Interface Design and Testing for Electronic Self Administered Survey Forms using Excel

1. Interface Design and Testing for Electronic Self Administered Survey Forms using Excel Authors: Emma Farrell, Kettie Hewett, Tracey Rowley, Leone Van Ede and Robert Burnside. Presenter: Greg Griffiths Australian Bureau of Statistics.

2. Introduction • Electronic Transactions Act (1999) - requirement to accommodate businesses who insist on reporting electronically • Excel spreadsheets adopted by ABS as most cost effective and viable short term option • No standardization of spreadsheet instruments already then in use

3. Initial Usablility Testing • In-house testing of Excel form for the Quarterly Economic Activity Survey using ABS staff & business data scenarios • 24 subjects each given one version & opportunity to comment on a 2nd • Test form mimicked paper form except for- colour (use of grey background)- font (Arial instead of Times)- navigation and submission instructions

4. Initial Testing - 2 Focused on navigation. Alternatives tested were:Tabs at the bottom of each worksheet corresponding to the page of the paper form.Scroll. A single worksheet navigated by vertical scroll barButtons. “Prev Page”, “Next Page”, “Front Page” located at the top of screen.Hyperlinks: Standard underlined blue text similar to the Buttons. All forms allowed tabbing between data entry fields or mouse click.

5. QEAS - Tabs Top of page

6. QEAS - Scroll

7. QEAS - Buttons

8. QEAS - Links

9. Initial Testing - Results • Scrolling amazingly acceptable • Labels on spreadsheet tabs, links or buttons that refer to page numbers in the form weren't very useful • Using macros to solve any of our design problems was out of the question • The form needed to provide much better keyboard navigation. • The varying positions of the navigational devices was a confounding factor in assessing their functionality. • Prior expectation impacted preference.

10. Evidence of mode effects appearing in tests • Independence of pages - lack of peripheral vision - cognitive disconnection of early instructions from data entry • Correction of Errors - ease of respondent remediation - Cut & paste • Expectations - totals - borders - cell linkages - online help

11. Second round form improvements • 9 subjects (5 old/ 4 new) • Spreadsheet tabs labelled with sections of the form. • Automatic totals for some questions. • Instructions about keyboard navigation. • General instructions for the whole form and first section instructions separated into own worksheets. • Screen notes: "No data entered in this page" and "End of.." section to prevent scrolling too far.

12. Second round testing results • Navigation • labelled section tabs • tabbing between fields • arrow keys & Ctrl Page Up/ Page Down • “No data entered on this page” • Entering and correcting data - rounding - changing numerical values - automatic totals

13. The first ABS E-form Standards • Released in 2002 • First pilot of new standards – Local Govt. Financial Statistics collection – conversion of existing Excel forms to new standard. • Post Enumeration Study – scripted interview. • PES respondent suggestions adopted : • further text areas to each worksheet to aid in data revisions & encourage comments pertinent to each section; • include an electronic version of comprehensive notes and classifications;

14. Current Situation • Still not offering as principal mode of collection • ~40 collections making some use of Excel forms • Usage largely by big businesses & government • Excel form standards regularly updated • Increased functionality used in some collections - pick lists - Add row button - use of metadata worksheet to allow for some respondent simple template construction and tailoring of forms (eg reference date) • July 2006 E-form audit – need for further standards development

15. Short term Future development • Greater automation of data extraction through use of named fields • Consistency of E-form metadata and editing and further processing