KS New Release - Data Query Tool

The KS admin dashboard has a new element this month... a new query builder and reporting tool. The release is part one of three, for this tool.

When you log in to your dashboard as a KS admin, you will now see a new landing page, called 'HOME'.

The top half of the page displays 4 sections, which summarize some useful at-a-glance data, as follows:

Number of Invites sent in last 30 days
Number of Tests in last 30 days (Not Started, In Progress and Complete)
Top 8 Skills Gaps (based on results from last 6 months' results)
Results (last 5 completed tests)

At the bottom of the page, you will find the new query tool. This includes a range of 'pre-defined' queries, as follows:

50% or less test scores
70% or greater test scores
All invites from last 30 days
All results from last 30 days
Incomplete invites from last 30 days
All employee scores
All interviewee scores
All expired invites

You can edit pre-defined copies by first taking a copy, then editing the copy and saving with a different name.

Create new queries by clicking on the 'Create New Query' button.

Edit queries by clicking on the 'Edit Query' button.

Copy existing (or pre-defined) queries by clicking on the 'Copy Query' button.

Delete queries by clicking on the 'Delete Query' button.

Run queries across all linked accounts, or selected child accounts, by checking the relevant boxes in the 'Run Against Accounts' area:

When you create a new query, you will see this box appear:

There are 4 main sections which can be presented in your report: 

Users - this captures data about the user profile and account where the user record is stored

Background - this captures data about user demographics info

Invites - this captures data about invite (and related test) status

Results - this captures data about results (and related test) status

Click 'Display these columns' to expand the top section. Use the check boxes to build up the columns of your data query. The columns selected here will also be presented in your csv export. Click on the '+' icon, if you want to add this element to your filter options in the 'match ALL conditions' section below.  

In the query conditions section below, use the filter on the left of the screen to toggle between the following search topics: Users, Background, Invites, Results.

Queries can be a combination of 'ALL of these conditions' only, or 'ANY of these conditions' only, or both.

Use the dropdowns to build up the logic of your queries. There are lots of different options available, so you can filter your user, invites and results data in lots of new ways.

Export queries to csv for further analysis, by clicking on the 'Download' button.

This release is part one of three. Here's what we're working on next.

Part Two

Allow KS admins to perform a series of bulk actions, with the results of a query.  

For example:

Delete users

Move users from one account to another

Invite users to a test

Delete results

Move results from one account to another

Delete invites

Change invite expiry date

Re-send invites

We'll also add individual training tags to the search options, allowing you to create workshop groups for users who have common skills gaps.

Part Three

Graphics & charts: we plan to display a range of visual summary fields on the dashboard landing page.

For example:

No. of invites sent in last x days

No. of completed tests in last x days

No. of incomplete tests in last x days

Users who have 'incomplete tests' 

Most popular test topics by number taken

Average score and time for top 5 test topics

Average score for Employees vs Interviewees

Global benchmark comparison for top 5 test topics

Last x results: user names, test names, scores & times

Top 20 skills gaps (i.e. training tags)

Top 20 hardest test questions (i.e. lowest scoring average)

We will also include the ability to send auto-email reports to KS admins, which contain custom values and timescales.

As always, we welcome your feedback and ideas, so if you have any additional feature requests, in the context of searching, filtering, grouping and reporting data, we'd love to hear them!

R

New KS Question Types

We have added some new test question types to the KS system this month.  Here's a brief summary of the new choices.

Matching list

This question type asks the user to correctly identify, or match the relationship between 2 lists of data.  Here's an example:

Here's a look at how to build up the answer options, for Matching list questions:

Complete the blank

This question type asks the user to fill in one (or more) blank fields, or select from a list of available options in a sentence or paragraph.  Here's an example:

Here's a look at how to build up the answer options, for Complete the blank questions:

Matrix

This question type asks the user to review a word or short phrase and select a radio button option that relates to the ‘correct’ description.

Here's a look at how to build up the answer options, for Matrix questions:

Essay

This question type asks the user to write a longer answer to a question. This will not be automatically marked and will require manual scoring.

To assign marks to an Essay question, go to Invites > History and click on the 'Pending' link.

Click the 'Edit Score' link and assign your marks. You can also add comments, which will appear in the test report. Save your changes and the final score will appear on the Results > Data page.

The 'Create Question' page now lists all 9 KS test question types:

You'll also see  a brief description for each question type on the test landing page:

R

KS summer update

As usual, it has been a busy summer period for the KS team. Our 2014 library updates are in full swing, due to go live later this month. And the next release of the KS software platform is also due to go live shortly.

Here is a brief summary of what's included in this release:

Content management

We made a number of updates to the KS admin dashboard, to make searching & grouping library material more consistent.

You can now search on a range of new fields to manage your question library, including: question name, training tags, question type, skill level, parent module, parent test and task (T) or knowledge (K).

Draft and Published modules can now be searched and grouped:

Draft and Published tests can also now be searched and grouped:

Due to popular request, we added a delete option for child accounts. Be careful when selecting this option, however, as all related user and results data will also be removed!

Another popular request, we added the option to toggle off tests in your library, so they do not appear in your invite list dropdown (both in your dashboard Invites page and in the browser login dropdown menu).

We also added the option to hide the 'Logout' link on the test UI:

We added an extra check box to cc admins on test invite mails.

Results

You can now create a chart view of the questions which cause the 'Request training' button to be selected during live test sessions. This chart represents the most commonly requested training issues from your team.

You can now create a chart view of the questions which cause the 'Skip question' button to be selected during live test sessions. This chart represents the most commonly skipped questions issues from your team.

You can now include results from all linked accounts, when viewing data on the ‘Group Comparisons’ page. This makes results analysis across multi-office firms more meaningful.

You can now include results from all linked accounts, when viewing data on the ‘Global Comparisons’ page:

We added a new csv export for question results data, on the Results > Question Performance page:

This report displays: test name, test date, test score, test time, result ID, score & time values per question, average question score & time per question and training tags for each question.

We added a new tool for viewing 'required' and 'submitted' answer data for each question, on a per test basis.

Test UI

We have made a number of improvements to the code which drives the test UI and user experience during live test sessions.  This update addresses the issue of occasional error messages which display when submitting answers and removes the phantom page 'flicker'.

Plus a number of smaller updates, including:

Increased word count on the test settings welcome message/user instructions field.
Change advisory message on pick list questions.
Increase system timeout from 20 to 40 mins (if no onscreen activity occurs).
Main website refresh, including customer testimonials, product table and promo movie.
Updates to our own KSadmin interface, for analysing results and user data.

Later this month, we will also be adding the following updates:
New benchmark charts dropdown on Results > Global Comparisons page and include 2013 data, plus new test titles.
Module Performance chart page and csv export with per module results data.
Skipped questions search filter & csv export on Results > Data page.

Work is already under way on the technical specification for the Fall release, which will include; new question types, survey options, user data capture reporting, plus the latest customer wish list requests.

R

KS New Release

The next release of the KS software hits the live site this month.  Here's a summary of new features and updates.

Cleaner KS login page

We have simplified and tidied up the dashboard landing page...

... and the dashboard / assessment login pages:

User data capture pages

We are keen to continue providing interesting and relevant user demographic data, for statistical and comparative analysis. A regular feature request is the ability to capture additional background information for candidates, so we added two new data information pages (one at the start and one at the end of a test session):

These additional pages are optional. KS admins can choose to display (or not display) the data capture pages, with a new dashboard setting.

The 5 user datafields can be presented on data capture page 1, with an optional/mandatory status, by selecting the relevant fields on the Settings > User Datafields page.

Improved test report

We have updated the format of the KS test report, making it easier to navigate to the relevant feedback sections, adding a new field for number of logins/logouts and a new 'Additional Information' section for candidate profiling.

Improved content management

We added a number of improvements to the Library section of the KS dashboard.  This includes adding the training tag export tool to the main KS Tests menu page:

Allowing admins to edit answer options for multiple choice / order list / pick list type questions:

We improved the KS content editing process by adding the green information panel to the 'Your questions' box and 'Your modules' box, making it easier to identify KS content.

We also included the ability to re-order questions inside KS modules and modules inside KS tests.

Improved searching & grouping options

We added a new search table to the Invites > History page, making it easier to filter the data on this page.

We added a new field for 'Test name' on the dynamic grouping table, in the Results > Data page.

Improved user records page performance

We have made KS user records fully editable, deletable and added simple pagination to accounts with extensive user lists. This has improved the performance of the users page, including the ability to export records from linked accounts.

Plus a number of smaller updates and bug fixes, including:

Improvements to test UI performance, including removing the 5-second page f'licker', when the KS software pings the server to register latest test data.
Update to question csv export, to include distractor answers for multiple choice / pick list question types.
Update to the naming convention for imported tests.
Uniform date format on the Results > Data page and related csv exports.
Update to error messaging for non-admins attempting to log in to a KS dashboard.
Update to error messaging for incorrect file uploads.
Update to error messaging for duplicate questions appearing in a test session.
Update to results searching & editing in our own KSadmin database.
Update to management of user records in our KSadmin database, including the ability to merge two user records.
Better handling of apostrophe's in KS user names, e.g. Rory O'Vance.
Bug fix to address amended KS account names not displaying correctly on invite mails.
Bug fix on administrator notification mail failure for new account setup.
Bug fix on user record deletion on the Move Users page.
Update to specification of KS Rackspace cloud server box.

We have a further software release scheduled for June, which completes the latest round of KS devs.

As always, our thanks to the KS user group for your feedback, suggestions and ideas for continual advancement and improvement of the KS system.

R