Kevin Toy
Human Factors Methods & Analysis
Spring 2011
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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
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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
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Visa application process is
complex, not standardized
across different consulates and
different types of visas
Instructions can be confusing
Taken 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, ”
The form DS-160 is extremely
long
sairam hb 01-22-2011
“welcome to the world of 160 where we
are treated like fools”
Various glitches/technical
problems
Apesakal 04-08-2010
“I was finally able to complete DS160
after several days efforts…”
No direct personal support
Snootcher 03-07-2010
“This online form program is the
WORST form I have ever had to fill out.”
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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)
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Reflects competency of the U.S. government to
foreign nationals
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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)
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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
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Due to the wide range of users (literally
worldwide), I focused on legal professionals
completing the forms for clients
Attorneys
Legal Assistants
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Typical age range: 30-60
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Typical age range: 22-50
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Highly knowledgeable with regards
to U.S. immigration law
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Familiar with U.S immigration law
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Not as familiar with the
administrative activities regarding
specific visa applications
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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
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
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Usually has prior experience with the
DS-160 and its predecessors
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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
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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
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A preliminary usability test of the current DS-160 was conducted using
information from the scenario
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Participants: 6 Immigration law professionals (4 Legal Assistants, 2
Attorneys)
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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
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Participants were instructed to “think aloud” while completing each task
and provide general feedback regarding interface
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Upon completion of the task, participants filled out a short questionnaire
and rated the system using the SUS (System Usability Scale)
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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
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
Goals
Developed Understanding of
the User Domain:
◦ Research from online forums
discussing DS-160
◦ Task Analysis
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Afford the user with feedback on
page time out
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Reduce the number of pages user
is required to click through by
combining similar/unnecessary
sections
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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)
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Identify various bugs in system
(random page timeouts, inactive
buttons)
◦ Casual Interviews
◦ Preliminary Usability tests
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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
•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
Click “Next” button
Page reloads with info
box and arrows to show
missing information
“Next” button is inactive.
Cannot proceed until
page is completed
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)
•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
Security and Background Section –
Broken up into 5 sections
All questions are “yes” or “no”
Total questions: 16
ISSUE
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
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Lessons learned
◦ Schedule specific time frames for each step in the UCD process
◦ Important to do dry runs for usability testing
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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