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.

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

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 2 nd Test form mimicked paper form except for - colour (use of grey background) - font (Arial instead of Times) - navigation and submission instructions

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 bar Buttons. “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.

QEAS - Tabs Top of page

QEAS - Scroll

QEAS - Buttons

QEAS - Links

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.

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

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.

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

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;

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

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