[Federal Register Volume 87, Number 10 (Friday, January 14, 2022)]
[Notices]
[Pages 2458-2459]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2022-00662]



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OFFICE OF MANAGEMENT AND BUDGET

[OMB Control No. O348-NEW]


Information Collection; Improving Customer Experience (OMB 
Circular A-11, Section 280 Implementation)

AGENCY: The Office of Management and Budget.

ACTION: Notice; request for comment.

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SUMMARY: The Office of Management and Budget (OMB) as part of its 
continuing effort to reduce paperwork and respondent burden, is 
announcing an opportunity for public comment on a new proposed 
collection of information by the Agency. Under the Paperwork Reduction 
Act of 1995 (PRA), Federal Agencies are required to publish notice in 
the Federal Register concerning each proposed collection of 
information, and to allow 60 days for public comment in response to the 
notice. This notice solicits comments on new collection proposed by the 
Agency.

DATES: Submit comments on or before: March 15, 2022.

ADDRESSES: Submit comments identified by Information Collection 0348-
NEW, Improving Customer Experience (OMB Circular A-11, Section 280 
Implementation), by any of the following methods:
     Federal eRulemaking portal: https://www.regulations.gov. 
Follow the instructions for submitting comments. Comments submitted 
electronically, including attachments to https://www.regulations.gov, 
will be posted to the docket unchanged.
    Instructions: Please submit comments only and cite Information 
Collection 0348-NEW, Improving Customer Experience (OMB Circular A-11, 
Section 280 Implementation), in all correspondence related to this 
collection. To confirm receipt of your comment(s), please check 
regulations.gov, approximately two to three business days after 
submission to verify posting (except allow 30 days for posting of 
comments submitted by mail).

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Requests for additional information 
should be directed to Amira Boland, Office of Management and Budget, 
725 17th St. NW, Washington, DC 20006, 202-395-0380, or via email to 
[email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

A. Purpose

    Under the PRA, (44 U.S.C. 3501-3520) Federal Agencies must obtain 
approval from 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 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 to OMB for approval. To comply with this 
requirement, OMB is publishing notice of the proposed collection of 
information set forth in this document.
    Whether seeking a loan, Social Security benefits, veterans 
benefits, or other services provided by the Federal Government, 
individuals and businesses expect Government customer services to be 
efficient and intuitive, just like services from leading private-sector 
organizations. Yet on Forrester's 2020 CX Index, the Federal sector's 
average score is 10.7 points behind the private sector average and 
lower than any other industry or sector studied. Nearly half of the 
bottom 5% of the U.S. CX Index Rankings are Federal agencies.
    The President's Management Agenda (see https://www.performance.gov/PMA) prioritizes efforts to improve the experience of those the 
Government serves--all of the people, families, businesses, 
organizations, and communities across America, especially those 
communities that have been historically underserved by Government, when 
they use Government services. This focus on customer experience will 
not only improve the delivery, efficiency, security, and effectiveness 
of our Government programs, it will advance equity and enhance everyday 
interactions with public services and uplift the lives of those who 
need them the most. To support this, OMB Circular A-11 Section 280 
establishes Government-wide standards for mature customer experience 
organizations in government and measurement. In order for Federal 
programs to design and deliver the experience taxpayers deserve, they 
must often undertake three general categories of activities: Conduct 
ongoing customer research, gather and share customer feedback, and test 
services and digital products. Both the PMA and Section 280 charge the 
President's Management Council--the primary Government-wide body that 
advises the President and OMB on management issues that span agencies--
with the routine designation of cross-agency ``life experiences'' for 
improvement (such as turning 65, surviving a natural disaster, or 
having a child) that do not fit neatly within one agency's mission 
area.
    For these projects, OMB designers and staff, such as the those on 
the Federal Customer Experience team or at the U.S. Digital Service, 
may lead and coordinate information collections in service of cross-
agency life experience improvement efforts. These data collection 
efforts may be either qualitative or quantitative in nature or may 
consist of mixed methods. Additionally, data may be collected via a 
variety of means, including but not limited to electronic or social 
media, direct or indirect observation (i.e., in person, video, and 
audio collections), interviews, questionnaires, surveys, and focus 
groups. OMB will limit its inquiries to data collections that solicit 
strictly voluntary opinions or responses. Steps will be taken to ensure 
anonymity of respondents in each activity covered by this request, 
where appropriate.
    The results of the data collected will be used to improve the 
delivery of Federal services and programs, and in particular, those 
experiences that are more Government-wide in nature. It will include 
the creation of customer personas, customer journey maps (for a 
definition of and more information on customer personas and journey 
maps, see https://performance.gov/cx/projects), and reports and 
summaries of customer feedback data and user insights. It will also 
provide Government-wide data on customer experience that can be 
displayed on Performance.gov to help build transparency and 
accountability of Federal programs to the customers they serve.

Method of Collection

    OMB will collect this information by electronic means when 
possible, as well as by mail, fax, telephone, technical discussions, 
and in-person interviews. OMB may also utilize observational techniques 
to collect this information.

Data

    Form Number(s): None.
    Type of Review: New.

B. Annual Reporting Burden

    Affected Public: Collections will be 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. For the 
purposes of this request, ``customers'' are individuals, businesses, 
and organizations that interact with a Federal Government

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agency or program, either directly or via a Federal contractor. This 
could include individuals or households; businesses or other for-profit 
organizations; not-for-profit institutions; State, local, Tribal, or 
territorial governments; and universities.
    Estimated Number of Respondents: 2,001,550.
    Estimated Time per Response: Varied, dependent upon the data 
collection method used. The possible response time to complete a 
questionnaire or survey may be 3 minutes or up to 1.5 hours to 
participate in an interview.
    Estimated Total Annual Burden Hours: 101,125.
    Estimated Total Annual Cost to Public: $2,737,454.

C. Public Comments

    OMB invites comments on: (a) Whether the proposed collection of 
information is necessary for the proper performance of the functions of 
the agency, including whether the information will have practical 
utility; (b) the accuracy of the agency's estimate of the burden 
(including hours and cost) of the proposed collection of information; 
(c) ways to enhance the quality, utility, and clarity of the 
information to be collected; and (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. Comments submitted in response to this notice will be 
summarized or included in the request for OMB approval of this 
information collection; they also will become a matter of public 
record.

Jason S. Miller,
Deputy Director of Management.
[FR Doc. 2022-00662 Filed 1-13-22; 8:45 am]
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