Avant Assessment
Taking-on platform sprawl to keep an industry leader on top
BEFORE
Online language testing leader Avant had grown its platform offerings quickly, but not strategically
Its fragmented network of products had become hard to manage and clunky to use
Infrastructure inconsistencies and tech debt were blocking further expansion and evolution
AFTER
Consolidated eight non-standardized products into one cloud-based platform
Hosting costs cut by 75%
Modernized interface dramatically improved product adoption and engagement, spurring immense growth for its team, revenue, and customer base
Challenge
A new chapter in online language testing
Avant Assessment, developers of the first internationally recognized online language testing standard (STAMP), tapped into a massive demand for their services and quickly moved to expand the variety and capacity of their products. They earned the trust of educators, employers, and government agencies across the world, but unfortunately, their rapid growth outpaced their technological infrastructure.
Process
Bringing it all together
Our team analyzed Avant's eight different portal variations and identified the optimal infrastructure and interface to apply across its portfolio. Then, without disrupting service to its existing users (revenue base), we consolidated all Avant offerings onto one modern, cloud-based platform, applied consistent branding and design, and implemented processes for on-going project management.
Solution
Breaking the sound barrier
technology replaced aging Flash plugins, reducing costs and bandwidth requirements to increase classroom accessibility.
Solution
Reassessing the user experience
New tools and reporting configurations provide greater control and clearer feedback to users on both sides of the testing experience.
Solution
Remodeled for modern users
Updated assessment interface presents questions and prompts in a clear, contemporary format to support comprehension and focus. It also features a custom-designed machine learning algorithm that can auto-score student writing responses.
Solution
Results you can see
New report designs for test takers and administrators break down scores and highlight specific areas for improvement, both for individuals and across test groups.
Praise from our clients:
Twenty Ideas brings a special combination of efficient management, elegant product design along with serious technology chops.
David Bong
Avant Assessment, CEO
Twenty Ideas follows direction well and produces amazing results. They successfully manage communication, timelines, and project flow, and commitment and expertise are hallmarks of their high-quality work.
Kyle Ennis
Avant Assessment, VP Educational Products
Featured technologies
React
- Data visualization & charting
- Novel web-based voice recording feature
- Cypress end-to-end testing
Kotlin & Java
- Spring Boot framework
- Hibernate & Postgresql
- Extensive unit testing
- Robust Datadog (APM) intergrations
- QR code processing pipeline for handwritten work submissions
Amazon Web Services (AWS) Cloud Migration
- Migrated all services from data center to AWS
- Infrastructure-as-code via CloudFormation & Docker
- CI/CD & automated build
- Multiple environments with auto-scaling
- Audio format optimization pipeline via SQS
Compliance Support
- WCAG – Web Content Accessibility Guidelines
- GDPR
- FERPA
Extensive & Complex Technology Migration
- Merging of multi-year forked codebase
- Graceful merging of three deployments into one
- Planning allowed minimal downtime
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