These days, I have been exclusively working on Information Technology Systems training. The biggest challenge I have faced so far is designing processes that can withstand last-minute changes. The following two principles and five tips are based on my experience in meeting the "change challenge" for software and systems training. I'm sure that all eLearning designers have faced similar issues at times, so I hope this helps.
1. Design As If You Had To Make Last Minute Changes
Better still, design as if you knew someone else is going to make those changes. I learnt this lesson while working in the technical publications team of a major software vendor. The vendor released a new version of their products every year, at the same time with no exceptions. So, new feature development had to be completed months ahead of the release date to leave time for testing, bug fixing, updating documentation and translating into twelve languages.
Development continued after the "freeze" date, but "in theory". Those features that were not ready in time were slated for the following year’s release. I say ''in theory'' because the commercial reality is that when the 'killer' feature is ready for testing a week after the upcoming release, it’s not going to wait for another twelve months to get to the market. So, the testers, the technical publications team and the translators were suddenly doing night shifts until the day the product was shipped.
As a matter of fact, my role in the technical publications team was to create how-to videos to help onboard users to understand new features. So, when the new feature arrives late, it may just mean one more how-to video. On the other hand, if the new feature spawns a new button on the Home tab of the ribbon, over 50% of the screenshots need to be recaptured. If the translation has commenced, then the rework effort is multiplied by twelve.
Over the years, I have been faced with the trauma of dealing with ridiculously late changes in almost every software or systems eLearning project. Here is my strategy distilled into three tips:
- Educate, and then keep reminding stakeholders about the impact of late changes to the software, systems or subject matter on training or eLearning content. Be assertive, but respectful, and always remember that this "soft" approach will never work on its own.
- Create templates, and then build them out into self-contained development toolkits. Include pre-configured assets in hidden slides and embedded instructions for developers. Configure all relevant project preferences and settings in the template.
- Write and maintain a documentation package that includes a design strategy or rationale, development processes, style guides and guidelines for reviewers.
2. Make Everything As Simple As It Can Be, But Not Simpler
This has been taken from a famous quote of Albert Einstein transforming it into a call to action; ''Everything should be as simple as it can be, but not simpler''.
While developing software demos using slide-based screen recording, I used to labour over getting the demo to look exactly like the real system. I’d fret about the cursor shape changing from a pointer to a hand at just the right moment in its path. I’d make sure to emulate the behaviour of screen items changing state, as the cursor rolled over them, and this placed a significant burden on the development effort.
One day, I decided to see what would happen if I just put the video out there without any simulated reality tricks. I used only a pointer cursor, even where it should have been a hand. I let the cursor roll over objects without any special effects. Then, I sent the video out for review hoping that not too many reviewers would notice the lack of reality. I wasn’t quite sure how many they would be but I knew that if I could get away with this minimalist approach, I could then save a lot of development time.
To my amazement, I received no feedback about wrong cursor shapes or missing rollover effects. Reviewers may have noticed but they clearly didn’t think it was important. It’s been more than ten years since that experiment and I’ve continued with this strategy ever since. I’ve created hundreds of videos and I haven’t yet received any feedback about discrepancies in cursor behaviour. Not even one comment. Now, I can say that my design is "as simple as it can be", and my audience has confirmed that it is "no simpler".
Here are my action tips for making things as simple as they can be, but no simpler:
- Analyse your design regularly and always look for ways to simplify the design.
- Don’t be scared to experiment on real users. It is the best way to test your assumptions and validate your design strategy. You might be surprised by what they think is important and what is not.