Full UX / Design Lead for Placement Exam App - WebAssign (2016)
Overview:
New placement test solution for major university customers (and more). I was the UX lead for this new product offering from WebAssign (acquired by Cengage Learning).
“ PlaceU has been a great solution for our Math Placement Exams. The...interface has given our students a much better experience and we feel that students can better focus on the content of the exam and not the technical aspects of the platform. We like the fact that we can still customize and personalize the exams to better meet the needs of our own institution.”
-Jenn Whitfield
Assistant Professor of Mathematics at Texas A&M University
Challenges:
• This was the first fully mobile-friendly and standalone product launch out of the efforts of the full WebAssign re-architecture
• PlaceU was the first offering to be optimized for tablet/laptop due to the core customer group being college students, despite the fact that placement tests themselves had to run on a larger screen because of business rules and image constraints
• Tight development timelines for optimal go-to-market timing with the school year calendar
• The most challenging UX aspect of this product offering was designing an intelligent timer with settings for both the student and administrator personas, due to varying policies and requirements at different universities. Please see custom widgets for more information on how we achieved that
Approach:
• I worked on research / strategy / wireframing / journey mapping and a separate but integrated style guide / pattern library (see core pattern library/style guide) as well as final designs while working closely with stakeholders, project managers, and engineers
• I also worked closely with marketing to ship on time and create a delightful, cohesive, well-branded, and well-researched product that exceeded expectations from management and customers alike
• I delegated tasks such as creating specific documentation for features within sprints, accessibility reviews, and marketing liasons to my team
Marketing / onboarding website and branding designed in tandem with the marketing team
Early mobile prototypes for onboarding and testing how the WebAssign architecture would perform in this environment
Outcome:
• Development, launch, and sales timelines were both met and exceeded, including our involvement in preparing extensive training for customer support staff
• This was the only full WebAssign product retained in whole during the acquisition by Cengage
• Highlighted and celebrated UX features include: a practice test that helps students get acclimated to the product, making it easier for them to focus on the actual test, and an offline mode feature to ensure students’ work is saved should they lose internet access
