[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
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
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
                                                                 -----------------------------------------------
    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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