Assessment Taker
Problem
Students needed a clear and reliable way to complete assessments within the platform, but the initial interface provided limited support for navigating questions or understanding progress during the test. The experience made it difficult for students to review unanswered questions, keep track of what they had completed, or easily return to questions they wanted to revisit.
Beyond completing the assessment, students also needed meaningful feedback on their performance. The platform lacked a clear post-assessment experience that helped students understand their results, how their score compared to their peers, and which subject areas they needed to improve.
A more intuitive assessment interface was needed to help students stay focused during the test while providing actionable insights once the assessment was complete.
Research
Because we did not have direct access to students for usability research, we worked closely with the college professor and co-founder of the company to understand how students typically interact with assessments and what information would be most valuable during and after completing a test.
These discussions helped identify key student needs, including the ability to easily move between questions, mark questions for review, and clearly track assessment progress. We also explored common patterns used in digital testing platforms and learning tools to better understand how assessments are typically structured and how feedback is presented to students.
Using these insights, I iterated on the existing design through interface refinements, focusing on improving question navigation, reducing cognitive load during the assessment process, and designing a results experience that provided meaningful academic feedback rather than just a raw score.
Solution
I redesigned the assessment experience to help students stay oriented, manage their time, and easily review questions during the test.
The interface centers around the current question while providing clear context about progress and remaining time. A persistent progress bar and countdown timer help students stay aware of how far they are into the assessment and how much time remains.
To make navigation easier, I introduced a question navigator panel that gives students a visual overview of all questions in the assessment. Each question state is clearly represented (answered, unanswered, or pinned) allowing students to quickly jump between questions without losing their place.
Students can also pin questions for follow-up, creating a lightweight review workflow for questions they want to revisit before submitting. This helps students manage uncertainty without interrupting their momentum during the assessment.
Finally, streamlined Back, Next, and Pin controls allow students to move through questions quickly while maintaining focus on the task at hand. Together, these improvements create a more structured and less stressful assessment experience that helps students focus on answering questions rather than managing the interface.