| R -- Usability and Accessibility Study of a New User Interface for ClinicalTrails.gov |
| Program Summary |
 |
| Title: |
R -- Usability and Accessibility Study of a New User Interface for ClinicalTrails.gov |
| GovCB Opps ID : |
ADP12043045210001375 |
| Document Type: |
Presolicitation Notice |
| FSC Code: |
R - Professional, Administrative and Management Support Services
|
| Solicitation No.: |
08-069-CYC |
| Source: |
http://www1.fbo.gov/spg/HHS/NIH/OAM/08%2D069%2DCYC/SynopsisP.html |
Place of
Performance: |
Address: 8600 Rockville Pike Bethesda, MD Postal Code: 20894 Country: UNITED STATES
|
Posted Date:
|
Feb 28, 2008 |
| Last Update: |
Mar 06, 2008 |
| Due Date: |
Mar 14, 2008 |
|
| Description |
|
General Information
| Document Type: |
Presolicitation Notice |
| Solicitation Number: |
08-069-CYC |
| Posted Date: |
Feb 28, 2008 |
| Original Response Date: |
Mar 14, 2008 |
| Current Response Date: |
Mar 14, 2008 |
| Original Archive Date: |
Mar 29, 2008 |
| Current Archive Date: |
Mar 29, 2008 |
| Classification Code: |
R -- Professional, administrative, and management support services |
| Naics Code: |
541990 -- All Other Professional, Scientific, and Technical Services |
Contracting Office Address
Department of Health and Human Services, National Institutes of Health, National Library of Medicine, 8600 Rockville Pike, Bethesda, MD, 20894, UNITED STATES
Description
It is the intent of the National Library of Medicine (NLM) to procure professional services for NIH?s ?Usability and Accessibility Study of a New User Interface for ClinicalTrails.gov.?
PERIOD OF PERFORMANCE: 10 weeks from the date of award; not to exceed one year.
PRICING METHOD: Firm should provide a single firm fixed price, not to exceed US$46,325.
TASK DESCRIPTION: ClinicalTrials.gov (www.ClinicalTrials.gov) is the world?s largest registry of clinical trials, aiming to provide comprehensive clinical trials information to interested parties, including but not limited to patients, medical researchers and healthcare providers. The site currently contains over 47,000 clinical studies sponsored by the National Institutes of Health, other federal agencies, and private industry from 153 countries. Recent rapid growth of the public?s awareness of ClinicalTrials.gov as well as a number of policies to foster transparency in clinical research has led to the diversification of user groups and corresponding information needs and questions brought to the registry. In order to better serve various user needs, we would like to conduct an evaluation of the usability and accessibility of the ?new? ClinicalTrials.gov site to inform the overall design of the user interface (UI), how well it answers specific users' needs (including accessibility under Section 508), and user experience with the site. The external contractor involved in the project will perform the following set of tasks:
? Identify potential venues for recruiting participants from various user groups.
? Conduct participant recruitment and selection of representatives from different user groups targeted. Selection criteria include: profession and prior experience at ClinicalTrials.gov as well as gender, age group, and Web experience.
? Develop scenarios and tasks for the usability testing for each user group.
? Identify and/or develop a usability survey instrument, including user satisfaction.
? Develop a script for the facilitator to use during user testing.
? Conduct formal usability testing, including both free-form exploration and pre-specified scenarios/tasks (i.e., think-aloud method), to analyze user interactions with the UI. Users will be encouraged to interact with the UI to address information needs not represented in the pre-specified tasks.
? Use data capture (video, user keystrokes/mouse logging) during each session for post-session analyses of user interactions, both qualitatively (e.g., UI feature use patterns) and quantitatively (e.g., number of mouse clicks).
? Conduct semi-structured interviews with users to obtain direct feedback on her/his experience, elicit comparisons with the existing UI (for ?experienced participants? only), and seek out additional user needs.
? Use formal accessibility evaluation tools (e.g., Watchfire?s WebXM) to evaluate compliance with Section 508 guidelines.
? Use hands-on evaluation by a user(s) familiarity with a range of online assistive technologies to review accessibility from a user-perspective.
1.0 . Program goals
Program goals relevant to this evaluation are:
a. Providing access to information about clinical trials through a user-friendly interface, for a variety of user groups (e.g., patients, physicians, researchers), including users with disabilities and specific needs.
b. Developing search mechanisms to support users in finding clinical studies easily and assessing the relevance of query results rapidly (e.g., potential enrollment), including advanced features for experienced users.
c. Displaying information about clinical research studies in useful formats that support different user tasks (e.g., understanding the purpose and design of a study, comparing several studies, obtaining contact information).
d. Providing additional information to facilitate exploration of the registered clinical research studies through query reformulation (e.g., filtering or narrowing the scope by trial location, providing related terms and topics) or selecting to ?browse? studies by topic categories.
The evaluation will provide empirical user data on how well the new interface features work and how to fine-tune or revise them, as needed.
2.0 . Recruitment
Participant recruitment and selection will seek representatives from different user groups. Selection criteria include: professional ?role? (i.e., patient/consumer, healthcare professional, and clinical researcher) and prior experience at ClinicalTrials.gov (i.e., yes/no) as well as gender, age group, and Web experience. In addition to querying a contractor?s in-house database of participants, brief descriptions of the study goals, methodology, anticipated time commitment, and contact information will be posted (physically and/or electronically) at locations appropriate for each user group identified by the contractor, such as:
? Patient/Consumer: public clinics, Wheaton Library Health Information Center
? Healthcare Professional: local hospitals (e.g., Suburban) and clinics
? Clinical Researchers: academic medical centers (e.g., Georgetown), NIH Clinical Center
Contractor will then proceed to recruit, screen, and select all participants (up to 54 in all) for the study from the user groups outlined above, both with and without ClinicalTrials.gov experience (up to 9 participants from each of the 6 ?role? x ?prior experience? user groups).
3.0 . Facilities and Equipment
The contractor shall be able to perform usability testing at their own facilities or, if available, at the National Cancer Institute?s User-Centered Informatics Research Laboratory, which is no-charge to Government agencies. Facilities costs for the usability lab must be included as part of the total cost. The facility selected should be adequate for conducting usability tests such as the one described as part of this Needs Assessment. The usability tests will be conducted at a usability lab where ClinicalTrials.gov/NLM staff can watch the proceedings, preferably from behind a one-way mirror. The lab shall accommodate persons with disabilities. The contractor will videotape usability testing sessions, with permission of the participants, and will supply ClinicalTrials.gov/NLM with copies of the unedited tapes, and all data capture files (e.g., keystroke logs) at the conclusion of the study.
The contractor shall also conduct formal accessibility analysis on the ClinicalTrials.gov site using appropriate tools and submit the results of the evaluation based on Section 508 guidelines.
4.0 . Analysis
The contractor shall summarize the data, analyze it to determine the most pressing usability and all accessibility problems, and make recommendations for resolving those problems. The contractor shall also make recommendations for desirable new features based on usability data, self-reported user satisfaction, and direct feedback and observation of study participants.
5.0. Reports
The contractor shall deliver the following:
1) A concise Microsoft Word final summary report, including an executive summary, methods, and recommendations.
2) A Microsoft Power Point presentation outlining all findings from each user group, including user satisfaction (survey) results.
In addition, the contractor will brief the ClinicalTrials.gov team.
6.0. Milestones
It is anticipated that the evaluation will be completed within 10 weeks of award of the contract:
Week 1 Meet with ClinicalTrials.gov staff to discuss evaluation requirements
Deliver work plan and task schedule (timeline)
Week 2 Submit draft tasks, interview script, and instruments for usability testing, including script for facilitator and a usability survey instrument to include user satisfaction
Begin accessibility evaluation
Week 3 Submit final tasks, interview script, and instruments for usability testing
Submit confirmation of arrangements for use of usability testing facility, data capture equipment (videotaping) and software (keystroke and log analysis); Begin recruiting participants
Weeks 4-7 Conduct user testing. Submit unedited videotapes and logs of test sessions and satisfaction of instrument responses
Weeks 8-10 Submit final summary report, including an executive summary, methods, and recommendations; Oral presentation to staff
7.0 Deliverables
The contractor shall provide ClinicalTrials.gov with the following deliverables:
1) Work plan with tasks and schedule of milestones (timeline)
2) Recruitment plan from different potential venues, and schedule
3) Draft and final usability scripts/task scenarios for usability testing for each user group
4) List of participants identified by group membership, according to two variables:
- ClinicalTrials.gov experience (Yes/No)
- Role (Patient - Consumer/Healthcare Professional/Clinical Researcher)
5) Usability survey instrument, including user satisfaction
6) A script for facilitator to use during testing
7) Any raw data, including unedited videotapes and logs of testing sessions, and satisfaction of instrument responses; evaluation of site accessibilty.
8) Microsoft Word detailed final report and Executive Summary
7) Microsoft Power Point presentation
8.0 Pricing and Funding
Funding is limited to $46,325. The contractor should provide an itemized budget, specifying how the funds will be spent. Firm rates and an hourly ceiling for each labor classification for usability testing. Pricing for the development of scripts/task scenarios should be based on labor hours subject to the overall ceiling for this task order. The total amount for participant remuneration must be included as part of the total cost. Facilities costs for the usability lab must be included as part of the total cost.
The funding for this evaluation project will be provided via the FY 2008 NIH Set-Aside funds award from the Evaluation Branch, OPASI, Office of the Director.
9.0. Clearances
This evaluation focuses on the needs of different, well-defined user groups. The essential differences in the standardized tasks designed for each user groups stem from differing information needs and levels of experience with ClinicalTrials.gov. Because the same information will not be collected from more than 9 participants per group, OMB clearance will not be required for this evaluation.
10.0 Privacy
Complete confidentiality of all participants will be assured, as no identifying information will be collected.
PAYMENT SCHEDULE
The contractor may request and payment may be made in the percentages listed below:
? 1/3 of the award value payable upon acceptance by ClinicalTrials.gov of
o 1) the work plan with schedule of milestones;
o 2) recruitment plan and schedule.
? 1/3 of the award value payable upon acceptance by ClinicalTrials.gov of the final usability scripts/task scenarios/instruments for each critical audience as defined;
? 1/3 of the award value payable upon acceptance by ClinicalTrials.gov of:
o 1) the raw data and final report, Executive Summary, and Power Point
Presentation;
o 2) completion of the oral presentation to ClinicalTrials.gov/NLM senior
staff.
EVALUATION FACTORS
Proposals submitted under this request shall be evaluated using the following factors:
1) Contractor understanding and approach (25 pts)
The proposal provides a statement of the scope and purpose of the contract that demonstrates complete understanding of intent and requirements. The work plan covers all tasks and all phases of the project, including a feasible timeline. There is consistency between the proposed level of effort and the budget justification.
2) Corporate experience/technical competence of staff (45 pts)
The proposal documents expertise in Web site usability/accessibility and shows a successful track record of conducting Web site usability/accessibility tests. Staff is highly proficient in and has knowledge of principles of health communication and health issues in the different target populations, sufficient to (1) recruit an adequate pool of ?real? and diverse users for testing; (2) inform the development of relevant usability testing tasks and scripts; and (3) provide substantive insight into the interpretation of usability testing results and recommendations for Web site improvements. It is also important that the staff have demonstrated experience in writing for all audience levels, working with data capture software, and formal accessibility evaluation tools.
3) Contractor facilities (25 pts)
Facilities are adequate for conducting Web site usabilitiy tests and have both high-speed and broad band Internet connections, one-way mirrors, and split-screen videotaping capacity.
4) Price (5 pts)
While price will not be the most important evaluation factor, proposed prices will be considered in determining the firm that represents the best value to the Government.
AWARD CRITERIA
The acceptability of the technical portion of each contract proposal will be based on an evaluation performed by the project officer. The project officer will evaluate each proposal in strict conformity with the evaluation criteria, utilizing point scores and written critiques. The contracting officer/specialist, in conjunction with the project officer, will establish a competitive range comprising all the most highly rated proposals. The technical proposal will receive paramount consideration in the selection of the contractor for this acquisition. If the technical evaluation reveals that two or more offerors are approximately equal in technical ability, then the estimated cost of performance will become paramount. The Government reserves the right to make an award to the best advantage of the Government, cost and other factors considered, and reserves the right to make an award without further discussion of the proposals received.
The proposed acquisition will be procured under FAR Part 13 - Acquisitions of Non- Commercial Items. This is not a Request for Quotations (RFQ), nor is an RFQ available. Full text of clauses and provisions are available at Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR): http://www.arnet.gov/far/index.html. The following clauses and provisions apply to this acquisition and may be obtained from the web site: FAR 52.213-4, Terms and Conditions?Simplified Acquisitions (Other Than Commercial Items) (December 2007). However, all responsive sources may submit a capabilities statement in a timely manner that will be considered by the Government. Proposals must include pricing information. Responses must be in writing and must be received in the office within fifteen (15) business days from the publication date of this notice. EMAIL OR FAXED PROPOSALS WILL NOT BE ACCEPTED.
NLM Synopsis No. NLM 08-069/CYC. Inquires regarding this procurement may be made to Cara Y. Calimano, Contract Specialist, NLM on (301) 496-6546.
Point of Contact
Cara Calimano, Contract Specialist, Phone 301 496-6127, Fax 301 402-8169, Email CalimaC@mail.nlm.nih.gov - Cara Calimano, Contract Specialist, Phone 301 496-6127, Fax 301 402-8169, Email CalimaC@mail.nlm.nih.gov
Place of Performance
| Address: |
8600 Rockville Pike
Bethesda, MD |
| Postal Code: |
20894 |
| Country: |
UNITED STATES |
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