(Senior Level) ExamSoft - New Category Tagging Experience Improves Usability

ℹ️ All research documents, workflow diagrams, prototype, and final mockups are removed to protect the company’s confidential and proprietary information. Assets that are featured have been modified with proprietary information removed.

Overview

Influenced product direction with a redesigned category-tagging workflow in ExamSoft's Enterprise platform that reduced irreversible user errors and improved relationships with customers. Identified critical usability and accessibility gaps and obtained full buy-in from stakeholders for a solution that addresses these critical gaps before being confirmed by accessibility reports.

Collaboration

I scheduled regular syncs with product managers to define the entire UX vision. I then brought proposed solutions into broader product discussions with engineers and customer onboarding specialists to understand downstream impact and build alignment across teams.

Results

Improved clarity in category selection unblocked longstanding issues with category tagging that prevented customers from fully utilizing a key feature. The new solution resulted in a necessary redirection of the product roadmap that reduced errors and increased confidence in assessment reporting.

My Role

I was the lead UX Designer who used the following methods to successfully receive full buy-in from stakeholders within an agile environment:

Analysis of User Research
Written Scope Document
User Flow Diagrams
Wireframes
Prototype
Final Mockups

Stakeholders

Product Managers
Developers
Customer Onboarding Specialists

Tools

Figma
Google Docs

Timeline - Phases

Foundational Deliverables: December 2023 – February 2024
Development & Release for Advanced Reports: February 2025 – June 2025
Development & Release for Questions: December 2025 - work continued beyond initial design phase through release cycles

What is ExamSoft?

A complete assessment integrity platform that includes:

Enterprise Portal for institutions responsible for creating and releasing high-stakes assessments that include questions, both new or existing ones, that are aligned with required learning outcomes
Examplify for test takers that may enable the following ExamIntegrity products
1. ExamID for verifying the identity of test takers
2. ExamMonitor proctoring service that records the test taker's screen and webcam footage during the assessment

Why are Categories Important?

Customers use categories for the following:

Ensure that course material is aligned with required learning outcomes for accreditation
Generate reports of how well test takers did demonstrating their knowledge of each category, allowing for more informed decisions around modifications to course content

Category definitions:

Category Type – a top-level category that contains its own tree with infinite levels
Category Tree – a tree of nested levels similar to a folder tree, where a folder can contain subfolders within
Category – an item similar to a folder, but represents a test topic
Parent – the category of which the child categories live
Child – a category that is within the parent category

1

Customer Problem

Seven years of user feedback revealed that the experience led to frequent miscategorization, resulting in inaccurate reports and errors that could not be reversed. This negatively impacted customer trust in the ExamSoft experience.

2

Key Usability Concerns

A visual workflow analysis surfaced the following key usability issues:

Limited functionality - the category popup lacked the advanced search and category selection requested by customers
No confirmation - customers lacked the ability to confirm their selections, leading to confusion and mistrust
Inconsistent features - some features were visible while others were hidden, leading to forgotten data points
Lack of keyboard accessibility - a hidden feature became accessible only after discovering a specific interaction, which undermined user trust

3

Solutions

Consolidated category management into a single, expanded workspace – the experience was moved into a larger, dedicated view to support advanced search and selection across complex category trees, reducing context switching and improving clarity during high-volume workflows
Enabled inline category addition and removal – users can now quickly add or remove categories directly within the workflow, mirroring familiar tag-removal patterns and eliminating the need to repeatedly return to advanced views
Introduced predictable selection behavior at the category-type level – selecting a category type automatically selects all categories within that group, supporting efficient bulk actions and reducing repetitive manual selection
Preserved granular control at the individual category level – selecting an individual category affects only that category, preventing unintended changes to child categories and reducing the risk of reporting errors

4

Identifying Customer Problem

Reviewing seven years of prior user interviews revealed a consistent pattern: the category tagging experience lacked the flexibility and ease of use customers had repeatedly requested.

Research Audit – analyzed two user interview documents from 2016, extracting eight key findings and documenting both the “what” and the underlying “why” behind each issue. This synthesis clarified patterns across fragmented feedback and established a foundation for identifying broader themes of opportunity

Grouping Key Themes – synthesized findings into four core themes and identified category tagging as the most critical, yet overlooked, issue impacting both usability and business outcomes. This reframing provided product managers with clear qualitative evidence, increasing confidence in prioritizing a redesigned category tagging experience

Results – among the four themes, category tagging was revealed as the most restrictive part of the experience. Users struggled with limited flexibility and lacked the ability to view and select categories across the full hierarchy, leading to inefficiencies and miscategorization

5

User Archetypes

Administrator – the test administrator is responsible for overseeing the entire curriculum of an academic program. The most important responsibility of the role is ensuring all tests, questions, and rubrics are aligned with the program’s requirements. Test administrators work closely with test makers who receive feedback on test quality from test reviewers

How the former experience impacted these customers:

The long popup which was cut off from the screen did not allow test administrators to get an accurate list of their category tree, which made it difficult to select the necessary categories to add to questions or new reports
The unpredictable nature of modifying selections meant administrators lacked confidence in their ability to organize course content by category
Administrators struggled to make accurate reports to track assessment performance

Maker – the test maker creates questions that go into an assessment. Previous user research shows that assessment making is a collaborative process that involves receiving feedback from assessment reviewers. Instructors do not make the assessments

How the former experience impacted these customers:

With the lack of confirmation of changes made, test makers lacked confidence they were creating questions for the right topic
Any changes were difficult to implement, which obstructed the assessment making process

Reviewer – the test reviewers are members of a review board that provide feedback on tests

How the former experience impacted these customers:

Reviewing category performance was difficult
Results from advanced reports returned inaccurate information

6

Impact

Reduced friction in tagging workflows – the redesigned workflow better aligned with customer expectations and established category workflows, reducing confusion and the likelihood of reporting errors
Enabled accurate reporting outcomes – the new workflow reduced errors commonly repeated with the original model
Reduced accessibility and compliance risk – accessibility issues were addressed proactively ahead of independent audits, minimizing future remediation work and improving confidence in compliance readiness
Raised UX and accessibility standards across the organization – the work increased visibility into UX research and accessibility considerations, contributing to higher design standards and broader awareness across teams
Recognized by leadership for initiative and ownership – the project received formal recognition during the Q2 2024 company meeting, including an Action & Ownership award and performance bonus, acknowledging initiative in identifying and addressing a long-standing customer problem

“Turnitin is excited to give a shoutout to the 2024 Q2 Action & Ownership Value Champion Awards recipients! These employees exemplify sustained accountability at work. 🏆 #workplaceculture #educationtechnology #edtech”

- LinkedIn Post