; or
areas where communication, training or changes in operations might
improve delivery of products or services.
USDS envisions using a variety of techniques including:
Pre-study self-identification questionnaires
Unmoderated comment cards/complaint forms
Unmoderated qualitative user experience surveys (e.g., post-
transaction surveys; opt-out web surveys)
Unmoderated information architecture evaluative methods (e.g.,
card sorts; tree tests)
Unmoderated content evaluative methods
Long-term behavior and experience studies (e.g., diary study)
Focus groups
User research studies (e.g., user interviews; usability tests)
Program assessment questionnaires.
Overall, this research will be designed to fulfill the following
goals: (1) Discover barriers to access that create inequities for users
of government systems and services; (2) inform the development of USDS
and agency research, (3) discover early warnings of issues with service
delivery; and (4) 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 Federal agencies and the public. It
will also allow feedback to contribute directly to the improvement of
program management.
Following standard OMB requirements, USDS will submit a generic
clearance information request for each individual data collection
activity. Each request will include the individual instrument(s), a
justification specific to the individual information collection, and
any supplementary documents. OMB will attempt to review requests within
10 days of submission.
Information collected under this generic clearance will not be used
to inform public policy (e.g., who is eligible for or receives benefits
and services); rather the findings are meant to inform USDS and
internal agency discussions about opportunities to improve service
delivery. The information collected in this effort will not be the
primary subject of any published agency reports. 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. Information gathered will yield qualitative information;
the collections will not be designed or expected to yield statistically
representative results, but rather provide insight about the challenges
that subsets of stakeholders face. All collections will be voluntary,
non-controversial, and do not raise issues of concern to other Federal
Agencies.
The information collected in this effort may be made public through
methodological appendices or footnotes, reports on instrument
development, instrument user guides, descriptions of respondent
behavior, and other publications or presentations describing findings
of methodological interest. The results of this pre-testing research
may be prepared for presentation at professional meetings or
publication in professional journals. When necessary, in presenting
findings, we will describe the study methods and limitations with
regard to generalizability, and results will be labeled as exploratory
in nature.
For further information: Rachel Sauter, 202-881-7793,
[email protected].
Type of review: New.
[[Page 68289]]
Affected public: Key stakeholder groups involved in specific
Federal and State-administered programs; state or local government
officials; participants in specific Federal and State-administered
programs or similar comparison groups; and experts in fields pertaining
to specific Federal and State research and programs.
USDS estimates that the total burden of this information collection
over a three-year period will be 20,676 hours. USDS estimates that the
annual burden of this information collection is as follows, with one
response per respondent:
Estimated Annual Burden
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Number of Minutes per
Type of collection respondents response Total hours
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Pre-study self-identification questionnaire..................... 10,000 5 833
Unmoderated comment cards/complaint forms....................... 2,500 5 208
Unmoderated qualitative user experience questionnaire........... 2,500 30 1,250
Unmoderated information architecture evaluative methods......... 800 60 800
Unmoderated content evaluative methods.......................... 800 60 800
Long-term behavior and experience studies....................... 50 300 250
Focus groups.................................................... 100 60 100
User research studies........................................... 2,500 60 2,500
Program assessment questionnaires............................... 300 30 150
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Total....................................................... 19,550 610 6,892
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Request for Comments
In compliance with the requirements of Section 3506(c)(2)(A) of the
PRA, USDS is soliciting public comment on the specific aspects of the
information collection described above. Copies of the proposed
collection of information can be obtained by writing to [email protected].
All requests should be identified by the title of the information
collection.
USDS specifically requests comments on (a) Whether the collection
of information is necessary for the proper performance of the functions
of the agency, including whether the information shall have practical
utility; (b) the accuracy of the agency's estimate of the burden of the
collection of information; (c) ways to enhance the quality, utility,
and clarity of the information to be collected; (d) ways to minimize
the burden of the collection of information on respondents, including
through the use of automated collection techniques or other forms of
information technology; and (e) estimates of capital or start-up costs
and costs of operation, maintenance, and purchase of services to
provide information. Burden means the total time, effort, or financial
resources expended by persons to generate, maintain, retain, disclose
or provide information to or for a Federal agency. This includes the
time needed to review instructions; to develop, acquire, install, and
utilize technology and systems for the purpose of collecting,
validating, and verifying information, processing and maintaining
information, and disclosing and providing information; to train
personnel and to be able to respond to a collection of information, to
search data sources, to complete and review the collection of
information; and to transmit or otherwise disclose the information.
Consideration will be given to comments and suggestions submitted
within 60 days of this publication.
An agency may not conduct or sponsor, and a person is not required
to respond to, a collection of information unless it displays a
currently valid OMB control number.
Authority: USDS is undertaking the collections at the discretion of
the agency, and under the general authority of 44 U.S.C. 3504 and the
Information Technology Oversight and Reform (ITOR) fund, as provided by
the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2021, Division E, Title II, 116
H.R. 133.
Mina Hsiang,
Administrator, United States Digital Service.
[FR Doc. 2021-26081 Filed 11-30-21; 8:45 am]
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