[Federal Register Volume 87, Number 72 (Thursday, April 14, 2022)]
[Notices]
[Pages 22236-22237]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2022-07977]


=======================================================================
-----------------------------------------------------------------------

OFFICE OF MANAGEMENT AND BUDGET

[OMB Control No. 0348-NEW]


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

AGENCY: Office of Management and Budget.

ACTION: Notice; request for comment.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------

SUMMARY: The Office of Management and Budget (OMB) has under review the 
following proposed Information Collection Request ``Improving Customer 
Experience (OMB Circular A-11, Section 280 Implementation)'' for 
approval under the Paperwork Reduction Act (PRA).

DATES: Comments must be received by May 16, 2022.

ADDRESSES: Written comments and recommendations for the proposed 
information collection should be sent within 30 days of publication of 
this notice to www.reginfo.gov/public/do/PRAMain. Find this particular 
information collection by selecting ``Currently under 30-day Review--
Open for Public Comments'' or by using the search function.

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: 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 are 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. 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 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 data collected will be evaluated and 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 
definitions of--and more information

[[Page 22237]]

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.
    As a general matter, these information collections will not result 
in any new system of records containing privacy information and will 
not ask questions of a sensitive nature, such as sexual behavior and 
attitudes, religious beliefs, and other matters that are commonly 
considered private.
    OMB will only submit collections if they meet the following 
criteria:
     The collections are voluntary;
     The collections are low-burden for respondents (based on 
considerations of total burden hours 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;
     Personally identifiable information (PII) is collected 
only to the extent necessary and is not retained;
     Information gathered is intended to be used for general 
service improvement and program management purposes;
     Upon agreement between OMB and the agency all or a subset 
of information may be released as part of A-11, Section 280 
requirements only on performance.gov;
     Summaries of customer research and user testing activities 
may be included in public-facing customer journey maps or summaries; 
and
     Additional release of data must be coordinated with OMB.
    These responses will 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 services 
will be unavailable.
    Current Action: New Collection of Information.
    Type of Review: New.
    Affected Public: Individuals and households; businesses and 
organizations; State, local, territorial, or Tribal governments.
    Estimated Number of Respondents: Below is a preliminary estimate of 
the aggregate burden hours for this new collection. OMB will provide 
refined estimates of burden in subsequent notices.
    Average Expected Annual Number of Activities: Approximately five 
types of customer experience activities such as feedback surveys, focus 
groups, user testing, and interviews.
    Average Number of Respondents per Activity: 1 response per 
respondent per activity.
    Annual Responses: 2,001,550.
    Average Minutes per Response: 2-60 minutes, dependent upon 
activity.
    Burden Hours: OMB estimates approximately 101,125 burden hours.
    Request for Comments: Comments are invited on: (a) Whether the 
proposed 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 (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. In general, comments submitted in 
response to this notice will be summarized and/or included in the 
request for approval of this information collection; they also will 
become a matter of public record.

Jason S. Miller,
Deputy Director of Management.
[FR Doc. 2022-07977 Filed 4-13-22; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3110-01-P