Assignments Overview

The Assignments feature is the mechanism that connects datasets to annotators in a structured way. Instead of every annotator seeing the full dataset, project managers can break the data into smaller, trackable units of work and assign them to specific team members.

When annotators log into the Dataloop platform, they first land on the Assignment Page, which lists all assignments in their project along with details like project name, status, and due dates.

• From this page, annotators double-click an assignment to begin working.

• This opens the Annotation Studio, where the system automatically loads the next item they need to annotate (image, video, text, audio, etc.).

• Inside the Annotation Studio, annotators have access to:

  • Tools suited to the data type (e.g., bounding boxes, polygons, transcription tools).

  • Project guidelines and instructions for consistent labeling.

  • Navigation controls to move between items.

  • Quality indicators such as validation checks or reviewer feedback (if enabled).

• This workflow ensures smooth task progression, avoids overlap or skipped items, and keeps annotators focused and productive.

List of Assignments

The Assignments tab displays a table listing all assignments, with detailed information in each column. Clicking on an assignment's name directs you to its corresponding item's page. When filtered by username, the selection persists even after reloading or refreshing the platform.

• Users: This displays the avatar of the assignment's users.

• Assignments: This displays the name of the assignments. Click to open:

  • The Assignment Browser, if the bulk classification mode is enabled in the recipe.

    • Otherwise, use the Assignment actions -> Open Assignment Browser option. Use the Copy Assignment ID icon next to the assignment name to copy the Assignment ID.

  • The annotation studio, if the bulk classification mode is NOT enabled in the recipe.

• Type: This displays the task type, labeling or QA tasks.

• Status: This displays the status of the assignments.

• Priority: This displays the assignments' with a High, Medium, or Low priority.

• Progress: This displays the item's completion status.

• Open Issues: This displays the number of items with annotations that have open issues.

• For Review: This displays the number of items with annotations that have issues corrected for review.

You can customize the visibility of the column fields in the table view by clicking on Show/Hide Columns.

Assignment Details

When you select an assignment, the right-side panel of your Assignment tab displays comprehensive information regarding the selected assignment:

General Details

The General Details section of the assignment provides you the following general information:

• Browser icon: This allows you to open and view the  assignment browser page.

• Analytics icon | This takes you to open and view the Analytics page of the assignment.

• Task: This displays the assignment name. You can click on it to navigate to the assignment browser page.

• User: This displays the avatar of the assignment's users.

• Priority: This displays the assignments with a High, Medium, or Low priority.

• Channel: This displays the channel type used to create the tasks, Pipeline or Workflow.

• Created At: This displays the assignment creation date, for example, Sep, 15 2023.

• Updated At: This displays the assignment update date, for example, Sep, 15 2023.

• Due Date: This displays the due date of the assignment.

• Pipeline: The displays the name and the link of the pipeline to which it belongs to.

• Quality: The name and link of the qualification task.

• Description: The description provided for the selected assignment's task. To add a description, click on the Edit icon. You can also use SDK to add or edit description.

Use the Copy Assignment ID icon next to the assignment name to copy the Assignment ID.

Status

The Status section of the assignment provides you the following information:

Progress: This displays the item's completion status.
Open Issues: This displays the number of items with annotations that have open issues.
For Review: This displays the number of items with annotations that have issues corrected for review.

Metadata (read only)

This section of the assignment provides you the metadata information of the selected assignment. You have the option to copy the metadata, but editing it is not possible.

For example,

{
  "system": {
    "datasetId": "64a671e0d854daf23d6ed2b9",
    "taskId": "65091cc7d93bfc635d4f1878",
    "active": true
  },
  "datasetId": "64a671e0d854daf23d6ed2b9"
}

Open Assignments in the Browser

1. Enable Bulk classification option in the Recipe.

2. In the Labeling -> Assignments tab, click on the assignment name. The assignment will be displayed in the browser.

Assignment Progress

Task managers track and review assignment progress.

1. From the Labeling -> Assignments menu, Project Assignments lists all the assignments in the project with their progress and allows filtering by specific assignees to review and control their workload.

2. From the tasks page, double-click a task to view the task assignment.

3. Track your task process in one of these two ways:

   1. View the discarded items in the dataset browser.

   2. Open the assignment analytics page (from task assignments).

4. Review discarded and completed items by browsing a task and filtering accordingly.

Time Tracking and Measurement

The Stopwatch feature allows annotators to accurately track the time spent on items within their assignments. This ensures that UI time measurements are consistent with Analytics, supporting both performance monitoring and customer reporting needs.

Time tracking is already captured in the user’s context; however, this feature introduces a clear, visible timer within the assignment interface. For each item, the timer is displayed independently of prior items and begins counting immediately when the annotator enters the item.

To enable, go to the recipes → Advanced Settings → Timing & Bonuses

• Time Tracking: It allows you to show a stopwatch on the annotation studio when you work on a task where the recipe has enabled time tracking feature. It helps to count the UI time consumed by the annotator on the particular item’s.

• Enable Time Measurement: This is mainly used when you want to control and incentivize annotation performance. It lets you define limits, bonuses, and timing-related values in your recipe, so annotation tasks can be monitored and rewarded fairly.

When Enabled

• A stopwatch will automatically appear in the Annotation Studio for annotators when the recipe setting is enabled.

• The timer starts only once the item is fully loaded.

• It is displayed in all studio types where the setting is active.

• Visible only to annotators, formatted as hh:mm:ss.

Pause Conditions

The timer automatically pauses under the following conditions:

• The user navigates outside the studio or moves to another item in the assignment.

• The annotator clicks the “Pause” button:

  • The studio will be blocked while paused.

  • Analytics counting will pause as well.

  • Paused state will not be preserved if navigating away; resuming will start automatically.

• When a status is assigned to the item within the assignment context (item status change will also trigger an analytics activity event).

• If the annotator’s browser window is closed or becomes inactive.

Resume Conditions

The timer resumes in the following cases:

• The annotator clicks “Continue” in the paused state dialog.

• The annotator reopens the item in the context of their assignment.

• A status that was previously applied to the item is removed.

Reassigning Tasks

When a task is active, changes in the workforce can occur. Use this option to reassign an assignment from one annotator to another.

Distribution Task Reassignments

Changes in team structure when using distribution-based tasks use the reassignment and redistribution actions. For example, if an assignee leaves the project and work needs to be reassigned to someone else.