scopus profile editor
elsevier

Background

With 16 million distinct profiles and a vast network of interconnected data, Scopus serves as a critical tool for academics and institutions worldwide. However, the existing profile editors for authors and institutions presented significant challenges: users were required to review and modify all modules of a profile—even those unaffected by their changes—leading to frustration and inefficiency.

Recognizing the need for a more intuitive and efficient solution, I was UX lead for the redesign of both the Scopus Author Profile Editor (B2C) and the Scopus Institutional Profile Editor (B2B). The goal was clear: to streamline the editing process, reduce the reliance on customer service, and empower academic users to easily manage their profiles.

Interestingly, a product-wide migration from a monolithic to a microservices architecture provided us with the opportunity to implement impactful improvements across all components of Scopus.

The Problem

Before the redesign, updating profiles was an unnecessarily tedious process. Users had to navigate through every module, regardless of whether it required changes. This cumbersome workflow not only increased the time and effort required but also resulted in frequent customer service inquiries and incomplete updates.

The Solution

The new design introduced a modular approach, allowing users to focus solely on the components they needed to update. By eliminating the step-by-step process, we simplified the workflow, saving users time and effort while improving their overall experience.

My Role & Process

As Senior UX Designer, I was responsible for conducting research, translating insights and business goals into scalable, user-centered solutions. I led both redesigns from concept to completion, planning and implementing UX, UI, and UXR while ensuring alignment across teams.

Key Aspects of My Role:

  • Collaboration: Served as UX Lead within a squad of developers, engineers, and product managers while also working closely with a UX team of researchers, writers, and designers. This dual responsibility enabled me to streamline processes, foster cross-team alignment within Scopus, and deliver a cohesive, consistent user experience for end-users.

  • Research-Driven Design: Led the end-to-end user research process, including usability testing, user interviews, surveys, and journey mapping, to uncover pain points and guide design decisions. Synthesised insights into actionable recommendations that informed the redesign.

  • Prototyping & Validation: Designed wireframes and high-fidelity prototypes, leveraging iterative feedback from stakeholders and end-users to refine and validate solutions before development.

  • Accessibility & Scalability: Ensured compliance with accessibility standards (A11y) and designed modular, scalable solutions that aligned with the structure, layout, and design principles of the broader Scopus ecosystem.

  • Full-Stack Design System: Contributed to the development and evolution of a robust design library, working closely with front-end developers to ensure seamless integration of UI components. Created reusable patterns and components that improved efficiency across teams and ensured consistency in both functionality and branding.

Improvements Introduced

The redesigned editors included key enhancements:

  • Modular metadata editing

  • Spell-check functionality

  • Advanced filtering and search

  • Enhanced error handling and alerts

  • Draft-saving for incomplete updates

  • Streamlined summary and confirmation screens to provide users with clear and intuitive control

Outcome

The redesigned Scopus Author and Institutional Profile Editors delivered measurable improvements:

  • Reduced Customer Service Inquiries: A significant drop in support requests, reflecting the streamlined process.

  • Increased Engagement: More academics and institutions actively curated their profiles, demonstrating the system’s ease of use.

  • Enhanced Product Alignment: The updated design aligned with the structure of other Scopus screens, creating a more intuitive and cohesive user experience.

Our squad was recognised for exceptional teamwork and the product’s rapid delivery, marking the redesign as a key success for both Scopus and its users.