Cito

Overview

Stichting Cito develops tests and exams to assess people's knowledge and skills accurately and fairly. Cito develops not only tests for primary and secondary education but also assessments and exams for vocational education (MBO), higher education (HBO), adult education, and the corporate sector.

As the Lead UX Designer for Team Construction, I introduced the Cito DevOps teams to the Design Thinking Double Diamond model. This approach enabled us to collaborate in an iterative manner, ensuring our projects aligned effectively with both business objectives and user needs.

Role

Lead UX Designer

UX Design • UX Research • Design Thinking

2022 - 2025

Discovering the Current Landscape

The existing system was outdated and no longer met the company's needs. Users relied heavily on manual recordkeeping in Excel, leading to inconsistencies, and the system’ poor UX contributed to a high absentee rate due to RSI (Repetitive Strain Injury).

The core challenge was:
How do we create a new system that eliminates these pain points and prevents repeating past mistakes?

Defining the Problem

To uncover user pain points, I set up a focus group with key users and conducted user studies focused on their experiences with the proposed new system.

Survey results showed extremely low user buy-in at just 10%. The most common complaint was:

“This proposed system only allows me to input final products but does not support my workflow. I would prefer to just use Microsoft Word.”

Recognizing this as a critical issue, I collaborated with the process analyst to host a series of co-creation workshops. Together, we mapped out the users’ workflow, ensuring the new system would support these processes rather than just deliverables.

Developing a Solution

I organized a Design Sprint with users, stakeholders, developers, and analysts to co-create a workflow-driven model for the new system. We validated this model through paper prototyping, allowing users to interact with the concept in a tangible way.

It was exciting to see participants connect, exchanging insights about their shared products and workflows. They particularly valued the hands-on approach, which allowed them to personally verify that the new system would support their processes. As they explored the prototype, they naturally recognized its benefits, leading to a collective agreement that it was a strong fit for their needs.

Afterwards a second user buy-in survey showed a dramatic increase in positive feedback: from 10% the year before to 90%.

"Wow, this really works for me! It supports my workflow and eliminates the need for the multiple Excel sheets I've been using to keep track of my work."

With this solid validation of our model and the positive user feedback, we went to work on defining deliverables.

Delivering an MVP

We prioritized delivering a Minimum Viable Product (MVP) quickly to gather early feedback and iterate efficiently.

I worked closely with the Product Owner to define features and user stories.
During the PI Planning, I presented the proposed timeline and milestones.
I conducted continuous validation through user testing—both internally with team members roleplaying as customers and externally with early adopters.

We successfully met the deadline, delivering a fully functional MVP. After launch, I organized sit-in observation sessions to see how the platform was used, allowing us to rapidly implement improvements.

I paid extra attention to new users—those who had not participated in our initial user study. To avoid the pitfall of designing only for users involved in the workshops, I wanted to ensure that the experience was equally seamless for newcomers. Gathering feedback from these new users resulted in a “very positive” review, with several highlighting the “well-organized information” and “modern design” as key strengths.

Next Steps

With the MVP stable, I facilitated additional Design Sprints to tackle complex features and enhance usability. I also partnered with the business analyst to explore how other Cito branches could adopt our platform, identifying potential challenges and opportunities.

As the product matured, I facilitated a seamless handover to the newly hired internal UX designers for continued development. I ensured that all Figma designs were well-organized and linked to the Azure Backlog for easy access to documentation. Additionally, I conducted a series of knowledge transfer workshops, enabling the new designers to onboard efficiently within just a few weeks.

Conclusion

The implementation of Design Thinking led to the successful launch of the Construction Platform—a system that users look forward to using instead of dreading.

Key Results

Delivered a user-friendly design that aligned with the user's workflow.
Implemented Design Thinking within the DevOps teams.
Increased existing user buy-in from 10% to 90% within a year.
Launched a successful MVP with new and existing users.
Established clear direction and vision for future development.

Other deliverables:

A centralized company-wide Design System.
Clear documentation of UX Research results using Miro.
Organized Figma files for smooth hand-over.