Candidate Assessment Platform

This project was not about making tests feel fun or easy. It was about removing everything that should not influence the result.

In high-stakes assessments, confusion is not a minor usability issue. It directly affects fairness, trust, and performance. When candidates are uncertain about what is happening or what comes next, that uncertainty can change how they perform — which undermines the validity of the whole process.

CohrEX is a SaaS platform used by HR teams and recruiters to assess candidates through personality, cognitive, and executive function tests. Candidates complete the assessments independently, often without knowing much about the process beforehand.

When I joined, the platform functioned technically but the candidate experience felt opaque and stressful. Candidates often did not understand why they were taking tests, how long things would take, or what would happen after completion.

Challenge

Candidates entered the platform with uncertainty and little emotional support.

What wasn't working:

Instructions were easy to skim past or misunderstand

The purpose of tests felt unclear

Progress and rules were not visible enough

The experience felt like a black box

Uncertainty increased test anxiety

In an assessment context, this matters. Stress and confusion can influence outcomes, which undermines both trust and validity.

Original CohrEX platform before redesign

The original platform before the redesign. No clear guidance, dense layout, and candidates had little context for what was happening or what came next.

Gap analysis: where candidates were left without guidance

Three critical moments where candidates were left without guidance: entering a test, between phases, and after completion.

Constraints

This platform is used in recruitment and professional evaluation. Candidates are often already under pressure before they arrive. The design needed to:

Support focus without distracting

Explain enough without overwhelming

Be transparent without compromising assessment integrity

Failure here wouldn't just hurt usability. It would hurt perceived fairness.

Approach

Mapping the experience end to end revealed where candidates were left without guidance.

I mapped the full experience from first login to results. This revealed critical gaps — particularly before starting a test, between test phases, and after completing all tests. These moments became the priority areas for the redesign.

Full user flow: Login → Onboarding → Home → Pre-Test → Test → Post-Test Dashboard → Feedback. The repeating test cycle was the main area of redesign focus.

Information Architecture

I restructured the platform around a simple question: what does the candidate need to know right now?

Home — focused on status and next steps

Assessments — providing context and progress

Tests — designed as focused, linear experiences

Notifications — split into blocking and non-blocking

Settings — kept intentionally minimal

The goal was predictability. Candidates should never have to guess what comes next.

Information architecture showing the five core areas of the redesigned platform and how they relate to each other.

Onboarding & Pre-Test

Onboarding was redesigned to clearly explain what CohrEX is and why it's used, what the candidate gains from the process, and time estimates and expectations. Before each test, pre-test screens clarified rules and resumability, device and environment requirements, and what type of tasks to expect.

Redesigned onboarding screens — language selection, purpose explanation, what to expect, and why assessments are fair.

Test Experience

Tests varied widely in format and mechanics, but the experience needed to feel consistent. Each test follows the same four-step structure regardless of content type.

Test flow: Explain, Practice, Test, Confirm

Every test follows the same four-step structure: Explain → Practice → Test → Confirm. Consistency reduces anxiety across different test types.

Key design principles for the test UI:

Clear instructions per test and per phase

Trial questions where applicable

Visible progress indicators and timers

Minimal UI distractions

Consistent interaction patterns

The aim was not to make tests easier, but to make them fairer by removing interface-related friction.

Test screens across different assessment types. Timer, question count, and progress bar are consistent throughout. Each test type has its own interaction pattern but the same structural frame.

Results & Feedback

Results were designed to support reflection rather than evaluation:

Strengths and development areas

Visual explanations of scores and percentiles

Context around norms and interpretation

Neutral, human language

Candidates should leave with understanding, not uncertainty.

Results screens — completed tests listed, then a breakdown by trait using neutral language and a sliding scale to avoid judgment.

Completion and feedback screens — candidates see next steps, growth areas, and strengths. The tone is encouraging without overpromising.

Result

Key design decisions

Three principles converging on perceived fairness: Transparency without Bias, Clarity without Overload, Focus without Distraction.

Linear flow over flexibility

Predictability over exploration to reduce cognitive load and test anxiety.

Transparency without full disclosure

Rules explained clearly, without exposing scoring logic that could bias behavior.

Partial feedback

Meaningful summaries to build trust, while protecting assessment validity.

Calm clarity over delight

Neutral design prioritised to support focus and emotional safety.

The redesigned experience gives candidates a clear path through a high-pressure process. They know what is coming, why it matters, and what happens after. The interface does not compete with the task.

After handoff, the feedback was positive. The one note I received was to trust my design decisions more. That is something I carried into every project since.

Reflection

Assessment UX is about reducing stress, not adding excitement.

When people are under pressure, clarity and predictability matter more than visual polish.

This project also taught me to focus on what to remove. By simplifying structure and language, an experience can feel fairer and easier to trust.

Next time I would map the full experience first, every time, before touching any UI.