Overview
College test proctoring is a crucial yet challenging task, especially with the diverse community members and college students who come in on a walk-in basis and sign in.
Between 40- 130 students test daily. I must record information about their specific class, teacher, seat assignment, computer assignment, test assignment, and more in a secure testing sign-in environment.
Signing in test takers can be tedious, especially when dozens of students come in at once to test. It is challenging to get all the students in and type all the required details in the information section.
My Role
My role in this project was tasked to me as a senior test proctor and product designer managing dozens of students through this process daily is challenging but essential job.
The Problem
It is challenging to manage many test takers at a time. The fast-paced environment and the tedious process of signing in students make it difficult under the best circumstances.
• Many students are impatient, worried, and stressed before taking a test, which can worsen in a testing environment. Having a smooth sign-in process can help calm nervousness.
• By not properly tracking students, we cannot confirm with teachers and other proctors the current status of students' exams.
• Communication through the sign-in system is essential so everyone in the testing center knows what is happening.
User Research
I conducted research by interviewing my boss, the assistant manager, and multiple co-workers, who are also test proctors.
Why make a new sign in system?
- To speed up the sign in process: We often waste a lot of our time filling out information and checking students in that could be better spent working on more critical tasks.
- To simplify repetitive tasks: Many things we type in for students, such as class names, teacher names, time in, etc., are repetitive tasks..
- To keep better track of students: We constantly struggle to find specific students on a long complicated sign in page which takes time and resources away from other tasks.
How are students currently signed in?
- Excel cloud files are used to sign students in.
Why don't other ways work?
- Tedious to scroll down through each and every section to find a student.
- No organization constantly having to add new lines when lines fill up with two many of one type of test.
- Hard to find a student by a name alone with extended sections in a random order.
- Tedious manually typing in the time each time a student is signed in and out.
- Typing the same professors names and classes over again throughout the day.
- Manually adding notes that are similar each time.
Why is it difficult to sign users in with your current system?
Too many signed out students
It isn't easy to find currently signed-in students when there are fifty students on the list who are signed out.
Scrolling through each section
Test proctors find it challenging to search through each section and scroll with the mouse up and down, constantly looking for a specific student.
Signing out over each other and manual typing
During finals week and busy times, we often type over each other and mess up other proctors' work while they are signing in a different student simultaneously.
Ideation
Product Design
- After researching multiple product design options, I decided that Notion, the customizable productivity tool, was the best option. With limited programming and software, I could create a customized sign-in page.
- The sign-in page is a single page with multiple tabs listing high-priority sections based on the most commonly signed-in exams.
- The goal is to type as little as possible and with as few clicks as possible.
From highest to lowest priority, tabs divide users based on what kind of exam they are taking.
Users can be signed in using the sign in button which opens up a tab to sign in a new exam taker.
A way for users to automatically fill the current date and time.
An important feature to help with repetitive tasks is the drop-down feature, which automatically selects classes and teachers.
Custom built sign in button with specific options to help test proctos quickly sign students in.
Drop down options
- A tab to pick math specific options for classes and professors.
- A tab to automatically pick seat numbers and computer locations to keep track of students in the testing room.
Branding
The Logo
- The Community College I work at already has their own logo which was used for the final version of the product.
Solution
Project Summary
Test proctors using this sign in system will copy the project daily in the Notion platform for each day.
Main Page Summary
Section tabs
Contains sections for
•Name,
•Test type
•Class
•Professor
•Notes
•Time in
•Sign-Out button
•Seat number
•Computer number
A Summary Of Sign In Button
The sign in button will have all the categories to fill out information for each section for the student to be placed into.
This information was customized for the specific testing centers needs.
Summary Of Tabs
The tabs section consists of all different test types that the testing center that students take.
Testing and Iterations
Test proctors quickly and easily adapted to the new sign-in system. They enjoyed the tabs and the ease of rapidly signing in and out students.
Interviews/Questionnaires
Test proctors quickly and easily adapted to the new sign-in system.
- All proctos quickly adapted to using the new sign-in system.
- All users were glad that they could instantly sign in and out students with automatic time stamps.
- Test proctors wanted a better way to sign in math students.
- Users desired an improved sign in and log-out tab.
Original Sign-In Buttons and Sign Out Screen
The original sign-in design before feedback had multiple buttons to sign students in to each class with a single click.
This was changed due to the amount of space it took up and the amount of buttons that would need to be added.
Sign-In After
- Created a single button to sign all students in.
- Improved overall design by saving space on the page for more important details.
- Made extensive amount of Sign-In options more manageable.
Math Sign-In Page Before
Math Sign-In Page After
- Math is the most common section we test in so the math tab it's own specific options to speed up the sign-in process.
- Proctors no longer have to type in class or professor names manually they can simply scroll through the list of classes and professors.
Final Product
Next Steps
Continue adding professors and class names to speed up sign-in process by improving drop down menus.
Improve on visual design of the sign in page.
Expand the class section list to include all classes that the college needs.
Lessons Learned
Test The Product In a Real World Environment
I learned a lot using this tool in real time with actual students coming in to test.
Finding Ways Improve Navigation
I learned a lot from designing the navigation buttons and finding the simplest way to sign people in.
