Conversation Guide

Moderator logistics

2-3 days before the session

Review VA Platform's Research Checklist.
Complete any project-specific setup tasks for this study (list them below)
[ ] Step 1: Confirm that the GI Bill Comparison Tool's staging server reflects the new design and positioning of filter elements, and the link to descriptions of specialized mission filters works.
[ ] Step 2: Perform a mock session and make any needed adjustments to the conversation guide script
[ ] Step 3: Assign backup host personnel should the moderator or other personnel be unable to participate in a scheduled session.

Day of the session

Use #feedback-backchannel in Slack for real-time feedback from observers.
Mute your Slack notifications.
Send out the observer instructions to your observers (Slackbot will do this for you if you type "observer instructions" into #feedback-backchannel).

Starting the session

In the Attendees section, make sure everyone except the participant is on mute.
In the Participant "more" menu, make sure "Play Join and Leave Sound" is unchecked
Check your [screensharing setup] and share permissions for participants.
When the participant is ready, begin the session with the following intro.

Intro - 5 minutes

Thanks for joining us today! My name is Garry and my colleague Ariana will be taking notes. I also have a couple other colleagues in the Zoom waiting room who would like to observe and take notes. But before we get to them...

Today we're going to talk about filtering options and capabilities in the GI Bill Comparison Tool.

Before we start, a few things I want to mention:

This entire session should take about 30 minutes. I want to be sure not to keep you much longer, so I may occasionally prompt you with the next question or topic.
In this session, we want to hear your honest opinions. We are not testing your ability. We just want to improve these tools to better meet Veteran's needs. I will not be offended by any opinions you express, and I welcome your feedback.
If for any reason and at any time you want to stop the session, please let me know. You'll be compensated no matter how much of the session we complete.
Perigean did ask for your consent to allow observers, but I want to be sure before we get going. Are you okay with a couple of additional observers during this session?
- If no: Use Slack to kindly ask the observers to leave the Zoom.
- If yes: Admit observers.
- Then, ask the notetaker and observers to give a brief, camera-on, introduction, like their first name and position with VA.gov. (This is meant to humanize the interaction of observation for the participant)
- Once complete ask notetaker and observers to turn off their cameras for remainder of the session to save bandwidth
Are you comfortable if I record my screen and audio as we talk today? We use the recordings to confirm that we have captured your opinions accurately. The recordings are destroyed after we complete analysis, and none of your comments will be attributed to you directly.
- If yes: Once I start recording, I am going to confirm that you are ok with me recording this session once more.

Start recording.

I have started recording. I'd like to confirm: Are you comfortable if I record my screen and the audio as we talk today?

Warm-up Questions (Optional) - 3 minutes

Before we look at the GI Bill Comparison Tool and its filtering options, let’s start with a few warm-up questions about your familiarity with the tool.

Have you previously used the GI Bill Comparison Tool?
If so, do you normally use it on a desktop device, a mobile device, or a combination of the two?
Are you familiar with the comparison tool's filtering features?
If so, have you used the specialized mission filter (AKA SMF) feature?

By the way, no worries if you haven't used the tool before; either way, we'll provide you with the link to open and use the tool and its filtering features.

Now let's take the tool and its filtering options for a workout

To open the GI Bill Comparison Tool:

Open a browser window and go to https://staging.va.gov/education/gi-bill-comparison-tool
To use the tool's results filtering feature:
Enter the full or partial name of a school or institution into the Search by name field
Use the filtering options in any way you like to refine the results

Note that you can, at any time, change or refine the results as you see fit.

Post-Task Interview - 5 minutes

A couple of questions for you before we close out:
- Were you satisfied with the outcomes of your use of the comparison tool's filtering features?
- On a scale of 1-10, please rank the ease of use and value of the filtering features
Any final questions for us?

Thank-You and Closing - 2 minutes

Well we really appreciate you taking the time to share your thoughts with us today. Your feedback is so helpful to us as we continue to work on the site and make sure it really works for Veterans.

Thanks! Lastly, Perigean will be sending you a thank you note with a little blurb that you can pass along to other Veterans you may know to provide them the chance to participate in future research studies.

Thank you so much again, and enjoy the rest of your day!

Emergency Exit

[In the rare case of an emergency during a session, be prepared with an emergency exit strategy. Plan to include here at least one option, so its easy to find during a session. Take some time to practice so it feels more comfortable.]

gforbes4 / docs_test