Nonimmigrant visa application form DS-160

Kevin Toy Human Factors Methods & Analysis

Spring 2011

The DS-160 is an online nonimmigrant visa application form (ex: H-1B, L-1A, L-1B, B-1, B-2, F-1, R-1, etc.)

Submitted electronically through the U.S. Department of State website

Used to collect necessary information for individuals seeking a temporary visa for travel to the U.S.

Information is used by Consular Officers to process the visa application and determine eligibility for the visa

Background – What is the form DS-160?

Security – Information is sent directly to the specified U.S. consulate through the Department of State’s secure network

Efficiency - Expedites the visa application process:

◦ Consular officers can review the information prior to the interview

◦ Promotes the collection of required information accurately

◦ Completely electronic

Benefits of the DS-160

Visa application process is complex, not standardized across different consulates and different types of visas

Instructions can be confusing

The form DS-160 is extremely long

Various glitches/technical problems

No direct personal support

Drawbacks of the DS-160Taken from immihelp.com forum:

Needagcpls 01-22-2011“filling out ds 160 is so stupid.so much information to fill and many information repeats several times.now, filling it for my wife all over again, ”sairam hb 01-22-2011“welcome to the world of 160 where we are treated like fools”

Apesakal 04-08-2010“I was finally able to complete DS160 after several days efforts…”

Snootcher 03-07-2010“This online form program is the WORST form I have ever had to fill out.”

Form is used by millions of individuals applying for visas to visit the U.S. every year (6,422,751 nonimmigrant visas issued in FY 2010)

Reflects competency of the U.S. government to foreign nationals

If the form is filled out incorrectly, could lead to denial of the visa:

◦ Visa application process is costly and time consuming

◦ Various reasons to apply for a visa, may be extremely important for the applicant (ex: employment, school, plans for immigration)

Why is the DS-160 important?

Who uses the form DS-160?◦ Anybody applying for a nonimmigrant visa

Typically for school, employment, or pleasure Due to the importance of filling out the form

correctly and the complex nature of U.S. immigration procedure, many individuals will hire a lawyer to assist them

Due to the wide range of users (literally worldwide), I focused on legal professionals completing the forms for clients

Form DS-160: Understanding the User’s Domain

Understanding the User’s Domain: User Profile

Attorneys Typical age range: 30-60

Highly knowledgeable with regards to U.S. immigration law

Not as familiar with the administrative activities regarding specific visa applications

Has direct communication with the client and is familiar with the particulars of individual cases

May or may not have completed the DS-160 (depending on seniority)

Environment: Personal office at law firm

Legal Assistants Typical age range: 22-50

Familiar with U.S immigration law

Highly knowledgeable with regards to administrative activities regarding specific visa applications

Typically receives information second-hand through attorney or secretary. May confer with client directly during the application process if necessary

Usually has prior experience with the DS-160 and its predecessors

Environment: Personal office or cubicle (depending on seniority)

Axel Hartcopp, an 18 year old German citizen has been accepted into the University of Texas psychology program. He has all the documentation prepared for his first semester and needs to apply for the F-1 visa. It is summer of 2011 and he plans to enroll in the Fall 2011 semester. He has relatives living in Austin, TX who he has been in contact with and are willing to help him during his stay in the U.S. (provide living arrangements until he can find an apartment, etc.).

They recommended an immigration law firm, FosterQuan, LLP (this firm has an office in Austin, TX and is experienced with student visas) to assist him in the visa application process. The attorney assigned to his case has conferred with him and received all the necessary information/documentation for the DS-160 application. A file for his process has been opened and provided to the legal assistant to complete the online application

Understanding the User’s Domain: Scenario

Conducted complete Task Analysis for completing the DS-160◦ Application is very long:

Approx: 25-35 separate pages

◦ Additional fields or even new pages appear depending on responses

◦ Learned more about the system and potential usability issues

◦ Was unable to complete a comprehensive Task Analysis due to time limitations and the variety of options within the system

Understanding the User’s Domain: Task Analysis

A preliminary usability test of the current DS-160 was conducted using information from the scenario

Participants: 6 Immigration law professionals (4 Legal Assistants, 2 Attorneys)

Participants were provided the fictional scenario and were asked to complete the form DS-160 up to a certain point with the information provided (as well as to perform 3 specific tasks)◦ Click “Next” without fully completing the current page◦ Save a partially completed application◦ Upload a previously saved application

Participants were instructed to “think aloud” while completing each task and provide general feedback regarding interface

Upon completion of the task, participants filled out a short questionnaire and rated the system using the SUS (System Usability Scale)

Understanding the User’s Domain: Preliminary Usability Test

Average completion time (from start page to “U.S. Point of Contact” page: Approximately 12 min.

Average SUS score: 41.67 (F-)

Recurring problems: ◦ Confusion regarding

specific questions◦ Page time outs◦ Incomplete pages (missed

fields)◦ Unnecessary pages

Understanding the User’s Domain: Preliminary Usability Test Results

Likes Dislikes

Fields automatically input in all caps

Too many pages to click through

Help options next to certain specific questions

Page time outs

Does not apply option for various answer fields

Unable to browse through different pages prior to completion of present section

Menu buttons on left side Some questions difficult to understand

When hovering over questions text box shows translation according to Tooltip Language (i.e. German)

Too many sections broken up unnecessarily

Developed Understanding of the

User Domain:

◦ Research from online forums discussing DS-160

◦ Task Analysis

◦ Casual Interviews

◦ Preliminary Usability tests

Understanding the User’s Domain: Goals and Requirements

Goals

• Afford the user with feedback on page time out

• Reduce the number of pages user is required to click through by combining similar/unnecessary sections

• Allow user to skip through form without having to complete all sections in set order (provide feedback regarding which sections are incomplete, prevent user from submitting application until all sections are complete)

• Identify various bugs in system (random page timeouts, inactive buttons)

Conducted usability testing with 4 participants (Legal assistants)

Focus on:

1. Allowing navigation throughout form (without needing to complete in order)

2. Providing feedback for page time out

3. Minimizing number of separate pages

Prototype - Low Fidelity Paper Prototype

Prototype – Allowing navigation throughout form

•First page after uploading incomplete application

•Uploaded application complete up to “sign and submit” section

•User must click Next through every page in order to get back to where he/she stopped

Click “Next” button

Page reloads with info box and arrows to show

missing information

“Next” button is inactive. Cannot

proceed until page is completed

Prototype – Allowing navigation throughout form

Click “Next” button Page reloads with info box and arrows to show missing information

“Next” button is active, click to go to next page

Alert icon on menu bar shows which pages are incomplete(User not allowed to submit

incomplete application)

Providing Feedback for Page Time Out

•Should have 20 min before page times out (not true in reality)

•Users get no consistent feedback regarding when the page will time out

•Provided timer to give consistent feedback

Minimizing Number of Pages

Security and Background Section – Broken up into 5 sections

All questions are “yes” or “no”

Total questions: 16

Form DS-160: Evaluating the DesignISSUE RECOMMENDATION DISPOSITION

Cannot skip ahead on form until all information on present page is completed

Allow user to skip to different sections– include alert icon notifying which sections are incomplete. Do not allow user to submit incomplete application

ACTION: Allow user to skip to different sections– include alert icon notifying which sections are incomplete. Do not allow user to submit incomplete application

Too many pages to click through (Over 30 separate pages)

Combine sections that relate, to be no longer than 2 full page scrolls

ACTION: Combined certain sections that relate, to be no longer than 2 full page scrolls, limit the maximum separate pages to 25-30

No continuous feedback regarding page time out

Provide timer on page showing minutes remaining before page time out

ACTION: Provided timer on page showing minutes remaining before page time out

Menu Buttons inactive after loading saved application (Must start from very beginning and click back to where you ended)

When application uploaded start on last page finished. Allow navigation through application via menu buttons

ACTION: When application uploaded start on last page finished. Allow navigation through application via menu buttons

2 major bugs identified:-Page timeout not consistent-Some buttons become erroneously inactive

Fix Bugs No action: Programming issue

Application ID changes after every time out

Keep one Application ID per application No action: Need to determine with U.S. State Department if this is a security measure **Change has already been made!

Document/information checklist for completing the DS-160 is not easily accessible (most firms have their own questionnaire to complete)

Provide link to required docs/info at start page of the DS-160

ACTION: Provided link to required docs/info at start page of the DS-160

Lessons learned◦ Schedule specific time frames for each step in the UCD process

◦ Important to do dry runs for usability testing

Next Steps◦ Identify and define all areas where sections can be combined/minimize

number of pages on form

◦ Focus on other usability issues for secondary tasks relating to the form (Testing passport photo, uploading saved application, sign and submit section)

◦ Testing with wider range of participants

◦ Test with high functioning prototype

Lessons learned/Next Steps