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Designing for engagement

Optimizing Cognizant’s Interactive Research Report Experience

 

Role: User Experience Lead at Cognizant

Tasks Performed: User research, prototyping, UX design

Programs Used: Figma, Adobe Target, ContentSquare, WEVO

Team: Cognizant Corporate Marketing (Web, Research and Thought Leadership, Global Creative, Analytics)

20% increase in scroll depth on research report page

Improved content engagement and section visibility

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Established scalable template for future reports

Introduction

Cognizant publishes in-depth research reports as part of its thought leadership and demand generation strategy.

These reports are high-value marketing assets designed to:

  • Position the brand as a strategic technology partner

  • Capture enterprise leads

  • Educate decision-makers

However, analytics revealed a problem:

Users were not engaging deeply with the content.

Problem

Despite high entry traffic, behavioral data showed:

  • Low scroll depth

  • Sharp drop-offs after the first few sections

  • Limited interaction with embedded modules

  • Poor visibility of key calls-to-action

The reports were content-rich — but the experience felt static and dense.

The challenge:
Increase engagement without oversimplifying complex enterprise insights.

Research and discovery

Behavioral analysis

Using Contentsquare and analytics tools, I reviewed:

  • Scroll heatmaps

  • Engagement zones

  • Click behavior within long-form pages

  • Time-on-section metrics

We identified:

  • Heavy attention on the hero and intro

  • Significant drop-off in mid-page dense text sections

  • Underperforming CTAs buried below heavy content blocks

    Content pattern audit

    I analyzed multiple existing research report templates and identified:

    • Overuse of long paragraph blocks

    • Inconsistent section rhythm

    • Lack of visual breaks

    • Minimal interactive engagement opportunities

    Reports were formatted like PDFs on web pages — not web-native experiences.

    Strategy

    Improve content rhythm & visual hierarchy

    To reduce cognitive fatigue, I:

    • Broke long paragraphs into scannable sections

    • Introduced stronger typographic hierarchy

    • Increased whitespace between sections

    • Designed visual anchor points to re-engage attention

    • Created clear sub-section transitions

    This made long-form content feel navigable instead of overwhelming.

    Introduce intentional interaction moments

    Rather than adding interaction for novelty, I designed purposeful engagement:

    • Expandable insight modules

    • Interactive stat highlights

    • Quote callouts

    • Section preview components

    • Inline visual data treatments

    These moments acted as psychological “checkpoints” that encouraged continued scrolling.

    Research

    Validation through A/B with WEVO Pulse

    The study focused on four primary objectives:

    • Validate alignment between AI value and user needs
    • Assess how easily users could locate key information
    • Identify the most effective way of showcase Cognizant research
    • Evaluate clarity and resonance of messaging across audiences

    The study focused on three core audience:

    • C-suite technology leaders (ex. CIO, CTO, CDO)
    • Line-of-business executives (director and level)
    • Mid-level managers with decisions-making authority

    Testing approach

    Variant A
    Original long-form report layout.

    Variant B
    Redesigned experience with:

    • Improved pacing

    • Interactive modules

    • Repositioned CTAs

    • Enhanced hierarchy

    Using WEVO’s structured perception testing framework, we evaluated:

    • Clarity of information

    • Perceived credibility

    • Ease of navigation

    • Likelihood to continue reading

    • Overall engagement sentiment

        Key findings

         

        The redesigned version showed:

        • Higher perceived clarity

        • Improved ratings on “easy to navigate”

        • Stronger emotional engagement signals

        • Increased stated likelihood to explore additional sections

          Qualitative feedback reinforced that:

          • Content felt “less overwhelming”

          • Sections were easier to scan

          • Visual breaks improved readability

            Results

            :
            20% increase in scroll depth on research report page
            Increased interaction with expandable modules
            Greater visibility of mid-page CTAs
            m
            Scalable template for future research reports