Top 50 Learning Systems for 2019 (50 to 30)

January 29, 2019

Back by popular demand, the top 50 Learning Systems for 2019. As in last year’s post, the rankings will be split up over multiple blog posts and weeks.

First up, #50 to #40 listed, followed by mini breakouts for #39-30. Next post by Feb. 1st will be #29 to #20 – might push it to #11), following week I will be traveling to speak at ATDTK, Feb. 8th at 8 a.m. on “So, you wanna buy an LMS?”, then off to LearningTech19 in London, thus the post on Feb. 17th, will cover the Top 10 systems.

As mentioned in a previous post on how the award rankings were conducted including methodology, please go here.

Every vendor, with the exception of Blackboard (who is coming soon) can be found on FindAnLMS.com, my learning system search engine platform, an independent and trusted source to search, compare and engage with vendors in the learning system space. Thus, you can be always assured that the best of the best will be on the platform, no more searching for months, reaching out to vendors who never respond (ours do), spending way too much time seeing if the system has what you need AND as a result blasting RFPs to vendors who won’t meet your needs and your budget!

You can see pricing ranges, user bases, implementation time-frame and of course functionality in one stop shop experience. You get your very own calendar and dashboard. We built our platform to mimic an LMS.

Couple of notes

a. Rankings are based on 1,000 vendors across the globe

b. New functionality – NexGen played a bigger role than in year’s past. It has always been important, but this year had an extra weight to it. This includes vendors who have a content marketplace over those who don’t, thus they received more points on that feature, for example.

c. Support always plays an important role. The number one reason folks leave systems is the lack of support, yet it is rarely inquired about in any RFP, let alone demos. Feel free to use my support card that I send out to vendors and/or ask them directly.

d. I look at a lot of factors when putting together the top 50, so please, do your due diligence. Yes, they are the best of the best, but one might be great in say FS (Financial Services as their only vertical) and you are in consumer goods, so uh, they are not the system for you.

Or, you may have had issues with a vendor, see them in the top 50 and go “how can that be?” – which I’d retort, “I base it on a lot of factors and variables, so while I understand, I wasn’t there to learn the challenges, issues or whatever occurred. While a vendor may have failed to live up to what they promised (since I wasn’t on the call or handled your search for you), I can only go by what I as an analyst look at, etc.”

e. Response time in communication was a variable. If they do not respond or it takes the length of a steam engine in the 1920’s, then yeah, there is a problem. Same with vendors who have zero clue on why e-learning and/or WBT was created in the first place – so that is a variable. Why would you want to do business with a vendor who is selling a system, but has zero interest in learning about the history of our space? You wouldn’t take your car to a mechanic who didn’t know about older models, and yours is an older model, would you?

f. Mobile played a bigger role. I get it that your customers may not be using mobile, but the fact of the world is that mobile is very important. I found it weird that one vendor said they had on/off synch for the app, but didn’t have one in either iTunes or Google Play. Uh, is it Palm or blackberry? I also looked at update time with the mobile app. If the app hasn’t been updated in the last three months, that should be a warning sign.

While there are 50 vendors in the rankings, due to a tie at #7, the list ends at #49. This is due to me having both at #7, then a vendor at #8 and so forth, rather than what some do, which is count 7 to 9 per se, then move from there. Thus the rankings go from 49 to 1, and the ranking you see below is the ranking noted in the mini report coming out in end of Feb.

The Rankings 49 to 40

#49 Blackboard Learn (Corporate)

#48 Create LMS

#47 Springest Go

#46 UpsideLMS

#45 Tessello

#44 Edcast Knowledge Cloud

#43 TILE

#42 Persona Learning Management

#41 Looop (LEP/LXP)

#40 Accord LMS

Rankings #39 to #30

#39 BizLibrary – Depending on the system you have, you might have seen their content (they created), but many folks are unaware that they also sell an LMS. While the system lacks e-commerce and an LRS, it does however, pack a wallop with an extensive feature set.

Two minuses for me though is lack of mobile apps (everyone does mobile responsive) and is miss on stronger analytical data and data visualization, which while the system does provide solid reporting and analytics, the way the world is heading in the corporate space, a system needs more to match it. For those who go to FindAnLMS, you can schedule a demo directly with them and compare feature sets with someone else you might be looking at. Oh, and send them your amazing RFP.

#38 G-Cube – Not a lot of folks have heard of this system, but not hearing about them isn’t a reason for ignoring them on your list for consideration. They have always been on my radar and each year, I just see them as a solid player worthy of a ranking. The system lacks e-commerce, content marketplace, LRS, listing of most popular courses/content, and a couple of learning environment feature sets, but on the flip side, has machine learning, content curation, coaching, compliance management, mobile including apps and classroom management. Administration side of the house is quite good. Supports PENS, a standard I wish all vendors did – but very few do, and of course, SCORM.

#37 eXact LCMS – Repeat winner and the best LCMS on the market. Don’t be fooled by some authoring tool platforms who pitch themselves as an LCMS (because uh, they aren’t), nor the few other LCMS players on the market who pitch how awesome they are – maybe in their minds they are (and I’m happy for you), but in my eyes, eXact reigns supreme. I do wish their UI was a bit better, but in the LCMS space, UI has never been a top priority as a whole for vendors. Excellent compliance management, offers classroom management, solid learning environment functionality. If you want e-commerce, and LCMS isn’t for you. Best suited for employees and B2B.

#36 SkyPrep – Get your red hot SkyPreps here! Sometimes I see system names that I recognize folks cannot pronounce because it is so weird to begin with, this isn’t the case here. Anyway, that isn’t the reason you should consider them (or maybe it is..your choice!). Wonderful UI/UX, classroom management, compliance management, multi-tenant, excellent administration functionality, mobile apps and coaching to name a few features. I always have fun in the system (not sure if it is a good thing, but in my mind it is, I mean who wants their learners to go “ugh” when they go into your system?). Big minuses for me include a lack of skill management (they have features, but not all that I look at, still though, might be enough for most folks – as I am picky), and video management. Fun fact – you can be live in about a month – now that is fast.

#35 Agylia – When they first changed their name, I admit it looked like Argyle and I heard a couple of folks I know call it at. Now, though it sort of rolls of the tongue, not as argyle. If you want a system that truly is mobile first, and many vendors pitch that, I can truly say they are. Mobile apps, on/off synch, knowledge reinforcement tool to boot. Can have e-books in the system as well, along with podcasts (most vendors do not offer this capability). Excellent functionality across the board, very good UI/UX. Lacks machine learning (but many vendors do at this point in 2019), still I’d use the system. Track record on roadmap is very good. Support is outstanding. Repeat winner.

Break Time!

Who in the Top 50 to 30 appeared in past rankings for 2018, 2017, 2016? Here they are

Blackboard (2018, 2017, 2016)
Create LMS (2018, 2017)
Tessello (2018, 2017, 2016)
TILE (2018)
Persona Learning Management (2018, 2017 – 2016 under their other name)
Accord LMS (2018, 2017, 2016)
G-Cube (2018, 2017)
eXact LCMS (2018, 2017, 2016)
Agylia (2018, 2017, 2016)
BizLibrary (2016)
TorchLMS (2018,2017,2016)
Talent LMS (2018, 2017)
Asentia LMS (2018, 2017)
Saba (2018, 2016)

Back to The Rankings

#34 Torch LMS – UI/UX is very good, lots to like here, but the biggest item that continues to bother me is the insistence from Torch that mobile is not needed (beyond being mobile responsive, which they are). Thus no mobile apps whatsoever. This isn’t some new decision by them, it is a decision that has existed for years (at least since m-learning gained popularity). System is strong functionality wise, but lacks e-commerce (which is odd since they can do B2B and customers, so e-comm is relevant IMO), multi-lingual while good, still is missing multi-byte languages. The system supports every course standard including xAPI and PENS, but misses out on an LRS and content marketplace. If those items are nothing burgers for you, then this is a system to consider.

#33 Percipio by Skillsoft – An LEP/LXP that does quite a bit, very good UI and UX. Mobile apps include on/off synch and knowledge reinforcement capabilities. While the system offers content curation, it is currently missing machine learning and coaching. On the other hand it does offer competency and skill management.

#32 Talent LMS – People always say to me, “you can’t find a good system at a very affordable price point.” To those folks I say, “check out TalentLMS, which can be found on FindAnLMS (nice plug).”

Seriously though this is a solid system that really is very affordable especially with user counts above 2500. System offers among other things, mobile with apps and on/off synch, very strong administration capabilities, SCORM and xAPI, content marketplace, multi-tenant with separate branding for each tenant and classroom management. A minus for me is the lack of machine learning (while understandable many vendors still lack it – the majority to be honest), and coaching. UI/UX is good.

#31 Asentia LMS – From the fine folks at ICS Learning Group, this SaaS based system is by far their best product (they offer another LMS too). Keeps getting better every year, and when it debuted a couple of years back it started out as good, so there’s that. Feature-rich including coaching, content marketplace, LRS and compliance management. Reporting offers ad-hoc and use of filters. Minuses include the inability to have your individual learning plan and course catalog seen on the same screen, no mobile apps (except for mobile responsive) and lack of video management. Very nice UI/UX.

#30 Saba Learning– Welcome back (please hum the Welcome Back Kotter theme)! I say welcome back because earlier in 2018, I stopped recommending them for a variety of factors, but changes have been made, commitments to boosting up the system with a soon to be launched new UI/UX (I’ve seen it, looks quite nice), but the admin side still needs fixes. Robust system. Mobile apps including on/off synch but UI on the app could be better. Feature-rich system, support though is average. I like that the company has me:time, an LEP/LXP (acquired as part of the Lumesse acquisition) which depending how they play it, could end up being a big-time win here (as it is, to me, a very good win).

Bottom Line

There you have it, the first list of rankings from #50 to #30. If you didn’t see your favorite vendor here, well, they might be in the 29 to 1 rankings or they might not be here period. I can state that if they are (Adobe Captivate Prime, Axonify, Mind Tickle!, QStream, Bridge LMS) they failed to make the rankings for 2019, so no need to hold your breath thinking you will see them, unless during that time, you see them in your mind, before you pass out. (Don’t hold your breath.)

E-Learning 24/7

State of the E-Learning Industry 2019

onlinefreecourse

January 29, 2019

Normally, folks write up a state of the industry at the end of that year (as I did for 2017). But as with everything else, thinking out of the box, screams for a tweak.

And thus, comes the State of the E-Learning industry as rumble forward with 2019.

What I have seen so far (covers 2018 into the first week of 2019)

Highlights or Lowlights depending on your perspective

Higher number of L&D folks finally seeing the value of personal and professional development thru the use of e-learning, especially with LMSs and LEP/LXPs
Increased number of LEP/LXPs trying to mimic an LMS as close as they can, without calling themselves an LMS – that said, there are a couple of constants as a whole, that LEP/LXP space is missing in the learning environment and administration areas specifically, that still sets them apart.
Increase in assignments in the LEP/LXP space, which as I have noted in the past, defeats the learner-centric model they praise and pitch
Change of messaging, and the seemingly misunderstanding by vendors that there is a difference between training and L&D. What I hear a lot is “L&D” and not training, when they identify who they are targeting for the tools, platforms, etc. As any training exec will tell you, they do not want to work for L&D, nor be a part of L&D (and vice versa, I should add)
SaaS authoring tools, trying to become hybrid Lite LMSs (a return of a trend I totally disliked back in 2010-2014). Instead of making a better SaaS authoring tool, a percentile of them, are using features you would see in an LCMS, a market that is minimal in today’s world, compared to say 2000 or even up to the mid 2000’s.
CMI-5 increased interest among vendors, even more so, than on/off synch mobile apps for example. But, CMI-5 with consumers is still quite low – a key factor – poor messaging on the benefits of CMI-5, compared with the other course standards
AICC is dropping by the wayside with learning systems, which could create challenges for folks who have 3rd party libraries of only AICC content
LRSs not being utilized by vendors who have it in their systems
Relying on the client (i.e. current client) or clients to drive key decisions on what to add to their products, especially in the learning system space. Yes, listen, but don’t assume that if they do not ask, they do not want; nor rely on a survey or a focus group of folks. Data should come from lots of sources, not just one or two. Oh, and you are supposed to be the experts here, not the consumer.
The history of e-learning, why WBT was created, etc. – is fading. You see it first hand, when vendors refer to online courses as e-learning courses, even though e-learning is an umbrella term for everything online. Reminds me of the folks who never knew that Madden was a great football coach, and not just the name of a video game.
Support in authoring tool space is actually worse than ever. Support has never had a great track record in learning platforms, but in the authoring tool space it’s always been a challenge. Yes, there are tutorials (in some cases), but when is the last time you saw a series of webinars on how to do this or that in their tool? When is the last time you saw a “how to” using the authoring tool to build such a course? The forums only go so far, especially since people post questions that no one responds to. And even worse, there are tools that continue to have problems with xAPI, even SCORM, or some other items and when the customer inquires for help, the tool tells them it is the fault of the learning system, when uh, no, it is your product. I am really worried about the CMI-5 add, and how that will work, when uh, it doesn’t work with an LMS. Track record of fixing issues with some authoring tool vendors is poor. One comes to mind right away, with mobile. I’ll let you figure out who that is..
Web conferencing Zoom is being integrated into more learning systems that in the past. Frankly it is the best web conferencing tool out there.

Big Ticket Items

Coaching/Mentoring

This goes beyond just posting a question out there and having folks respond in a sort of Quora or Yahoo Answers approach.

If there was ever an feature you should really keep an eye on for 2019, it is this one, because in 2018, it started to change in its dynamic on a)appearance b)design c) outcome.

Web cam recording and upload of video from a mobile device is becoming a standard in the coaching/mentoring component.
Web cam is still one way, not dual, which hurts the coaching experience and creates a reactive, rather than pro-active
Identificatin of “experts” is not being explained on a) how to identify them at their company, b) how to assure that they are answering questions, assisting, mentoring . Both of these should be provided by the vendor in their setup assistance with the client.
Lack of analytical data to know responses times of the coaches; how many times they have responded/answered compared to the others in the group for example, how many mentorees they have, who are these folks, what are the subjects/topics/questions being asked (all of which can aid in future training and/or learning content to be added or addressed). These are just the basics, but I have yet to see a system track them.
Enhanced coaching functionality. If a vendor offers it, it is basic. Nothing that would want someone to repeatedly go back and use. It sounds nice, but so does warm weather in London during winter.
Lack of any strong functionality with coaching via mobile app.

Skill Building and Development

A change in the way vendors think of this. You could always do a skill gap and analysis in any system going back to the late 90’s. What is different today is that a)vendors are making it as though skill gap is new, b)adding of functionality and components to list skills and thus gaps in those skills based on the usage of content or lack therof, c)reliance too much on assessements – always a problem, but has continued to go in a trend line that is alarming
Skill Ratings – Vendors in the learning system are slowly starting to add this, but compared to the skill building platforms that are out there, either as learning platform or as seeing themselves as not a learning platform, rather “skill builder” – they are missing it too.
Rehersal and similar have been a big disapointment in not only the coaching piece but also buidling and developing skills around coaching/mentoring via role play.
Sales Enablement Platforms which include training as a component, are not leveraging their capabilities in skill building/development beyond the standard repetition and daily task angle. Mind Tickle! and QStream seem lost (they are the big two). One factor is that SEP with training as a component pitches it is for sales training, but also has customer support (which makes sense), BUT they are also going after employees in general, which makes no sense.
Skill development using scenario based learning is nearly non-existent. Real world scenarios work in any level of development, retention and synthesis and achieve higher comprehension than any assessment out there.

Higher Education and E-Learning

A giant D. I’d argue that systems such as Blackboard who are still heavy into synchronous based learning play a factor in it. NEO on the other hand, goes more asynchronous, which is one reason why I think it is the best for HE on the market.

While there are more universities/colleges offering 100% online degrees and courses, which is awesome, the application process and fees are still too similar to the brick and mortar way of doing things. Consortiums will do far better in HE, if colleges adopted this approach for their students, and if the application process changed to reflect online, rather than fees to use the computer lab or gym.

The leverging of online learning, especially mobile learning is poor in the HE space. Part of the blame is on the professors/instructors (sorry, you can learn too on how to use it and make it successful) and part is on the tools themselves.

K-12 is delivering far better results, especially with apps for kids. The platforms are still mixed though. I do think that K-12 tends to dive faster into new EdTech than say HE, but equally, retention of long term usage is not at the same intensity and level. A key reason on why NexGen EdTech isn’t at the same or even stronger than Corporate NexGen LearnTech.

Machine learning (correct term to use) aka Adaptive learning (some vendors pitch it using this term).

Big uptick in 2018, huge growth. All trend lines point to even a bigger 2019. Deep learning the next evolution of machine learning isn’t quite there yet with learning systems.

Bust in my opinion for 2018. One system is nearly VR in many ways, and yes, while they are authoring tools that can create a VR like experience, they cannot match a 3rd party shop that builds VR content.

Bigger problem though is the delivery mechanism for seeing and using VR. Tethered headsets still are far superior to their standalone headset compadres. And smartphone VR headsets are dropping in terms of units sold. Even the cheap Cardboard. VR may still get there in training and L&D, but as a whole it hasn’t made even close to a dent. A scratch would be more appropriate.

AR/MR

AR at least for now is a better route to go, but in the e-learning and thus immersive learning industry, it is lackluster in terms of content and folks that offer it. Not seeing much better for 2019, trend wise. Could change, but even with early adopters there isn’t enough in terms of platforms, tools, etc. to use let alone incorporate it.

The market

Learning Systems is an umbrella term and contained within are LMSs, LEP/LXP, learning platforms, employee engagement platforms, performance management systems with a training or learning module or component, sales enablement platforms with a learning componenet, knowledge reinforcement platforms, coaching systems too.

Total market size – I now track 1,325 systems worldwide. I estimate another 200-300 systems out there (at least).

Biggest market is the LMS space. Learning Platforms are in the top three, with that group, in fact, second in terms of size. LEP/LXP is third. LEP/LXP is growing quickly (and if trend lines continue could surpass learning platform market size by 2020), but no where near in terms of size of LMSs.

Authoring Tools market is on the rebound after slow growth the past two years. That said, due to the sluggishness of the market, the numbers are down. A directory of authoring tools will be coming out in March.

E-Learning Tools market size (and I’m not including Slack or some other type of products that were not built specifically for e-learning) is on an uptick. One product line that has seen solid growth are online proctoring tools and platforms. Overall though, NexGen is still below what it should be (in terms of LearningTech) with many of these tools.

Is it real or Memorex?

Innovation – overall sluggish. When is the last time you saw something in a system and went, “wow, why hasn’t anyone else done this?” Okay, maybe you have, but from an analyst perspective, I haven’t. I’ve seen a few wows with a couple of products (more tools then anything else) and yes, in many systems seen some very cool NexGen LearnTech and functionality.

However, I have yet to see something earth shattering that goes, not only game changer but e-learning changer. Seen plenty of game changers if the vendors stay the course, not e-learning changer, yet.

Playlists for example, offer a nice step towards game changer if it goes beyond the content adding or subtraction. There are so many components that could be added with the playlists, yet no one has hit them all. I see the same in terms of video bookmarking, and the golden grail of all training and L&D when it comes to learning systems, a Smart LMS.

No one is there yet, so if some vendor says they have a Smart LMS, then I would surmise they have a flying car, a t-shirt that says Bournmouth Premier League Champs and find Soylent Green devine.

Bottom Line

This is where we were in 2018 and early in 2019.

But, where we can go is up to you,

The consumer.

The vendor.

And the dreamers.

E-Learning 24/7

This post is dedicated to my girl, Cheyanne, a wonderful dog who blessed me with her love and genteel manner for the past 12 years. From her talking to me on a daily basis, to chasing squirrels to knowing where the cookie bar is located (a treats area in my home) to just hanging out with me made such a huge difference and impact. Sweet Dreams, sweetheart. Sweet dreams.

What you can expect in 2019

onlinefreecourse

January 29, 2019

Expectations. We all have them. We have them when we go out to eat. When we are on a blind date or using a dating app. We are about to see a movie that we have been waiting for to come out.

Who hasn’t experienced the anticipation of a trade show and conference, with abated excitement, only to be bummed out, because it failed to live up to our expectations?

But, and here is the kicker, what if you could know ahead of time, that yes, Virginia there is a Santa Claus.

Expect the following

VR takes a hit. As with any new technology, the hype sometimes fails to materialize. Sure some folks are using VR and loving it with their training, and many of these entities have the budgets to pull it off. But for the masses out there, those amazing VR solutions haven’t been met. Cost is a key factor, and while authoring tool vendors are jumping into VR with new functionality, the truth of the whole matter is that VR headsets haven’t punched thru the L&D and/or training departments across the globe.

Perhaps this will change with more VR headsets (I’d hold off on Oculus Go, as a new version will be coming out in 2019). But the problem is more than just the headset, rather it getting buy-in from the C-level folks that this is a must for your budget, especially when you just received the green light to drop 50K on a new LMS.

So far, my expectations as a whole, have not been met with VR for training thru the use of SaaS authoring tools or e-learning VR tools. It is fine, but by no means something comparable to a robust 3rd party VR course designed by folks with backgrounds in digital learning and VR.

If there is any doubt in your minds on whether VR is still a hot commodity for 2019, take a look at other folks forecasts in the space. Or at an upcoming conference. What I see is something else..

Machine Learning

This is going to be huge – high expectations. You can expect to see a lot of vendors in the learning system space to go full throttle into machine learning, which at a point down the road (2020), will become deep learning (term noted by AI experts, as the next evolution of machine learning).

I have noted in the past that the algorithm is a big factor here, and that vendors if they are smart, will have an open algorithm (does not mean you have access to the code).

One item though that most folks are unaware of, is how that algorithm is trained. And so, my hope, err expectation is that you as the consumer, ask the vendor who pitches machine learning or AI, how their system’s machine learning was trained. I surmise many salespeople will ask you what this means, and here is where you can show them that you know something they don’t know : ) .

The two big items to ask are

How old is the data they used to train? How far back is it? i.e. one year’s worth of data? Five years? Six days?
What data did they use for their training? Was it one set of data based on types of content? Multiple sets of data?

A vendor should be able to provide this information, it may take a few days for them to get back to you, but trust me when I say this, knowing how the machine learning was trained is huge. When I talk to vendors whose systems are using machine learning, I will often request an additional call to talk to the person who is the key individual on machine learning with that vendor.

If a vendor declines to provide this information to you, then move on. Let me say that again – move on, because if they are hiding this from you, what else are they hiding? I mean red flag alert here.

LRS

My expectations when I inquire about a vendor using an LRS in their system (if they have one) is often not met. I mean if a vendor has an LRS, you would think that it is being used in the system to generate an extensive set of analytics, beyond just what you saw prior to them having one or base level of analytical data that so many other systems possess.

And yet, I know of a lot of systems out there, who have an LRS built-into their platform or they use a 3rd party LRS, and do not leverage it, as part of their system for the analytical power it can provide. An LRS tracks everything, and you do not need xAPI to have an LRS (so a vendor who says, “Well we do not have xAPI,” doesn’t fly).

Vendors should offer folks two options when it comes to analytical data, either here is what comes with the system OR here is what we can turn on (at no cost to you) for even higher level and thus a better assessment for you, via robust set of analytical data.

What I find to my horror is how many vendors have ZERO clue on why an LRS was created in the first place – which was capturing everything you do (as a learner) into a data file, where if you then leave the company, you take your data file with you (which has all your training or learning) and can go into another LMS at your new company (assuming they have an LMS with an LRS) without any issues (aka interoperability).

Anyone who has experienced the SCORM claims of interoperability of course, new that wasn’t going to be smooth sailing and my biggest concern from day one was tied directly to security and privacy. I mean there are tech companies who won’t let you take anything with you, when you leave them, so the idea of going “here take this data record with you” seemed far-fetch.

On the LRS side as it relates to learning systems, I was surprised (and thus blew away my expectations) on how many vendors built their own LRS rather than going 3rd party, say with Watershed, especially since there were a lot of vendors who went with SCORM Engine for SCORM in their LMS (both products were made by Rustici, who was acquired by LTG, and just recently LTG acquired 100% of Watershed – where before they had 30%).

If a vendor pitches data visualization the best way to achieve that is via an LRS. Vendors will tell me, often, that folks are not asking about an LRS or even using it, but, as they tell them, that isn’t the responsibility of the consumer. If you have it in your system, you clearly invested funds to do so, so use it.

While identifying influencers (an LRS standard feature) is of interest in some cases, I can see it with an LEP/LXP for example or with mentoring, the bigger winner is tying it to those wonderful KPIs that many systems are starting to add.

KPIs

Expect to see this capability showing up in more systems than before. Systems who offer KPIs should in my opinion, allow the client the opportunity to tie them into something like a heat map or the ability to tie it into some form of comparative data.

ROI or IOL (Impact of Learning) Data

Another function you can expect to see is an increase in vendors presenting (on the admin side), numbers of dollars saved or reduced costs and other sets of financial numbers that a person who is running training or L&D or even HR could show to someone to say, “hey, see this system is saving us this amount of money, and this and this.”

All in one system

Mixed expectations here to be quite honest. I am a believer and always have been that if a system can offer everything I need and has other items that I have yet to need or use, it is better than if it doesn’t have those extra items (that I am yet to use or have a use for right away).

I mean you have no idea, unless you are Nostradamus, what the future will be, so how can you know what you will need for your learning and/or training in say six months or a year from now? Isn’t it better to have a system that is forward thinking in its approach, rather than antiquated?

I mean, even folks who are cutting the cord on cable and jumping over to Amazon channels for example, are selecting channels they believe they will use, even if they are not watching the channel on a daily basis, let alone dozens of hours per month.

There is a reason that Wal-Mart Supercenter, Tesco and Costco are at the top level of their game. And why Amazon rules them all. You can find and get everything you need at one stop. I mean, I never thought I’d buy an Instant Pot, but then, one day (Black Friday), I did – and for the record, everyone should buy one (WOW).

Expect to see more vendors diving into the one stop shop approach. A vendor who includes a course/content marketplace and offers learning tech vendors (3rd party) in that marketplace is ahead of folks, who only offer a content marketplace.

Truth be told, my expectations nowadays when I talk to any learning system vendor is that they have a content marketplace that is visible to clients and where they client can just click and buy without having to talk to the vendor to do so.

Mimics what folks are seeing now on the net

Drag and Drop for files. Moving sections around with your mouse (drag and drop in essence). Fluidity. Agile in their approach. Modern UX (because everyone will tell you their system has a Modern UI). On/off synch apps. Android and iOS apps (and yes there are vendors who do not have Android). Web cam capability in the product. Browser extension(s) for their system (rare right now).

Back in the day, people wanted their LMS to look like a search engine. Then they wanted it to look like some amazing web page they saw. Nowadays everyone says Modern, because honestly, no one is going to say, “Hey, can we have it look like Web Crawler? Or maybe the look and feel of Windows ME?”

Quick Bonus Round

Skill-building and skill development – Big – every vendor should offer this in their system
Video management including video bookmarks, auto detection FPS and video streaming – Mixed expectations. Video bookmarking is the wild card here.
Web cam real time viewing and recording for coaching/mentoring – Mixed expectations. Vendors have failed to leverage it to its full power for the learner and the coach/mentor.
Mimicking what they see in social media. Mixed expectations. Let’s move on from Facebook already. Still waiting for something like Whatsapp or Instagram. For any K-12 or HE system, how about TikTok?
Identifying what are the browsers the SaaS authoring tool, e-learning or system will work in (minimum requirements including mobile). Browser agnostic is a misnomer. Low expectations. Vendors tend not to share that info, unless it is in an RFP and even then, I’ve seen plenty who say, “All”, really? So, you will work with IE 7 and Maxthon?
SaaS authoring tools focusing on building a more dynamic and better authoring tool leverging ID design capabilties. Low expectations. Seems more are interested in being hybrid learning systems (yes, it is rearing its ugly head again), then being uh, you know an authoring tool.
Game based learning in your system, mobile app or as a standalone. Mixed expectations. Battles – Knowledge for example, seems to be the one that vendors who are adding this, are incorporating, beyond the usual stale stuff you see – Who is up for a game of breakout that looks exactly like tennis and hockey from the days of Pong? Tetris? Oh, how about glossary?
Themes that administrators can select for their learners – Mixed expectations. I see more vendors offering themes (aka template themes) for their customers as an option, rather than learner by learner (which there a couple who do offer it, and yes, the admin can say turn off that function).
Mobile Responsive – Everyone can do this – so stop asking if they can!
Increase in number of LEP/LXP. High level of expectations. Another big ticket item. If I was entering the space, I’d ignore LMS build, and go LEP/LXP, that said…
More LEP/LXP adding functionality that mimics an LMS. Solid expectations. They are doing it, rather than building an even better LEP/LXP. Which is a surprise since the LEP/LXPs are mostly used as a built-on or add-on for those who have an LMS, as well as folks in L&D who are using an LMS for only compliance and required training.
Adding assignments to your LEP/LXP. Stop right now. Solid expectations. Defeats why an LEP/LXP pitches the learner-centric and focused approach. You can’t be both.
Vendors who only provide great references. High expectations. Folks always want references from vendors. If you think they are going to give you someone who truly says this stinks or you know, I like this, but not that – well, that isn’t happening. Write down the name of the customers they show you, then go on Linkedin, find the person who runs training or L&D and contact them. That is the real sample you want. Not the person they give you directly.
FindAnLMS.com expanding functionality and capabilities for 2019. High expectations. A lot is coming in 2019, expanding the power of my learning system search engine and comparison platform.
One on One interviews, where I interview CEOs from various learning systems, and which can be found exclusively on Findanlms.com – will exceed your expectations – coming in early 2019.

Bottom Line

Everyone has expectations. Some are good. Some are average and some are poor.

Berlin Station on EPIX is awesome and will meet your expectations. Any movie you find on Amazon Prime, Netflix or Hulu where it looks like a bad B-movie, will meet your low expectations.

Expansion capabilities in your LMS may meet your expectations or may not.

Support as always brings about mixed expectations.

And my vision of a Smart LMS,

I’m not seeing it

At least in 2019.

E-Learning 24/7

Note: I will be presenting on Feb. 8th at 8 a.m. at ATDTK. The topic – “So you wanna buy an LMS?”

Product Review – Percipio by Skillsoft

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January 29, 2019

It might be a surprise to some folks who only know of Degreed, EdCast and Learn Amp, that there are quite a few LEP/LXPs on the market, which offer quite a bang for your budget.

One of these platforms is Percipio by Skillsoft. The platform is still in the “potential phase”, but that doesn’t mean you should hold off, if you are considering it, especially if you are debating between it and say, Linkedin Learning. Because, between these two, the winner by far is Percipio.

Good

I’d actually say great with the Chrome Extension of Percipio, where you can search by highlighting any word or words on the internet back into the platform.
Analytics including “Program Value” – shows the ROI in terms of metrics that you can show
User Interface as a whole – on the learner side, layout is simple, easy to figure out – to a point.
Content includes audio books, audio summaries, book summaries. Content also includes courses, videos, practice labs and links to your own content.
Ability to brand, add logo, do quite a bit on your own – Easy too – No developer skills needed
Certifications are doable from big name vendors such as Amazon, Google, Cisco, Microsoft and more
Easy to “Add to Playlist” or “Remove from Playlist”
Mobile app – I love that you can read, watch and listen offline – huge wins for audio books and books in general (ebook format)
Practice Labs also in the content options
Accepts CMI-5 content (although there isn’t a lot out there, still.it is like having 4K programming before everyone else jumps on board and offers it)

Average

Channels and Playlists – Standards in the LEP/LXP market, hence just listed here. I will say though that the Channel view, once you select the content listed in “Channel” is far superior than the other content views – that you find in the playlist or standalone.
Share Link – I debated about listing this in poor, because I still see zero value in this – other vendors do it too, and I see zero value in that as well. Who are you sharing this with? I mean unless they have the platform, the share value is well, zero.
Admin side – Solid, but not wow. Except for the ROI metrics
Assignments – Personally, I am not a fan of assignments in an LEP/LXP. The whole point of these platforms are learner-centric approach – allow me to pick by my interests and learn. You can’t say that, and then enable folks to be assigned items of learning or training. Once you do, then are you still an LEP/LXP?
If you are into the assignments angle, then having it on the main page highly visible is a win for you. Me? Not really. Plus, on the metrics side there is way too many metrics for assignments. Thus, if you are not having your folks complete assignments or you are not doing assignments (and thank you for that), then these metrics are worthless. I surmise there were some clients who wanted assignments, because the reliance and level of items tied to it, are extremely high.
Watch, Read, Listen – As options for narrowing down playlists, channels for the content you want by each option. I love the icons though, easy to figure out.
3rd party content is available within the platform, they continue to sign up vendors – so that is a plus

Poor

End user content can only be viewed via a Link (will change in 2019). Percipio is not the only vendor that does this in the space, but where they are now, they should have made the changeover. Thankfully, they will.
Same issue with 3rd party content – right now if you have 3rd party content yourself and want to take it in Percipio, you must connect via a link. Percipio though can accept AICC, SCORM, xAPI and CMI-5 (win!).
Culling i.e. removing outdated content and/or updating isn’t really there. I saw a lot of bad and outdated content, especially with the “courses”. Again, they are not the only LEP/LXP that has this issue (most do), and it is tough when you are pulling it from other providers, but still if it is your own..

The Details.. The Details

The first time you log into Percipio you will see a screen asking you to identify and select your areas of interest. You can pick as many as you want. After you select the topics/areas of interest, the next screen helps you narrow it further down with sub-categories. When you are finished, you click the button and now your home screen will populate with those areas listed as either playlists and/or channels.

Home Screen (Your main learner page)

homescreen

Resume Learning is the first item you will see, along with “My Assignments” – if you have any that is. If not, it won’t appear.

The second row is “My Playlist” which is your own playlist, and you can constantly add more content to that playlist as you see fit.

The rows after that are the playlists of the content based on your topic of interest/interests. You can always edit the interests at any time.

My Playlist

The order of items regardless whether they are in my Playlist or in the interest playlists or channel playlists (i.e. why one title is first, the other is second and so forth) is completely random. In other words, it is not based on the number of times it was viewed, nor how popular or unpopular it is. Nor is it based on format of the content or anything else that I could think of, but anyway, that is how it works.

myplaylist

This view is far superior to the “View All” view, which trust me, should be modified

viewall

To me, the better design route to go with the “View All” is the view you see when you select a “Channel” and wish to view it in more detail. For Example, I selected the channel “Cloud Architect – which is to be certification channel:

channelview

Granted this is showing different chapters if you will, but with a Playlist view all, this would definitely be a better look, than the text drab of the “View All” screen under the whatever topic of interest playlist.

What I can do in My Playlist

myplaylist

a. Take the content. Here is where it gets a bit funky. You can select whatever content you want, and in the content (depending on what you select) you will either see it by chapters-pages or by chapters. That is great and the way it should be, but for “courses” and “videos” – which by the way are on in the same on the platform, it is more of mini videos contained in the “video” and mini courses err videos in the “course”. Thus, you might see a course which is 1hr 41min, and made up of 14 videos, and when you click you see the chapters which are actually those mini videos.

course

I did like the bookmark option , whereas you can start to view a chapter (i.e. mini video) stop it at wherever, then jump around and pick another chapter and go in. You can leave for days, weeks, etc. when you go back to that chapter it will remember where you are and you start from that point. That is fantastic and something that is a must.

However, there are no bookmark points in the video, i.e. where I can just see the points I left and return, rather it is a straight video play that you see. Nor can I pause the video in my content bar view. To pause, I have to go to the video itself and click the pause on the video bar.

In the chapters you can “Remove from Playlist or Add to Playlist”, but this is a bit misleading. When I saw this, I thought to myself, hey I have zero interest in improving my accountability, so let me “remove it from my playlist”, but in reality it doesn’t, that is because remove from my playlist is the entire course itself. Now think about this, if I am viewing the various mini videos within that course, why remove the entire course, rather than say that one video.

If you select “Video” content than the mini chapters you select from will start with an intro screen from Skillsoft, rather than jumping right into the content. This only appears once if you go “Course” which equally is made up of mini videos.

Another issue, is that it isn’t to get back to the home page of the dashboard. The only way I can do it, is by clicking the name of organization or logo – in my trial, it would be Percipio. There should be though a “home button or a home icon” which I can click – something that most end user would recognize quickly as the way back home.

One other item to note is that in the audio book view, you see the chapters but if you select one, you see only the total duration of the entire audio book, and not the specific chapter.

audiobookview

I will say this, and repeat it, if you want to listen to the audio book, use the mobile app. The same with the ebook – listed as book. Because otherwise, you will want to punch your laptop or desktop screen.

Regardless of the content you select, you will always see Content-Overview in the side view. Depending though on the content you might see additional resources. In the case of my “course”, I saw a course transcript, which wait for it, is a transcript of the video which shows up in a new tab.

It would be nice to have a mini overview – highlight if you will in the playlists – but again, it is rare to find in the LEP/LXP space, so I totally understand why it isn’t in Percipio either – but nothing like taking the lead on it!

contentline

All-Watch-Read-Listen

watchvideoread

Depending on the playlist and the content contained within, you might (most likely) will see options to filter down to a specific format. In my playlist for Microsoft Office, I saw “Watch and Read”. In others, I had the All-Watch-Read-Listen, which tells me there are audio books and/or audio summaries, books and/or book summaries along with videos.

Filtering was easy. What though became confusion was again getting back to the nomenclature of how Skillsoft defines a course. As noted multiple times, every course was in fact a video (specifically a series of mini videos under that topic). The only time you get a really interactive and engaging content, where you as the learner can actually interact and do things is under “practice lab”.

Thus either add a new section for interactive content (which people will know means interactive) or call it Scenario-Based Courses or scenario-based, and have that as an icon.

Because Watch implies video and since Percipio has content stated as video, I think folks would assume that a course maybe is in another format besides video, which in Percipio it is not.

Practice Labs sounds like it is only available for software, which is why the term should be put to bed. Scenarios or interactive learning or even saying Simulations or Sims – people know this is interactive and they can do stuff within it, rather than just sit there and watch.

Which you know isn’t really engaging.

As mentioned earlier, adding or removing from a playlist is very easy

Click which when you hover over it says “more actions”
Add to Playlist or Copy Link

addplaylist

If you wish to remove from the playlist, you accomplish this in the next view after you click on the content. Ideally, you could remove it from the same initial more actions on the main home screen.

If you like the content you click the “thumbs up” icon that is similar to Facebook. You cannot dislike the content though, nor can you leave comments on the content itself.

book

There is not a “views” number either which end users and others like. Personally, view only tells me clicked on the content piece, not whether or not you actually went into it the chapters or read some of it or whatever. Thus views are misleading. But from the consumer perspective folks like it, so I have mixed feelings on whether to list it. That said on the back-end of the administrator view, “views” doesn’t really tell me anything so there from an analytical data perspective, I’d not have it as an “overall views”.

Library

Very easy to use and you can drill down to see breakouts. It also shows Certifications as an option too.

library_selected_areas

Easy. A plus in my book.

Administration View

There is quite a lot that an administrator can do with Percipio. As mentioned earlier, you can add your own logo, branding and so forth. In this example, I removed the name of the entity, so that is why you see black in some areas.

The options in the administrator area include

Dashboards
Reports
Users
Assignments
Content
Licenses
Settings

Under the dashboard setting is where to me the real power of the analytical data exists. There is a lot to like here, but there are some enhancements needed.

metricsthree

Page views is a typical metric you see in any LEP/LXP. You also see it in many LMSs and I cannot see any value in this, because it tells me what exactly? Nothing. It doesn’t tell me where the end user went in that page or viewing of content. It doesn’t tell me how long they spent in that page or piece of content or where they went or how many times, etc. If I want to identify what types of content by subject that I may need to add or purchase (via other content providers available in the system), this data point of total page views won’t help me. Thus for all those folks who use LEP/LXP as skill building and developing skills, hard to identify a skill gap with overall page views.

Content entry points is a start, but again, I want to get granular here. And the Activity metric sort of does it.. but SORT is the big ticket here

activitydashboard

This is a nice first step, but to really make it worthwhile, go more granular. I want to know what Unique Titles were selected – how long in each title, where did they go, how often, how many times and so forth. While you can do that in a report, it would be nice at a graphical level to show that.

Two other dashboards that caught my eye were

ROI metrics

Program Value
Alignment to Business – aka KPIs

metrics_R

I prefer the term alignment to business, because it really is utilizing the philosophy of Impact of Learning whereas it is tied to the business or business series of objectives and goals. Which does present metrics in an non-subjective manner.

That said, because Percipio relies so heavily on assignments the business alignment gets lost. An LEP/LXP is pushed as learner-driven, not admin-driven nor client-driven, so when you do assignments you are really pushing out “required learning”.

Since LEP/LXPs target L&D (and not folks in training per se), and the reason behind an LEP/LXP was that folks in L&D (as a whole) were/are using an LMS for required and compliance training, and thus wanted to offer personal and professional development skills (as learner-driven) in a way they are not using it in the LMS (even though they can).

So there is a flaw in the logic here, at least to me. Clearly the folks who wanted this – I assume it was from some clients initially, was a misstep on Skillsoft’s part. Look plenty of vendors rely heavily on the client feedback, but this is why, it is never a good idea to just embrace without saying the words, “no” or here is why we are not. Trust me, you can say it, just use the words, “that is on our roadmap”, the standard saying in the tech world. : )

Anyway, the whole assignment issue is as you can see a real irritant to me, and a big concern that LEP/LXPs as a whole will add it as a function. Most folks who buy an LEP/LXP buy it as an add-on, and not as a standalone. My vibe with the assignment angle is to have more folks go standalone. Still…

Program Value

Simply rocks.

programvalue

Every LEP/LXP and LMS and every learning system out there, should have at least some form of this metric – you can add quite a bit more too. This is something every person in training and L&D and even HR could use and really a huge KUDOS for Percipio to offer it.

Reports available in Percipio

Learner Activity – provides metrics on learner engagement with content
Assignments – details what content has been assigned to learners
Assignment Summary – displays summary information on all assignments
Entitlements – listing of users who have consumed a license
Content Access – details what content users in your organization are accessing
User Listing – displays a full listing of all users and their attributes
User Summary – provides high level statistics on each user
Audience Summary – displays data on all of the audiences
Collections – lists available content by collection including description and attributes
Executive – provides summary data for site and content engagement

Chrome Extension

Percipio isn’t the only vendor who offers a Chrome Extension, but what makes theirs different than others is the way it works. After adding the extension, which can be found in the Chrome Extensions store, it appears in on your browser toolbar.

Once you click it, it will popup with a window asking you to add your site link and then you log-in. The reason for this is when you are searching the net and find something of interest whereas you can see if it exists in Percipio, you can “search” quickly.

chromextension

extn_googledrive

The extension stays active, even when you are not “using Percipio” so you can always highlight a word or a series of words and see if – the topic – or any words tied to it – exists in your Percipio system.

I really like that.

Mobile app

I always tell people to see when the app was last updated. Believe it or not, a lot of vendors’ mobile apps are outdated or worse, buggy.

Percipio’s mobile app was updated on the 18th of December and includes now the ability to access offline (big win with the audiobooks and ebooks especially) and the use of voice commands to access videos and audio books.

You can synch back to the platform too, when you reconnect to the net.

All wins.

Bottom Line

Percipio by Skillsoft continues to impress as they move forward with new functionality and capabilities. While there are areas that need enhancements and tweaks, and some areas that left me wondering why, overall it is on the right path.

Especially when it comes to things that matter most – for learners the content, ease of use, flexibility and options; and for the administrator – data.

Oh, and for the L&D and training execs, the metrics of Impact of Learning with a touch of ROI tossed in for good measure.

Note: Percipio by Skillsoft can be found in findanlms.com, so you can compare them against others such as Degreed and EdCast (by functionality, etc.) You can also schedule a demo with them in FindAnLMS and send them an RFP.

E-Learning 24/7

Best Learning Systems by Country (2018)

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January 29, 2019

Last week, I had a post on LinkedIn, whereas I noted by country and continent (not all) the best learning system. Numerous readers contacted me and asked if I could post it on my blog, and if I had any additional countries, etc. – which the answer is a big yes. Please be aware that I do not have every country listed.

Reasons include that the country itself does not have a system based there, I am still reviewing multiple systems in that country or it is difficult to identify a system based on say, country challenges – an example would be China, whereas it is difficult to see a system based there (beyond say Hong Kong).

And as in previous, if the system can be found in FindAnLMS, my new learning system search and compare platform, It will be noted by (YES).

To learn more about them, including reaching out, viewing, etc. – I strongly recommend registering today to use FindAnLMS. Extensive listing of features, pricing information, user ranges, implementation time frames, videos, scheduling of demos and more, are right in the product – 100% FREE. This is why, there are no direct links to the individual web sites listed below (in case, you are wondering).

Some of the countries, will have multiple vendors in a rank. And some will have it first by country, followed by region, for example, breakdowns for UK, then the best in the UK.

Europe overall, then some of the countries in Europe.

United States – a listing of the top nine. Why not 10? Out of the box rankings here.

Let’s Begin.

United States

eLogic Learning (YES)
Litmos by SAP (YES)
SumTotal Learning Management (YES)
Schoox (YES)
Spoke (YES)
Cornerstone Learning Suite (YES)
GyrusAim Learning Cloud (YES)
Instancy On Demand (YES)
Brainier LMS (YES)

The initial list only cited LMS vendors, if I was to include LEP/LXP, the new rankings would list Degreed (YES) in the #7 spot, and thus GyrusAim would go to eight and so forth (thus making 10 vendors). At number 11 would be Torch LMS (soon to be in FindAnLMS – by Jan. 2019).

Canada

Part of the challenge by country, is that for some vendors their HQ is in another country, but then they have an HQ for a certain part of the world, in another country. Case in point is Docebo. Docebo’s global HQ is in Italy, but they cite now Toronto, Ontario, Canada as their HQ. In this situation, I selected Canada for them, as I believe they themselves see Canada as this global HQ (as noted from them, directly by an e-mail sent to me).

Overall Canada – Docebo (YES)

Eastern Canada

Docebo (YES)
Axonify
SkyPrep (YES)

Western Canada

ShiftIQ (YES)
Absorb LMS

Argentina – Wormhole

United Kingdom

Overall – Growth Engineering (YES)

England

Growth Engineering (YES)
Unicorn LMS (YES)
Fuse (YES)
Learn Amp LEP/LXP (YES)
Agylia (YES)
Tessello (YES)
glo Learn (YES)
Kallidus (YES)
Looop (YES)
Frog Learn (K-6 system)

Scotland

Kokm (YES)
Create LMS (YES)

Northern Ireland

Wales

Ditto

Europe (EU)

Overall – CrossKnowledge (YES)

Ireland – LearnUpon (YES)

France

CrossKnowledge (YES)
Syfadis Experience (YES) – They only do business in France at this time.

Germany – IMC AG (YES)

Switzerland – Coorpacademy (LEP/LXP) – Yes

Poland – LearnWay (YES)

Bulgaria – Melon LMS (YES)

Romania

Knolyx (YES)
Ascendia

Italy – eXact LCMS (YES)

Belgium

Dokeos (YES)
MySkillCamp

Portugal – MOC

Spain – Still reviewing – demos are being scheduled

Nordic Region

Overall – Eurekos (YES)

Netherlands

Springest Go (YES)
aNewSpring (YES)

Denmark

Eurekos (YES)
LMS365 (YES)

Sweden – GRADE

Norway – itslearning

APAC

Overall – Still assessing at this point, due to discussions to see other systems in say, China, for example.

Japan – brandacademy

South Korea – Classting

Australia – ELMO

New Zealand – Totara LMS

Other Countries

India

UpsideLMS (YES)
Abara (YES)

Cyprus – Courselle

Malta – The StudentCampus

Israel – Myquest (LEP/LXP) (YES)

Russia – iSpring Learn

Algeria – UniCoorp (Not available worldwide)

UAE – LUMEO

Speaking of Award winners, here is my list for the best in various categories that are non Learning System.

Best E-Learning Product for 2018 – Virtway

This platform/tool packs a wallop. From the Product Showroom where you can add courses, content including videos, PDFs, documents, to 3D Interactive for Skills Building, Safety training (for example), to conference rooms to theaters for presentations (in real-time) with folks asking questions via voice, appearing as avatars (in fact you can do this thru the entire product) and much more. Simply speaking, was I saw this, I said “WOW!”

It can be a standalone or integrated into an LMS or other learning systems. The web site doesn’t do it justice. I have asked the vendor to post a video on YouTube that shows the product with items listed above, and they are working on it. Once I have a link, I will attach it to this post.

Top Three Authoring Tools for 2018 (in ranking order)

dominKnow – I do not why they note functionality including an LCMS, because they are not. This is a robust SaaS authoring tool. Integrates well with various LMS and other learning systems, can also be a standalone.
Knowbly – A new player to the corporate space. Has a built-in content management system for your RLOs and other assets. Beginners can use this product, but advanced folks can really push the envelope. A must for folks who use a toolbox of other learning tools including additional authoring tools.
gomo learning– Strong SaaS authoring tool, but I am still baffled on why they have a built-in LRS, when you know the product could be more driven and focused on authoring tool features other vendors have yet to install. I equally have a concern that they may eventually see themselves as a hybrid LMS (see LRS as a factor). Also appears as part of the PeopleFluent Learning System.

Best Web Conferencing Tool

Zoom – Not even close. I use it and love it and plenty of other folks I know, including a nice set of LMS vendors use it as well. Litmos by SAP has it as an integration, ready to go.

Bottom Line

Well, there you have it.

The best by country. Along with additional award winners, including best product for 2018.

What’s next you may ask?

Well besides the New Year,

The Top 50 Learning Systems for 2019, coming at the end of January.

E-Learning 24/7

Design Thinking for Learning Innovation – A Practical Guide

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January 29, 2019

About a year ago, one of the big four Australian banks approached DeakinPrime with a challenge. We were asked to pitch for a compliance training job targeting the bank’s thousands of independent insurance brokers. The initial request was very specific, calling for quotes to build 9 elearning compliance modules.

We’d been exploring design thinking for some time and Simon Hann, DeakinPrime’s CEO, was inspired coming fresh off the plane from Stanford’s dschool, so we decided to go in a different direction.

Our pitch tentatively suggested a few elearning modules combined with some on the job tools however, we proposed to develop a more considered solution via a deeper design process which would examine learner needs and workflows, with the call out that we might end up redefining the problem altogether.

To our delight, our key stakeholders at the bank loved this idea and gave us the go-ahead to embark on a design thinking journey. The resulting co-design approach led us to ditch all 9 elearning modules. Instead, we developed a sales portal that provided just-in-time resources, guided customer interviews, and quick search options to access tools and support.

This solution is now live to over 5,000 people and the best part is that, rather than being trained in compliance, brokers who use the platform to increase their sales are inherently compliant. (Watch this space for a more in-depth case study).

In this instance, design thinking supported us to kill training and build an innovative performance tool directly linked to learner needs. In other jobs, it’s helped co-design learning and change campaigns that span tens of thousands of people.

Using design thinking hasn’t always led to paradigm-shifting solutions though. I’ve previously written about the potential fail points of creating 70:20:10 solutions and, in that context, a design thinking process can be crucial in establishing what not to build, instead revealing simple and realistic elements that can be embedded in the workflow of our audience.

WHAT DESIGN THINKING FOR LEARNING & PERFORMANCE LOOKS LIKE

For me, design thinking is about starting with empathy, designing collaboratively, and failing faster, to create innovative end to end experiences.

I explored the above summary in more detail during a recent presentation to the LearnX Conference. Click on the presentation below for more and for a sneak peak of the three workshop process that we’ve developed at DeakinPrime.

While we use a design thinking mindset & tools in all our jobs, we use this three workshop process for significant learning & performance projects that lend themselves to complex blends, campaigns, or ecosystems.

If the embedded link below doesn’t work try viewing the presentation here.

Please note, it might not make that much sense without my explanation to support it but hopefully, it gives you an idea.

TOP TIPS TO IMPLEMENT DESIGN THINKING FOR LEARNING

Beyond the model I’ve previewed in the presentation above, there are a number of tips to keep in mind:

1. Involve your audience early and often

Don’t work off assumptions or second-hand information. Instead, go to your target audience to observe, interview, and empathise with them. The best technique I’ve found for this is to include them in a co-design workshop and charge that group to interview their peers for further qualitative data.

2. Dig deeper with ‘whys’

The interview process, of asking why multiple times, has been a simple yet powerful change to gaining understanding. For both peer interviews and ones that our team conducts, it’s allowed us to go beyond the obvious pain point and uncover underlying needs

3. Collaborate by being visual

The cliche design thinking workshops involve countless sticky notes and cards up on walls. This is more than a gimmick; it’s an efficient way to sort, theme, and share information collectively. Done correctly, using tools such as card sorts or analysis grids, involves and empowers a group to quickly cut through data and make decisions.

4. Use personas

Even if I only have 2 hours instead of three workshops to design a solution, I still tend to use personas. These simple characters support deeper empathy by getting personal and specific. Each job varies but some key elements tend to include how the person thinks, feels, and does around a particular issue. Their key needs, pain points, elements of their workflow and day, and how they access learning, communication and information. For some reason, I’ve found 3 to be the magic number of personas.

5. Incorporate Action Mapping.

While I use many traditional design thinking techniques, I do incorporate a version of Cathy Moore’s action mapping to further understand personas and the gaps between them and the required actions they must take to reach success. Identifying performance gaps in terms of Knowledge, Skills, Motivation/Mindset or Environment can help inform the latter stages of ideation.

6. ‘Orphan your ideas’

I coined this phrase in one of my first workshops and it’s one that continually resonates with participants. It stems from when I was an elearning designer and had a sign over my desk reminding me that ‘I am not my module‘. Similarly, people need to separate themselves from their ideas. Some ideas will get shot down in an instant, others will evolve and end up being stars, but they are not us, and the quicker we orphan them, and allow them to go their own way, the faster we can create better ones.

7. Everyone can prototype

Low fidelity prototyping can be extremely simple. At DeakinPrime we often include illustrators into the workshop process to bring ideas to life but, for often it’s enough to have participants drawing a concept model of key content, or a stick figure storyboard of a coaching experience, or a wireframe sketch of a portal including moveable sticky notes. It’s inherently rough and quick, but can provide a preview of an experience to allow us to fail faster.

8. Field testing should focus on empathy, not validation

This was a tweak I’ve only learnt recently. Initially we would engage participants to test low fidelity prototypes with their peers, charging them ’to test ideas we’re working on’. Recently, I experimented with charging them to ‘find out more about our audience group,’ using the prototypes as a conversation starter. This shifted people from defending a solution to asking more probing questions, empathising, and revealing needs.

9. The final journey map should include fail points and dependables

The culmination for the more complex jobs we work on has been a wall to wall journey map. A key swim lane in such a journey map is to consider other touch points and people. While we begin the process unashamedly empathising with our target learners, at this point we really want to empathise with the managers, delivery team, IT or others who will be called upon to play a role in the solution.

10. Draw on resources & tools

It’s great you’ve gotten this far as you’re obviously willing to learn from my mistakes and experiences, and there are countless others out there doing great work for you to continue that process. Sites like Stanford’s dschool and Ideo, while not learning specific, are incredibly generous, with fantastic tools and resources you can download right now.

11. Start small, iterate, and learn

It can be intimidating to get started, so be sure to take things a step at a time. You can begin by making sure you talk directly to learners, involve them in the process, and have the means to quickly test half-baked ideas before investing much into them. Be compassionate with yourself as you make mistakes, learn, and improve.

WANT MORE?

Feel free to check out some of my other work on design thinking and related topics:

Video: Learning Innovation: A Design Thinking Primer for L&D , a presentation I delivered earlier this year. Less nuts & bolts compared to the slides above, but a good starter with some background on the why & how of design thinking in learning.

Infographic: Design Thinking in Learning, now a year old this infographic still captures some key points & my key references.

Article: eLearning Modules will Die and 70:20:10 will hold the Smoking Gun, the premise behind that first case study I cited in the article of shifting from elearning modules to performance solutions.

Infographic: Work is Learning

onlinefreecourse

January 29, 2019

worklearning-title-01

How and why can L&D embrace the fact that we learn from work? What can be done to burst the ‘training bubble’ where formal learning is delivered as an event, separate to the workflow? An infographic primer exploring these key questions.

arun

I’m a Learning & Performance Geek with a passion for helping to empower people and solve challenging problems.
I’ve created an app called Learn2Learn to help people future-proof themselves with the super-skill of learning.
In my day job at DeakinCo, I use design thinking to take the lead creative role delivering 70:20:10 performance solutions for some of Australia’s largest companies.
In my spare time, I’m an award-winning fiction writer and hobbyist multimedia designer. Most importantly, I’m a proud dad to 3 eccentric small individuals who, along with my wonderful wife and life partner, have taught me more than anything else in the world.

If you think we’re on the same wavelength, please be sure to connect with me on Twitter/LinkedIn and use the form above to sign up for my email list.

Infographic: Workflow Learning

onlinefreecourse

January 29, 2019

Charles Jennings recently challenged L&D to ‘start with the 70 and plan for the 100‘. This infographic explores that approach by focusing on workflow learning, starting with what’s happening in the workplace and drawing on pull resources and collaboration to support deep and continuous learning.

If you’re interested in how to design such learning ecosystems, I highly recommend my previous post about design thinking for human centered learning as a way to explore and support workflows.

workflow2-01

arun

If you think we’re on the same wavelength, please be sure to connect with me on Twitter/LinkedIn and use the form above to sign up for my email list.

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