Research Plan: Special use permits’ evaluation content (June 2019)

Background

As of spring 2019, there are two types of special use permits in staging for a pilot for the Mt. Baker-Snoqualmie National Forest: non-commercial group use and temporary use outfitting and guiding. Last October through December 2018, there were usability studies conducted to get user feedback on the initial build. As we gathered findings, we discovered that we needed to add new content to the initial permit application process to help users identify where they were, what they were applying for, and to manage their expectations before, during, and after the application process.

As we folded in this new content, refactoring existing content was necessary for the evaluation process. We took this opportunity to align content around decision making at each stage in the process: deciding on which permit to apply for (#627) and setting application process expectations before applying (#530, #531). Since the last usability study didn’t delineate or help to answer that the permit applicant can easily determine which permit to apply for (#627), we are revisiting that query alongside the new implementation of new and existing content.

Goals

We want to evaluate whether our modified content strategy (#627, 530, 531) results in faster, more efficient, and better decision-making with the right amount of content surfaced at the appropriate time for prospective special use permit applicants. Specifically, we want to evaluate that users can identify differences in the permits and can quickly identify which one they need more efficiently. We also want to evaluate whether the applicant understands what kind of information and documentation they need to complete the application, and how long it might take to complete the application process before starting their application.

Research questions

• Do participants understand which permit they need before clicking one of the call-to-action buttons from the homepage?
• Do participants know how long it might take to complete the application for their particular permit during the evaluation process?
• Do participants know what they need to apply for their particular permit during the evaluation process?

Method(s)

• 45 minute A/B remote test session
• Test with two clickable high-fidelity mockups (in progress)

Research roles

• Research lead
• Moderator
• Observer(s)

Timeline

• Study design: May 28th - 31th
• Amber meets with Sue - SUA: June 4
• Recruiting: May 31th - June 6
• Data collection (for example, interviews): June 11 - 13 (testing)
• Top-line synthesis: June 13 (distro to product team)
• Collaborative analysis: June 14
• Collaborative synthesis: June 17
• Outcomes: June 18th (Zenhub updates)

Participants and recruiting

• 5 - Temporary outfitters (minimum of 3 from each group)
• 5 - Non-commercial general public users (minimum of 3 from each group)

Ethical and bias considerations

Recruiting from our personal network might introduce bias