Knowledge Academy
The Project
Project Details
Create a space for knowledge management practitioners, experts, and newcomers alike to learn and get certified on knowledge management best practices, share knowledge fundamentals, professional heuristics, and industry expert advice.
Why Was This Necessary
As the company pivoted towards “knowledge management” as its product’s key benefit and focus, it was important to demonstrate eGain was the place to go for your knowledge solutions. By creating an educational platform like the Knowledge Academy, we would be able to showcase the wisdom of our subject-matter experts who have been in the business of knowledge management for more than 20 years. It would also serve as a great opportunity to instruct employees and improve their skill set.
Team Members
Manju Ramachandran | VP Usability, Documentation & Training and Project Owner
Ariel Feist | Project Manager and Instructional Designer
John Wise | Editor & Learning Experience Designer
Timeline
Phase I – 3 Months
Phase II – 3 Months
Phase III – 3 Weeks
Challenges
SME Availability
As with most projects, the main challenge was getting the time and materials we needed from the subject-matter experts. While some were able to provide their presentations and recordings that we could use to begin editing the material together within a few weeks, others took months to chase down and finally get their content. The original planned timeline was six weeks to publish Phase I, but that got pushed out to three months simply because the SMEs were unresponsive or unavailable to our requests. After we received their material, however, it became a swift exercise in editing the footage and compiling everything into the learning management system
Content Inconsistency
The Knowledge Academy involved at least seven different subject-matter experts. Each of whom had their own style and delivery method. In addition, we had some e-learning modules in the learning path that were specifically for using the company product and required updating.
Shifting Design & Tools
The original scope of the Knowledge Academy was different from the broad plan of a learning platform for everyone to try. It was originally going to be used to train Sales and Pre-sales teams on how to be capable enough with the product and its knowledge management capabilities to then sell it confidently to potential customers seeking a knowledge management solution. As we got further into the development, we decided to expand the content to broader audiences and break up its structure.
In addition, we found the tools we were using to create the courses during Phase I’s development inadequate. So, we shifted to Articulate’s platform and had to learn a new set of tools.
What Was Delivered
Phase I
A learning path with:
Four hours of video footage
Two hours of interactive e-learning courses
A final project to build a functional website with the product, using the lessons from the learning path
A spreadsheet to be completed describing their solution according to a sales discovery report
This initial phase was successful among our Sales and Pre-sales teams, as at least 20 were certified as Knowledge Solution Designers within two weeks of the learning path’s release. However, we immediately discussed how we could make the Knowledge Academy more useful to the broader company and improve what we currently had in place.
Phase II
Four tiers of different learning paths with:
Six additional hours of new video footage
Two hours of updated interactive e-learning courses
Two new projects to complete in addition to the previous final project and spreadsheet
This phase was a big change because we broke up the initial learning path into three separate paths, with the material that was focused on selling the product in its own section.
In addition, a new tier was created to act as the foundational learning path in the Knowledge Academy: Knowledge Insights & Best Practices. This used material from two of our most experienced subject matter experts (Ian Jones & Lindea Yeardley), and it was a set of courses that focused entirely on understanding the concepts behind successful knowledge management at a company. It was also product agnostic, so people taking it did not need to do any tasks within the company product to complete the learning path.
This was also the phase in which we were able to update our courses that focused on actions within the product to the new Articulate Rise formats, which allowed for more engaging and in-depth instruction.
Phase III
Three tiers of learning paths with:
Two additional hours of new video footage
Two hours of updated interactive e-learning courses
Refined final projects
Publication outside of company learning management system
With Phase III there came some small and big changes. First, we eliminated the fourth tier of the Knowledge Academy, which consisted of the Sales material and original final project. The purpose of the Knowledge Academy had changed and some of the requirements within the original final project were no longer feasible by this point.
New courses were added to the first and third tiers of the Knowledge Academy that focused on the AI side of knowledge management to meet with the increasing interest and need of AI.
Lastly, we decided to take the product-agnostic Knowledge Insights & Best Practices learning path and publish it on a public learning platform, Udemy. This was to elevate the company’s status as an intellectual leader in the knowledge management space as well as passively market the brand.
Lessons Learned
Breaking Up Content
We found that learners were much quicker and more eager to complete the Knowledge Academy certifications when the material was broken up into different tiers. It made the content more digestible and less intimidating.
Additional Context
With Articulate Rise’s expansive toolset, we were able to add more context to our courses in an interactive and engaging format than before. With the ability to embed videos in a course and then provide text or interactive modules directly beneath them that tied into the content of the video, the lessons of each course stuck a lot better in the minds of our learners.
Try a Course
Design
This is the third course in the Knowledge Insights & Best Practices learning path of the Knowledge Academy. The nine other courses in the learning path shared the same fundamental design and format.
Let’s Connect
I’m here to help and offer my expertise as a technical writer and instructional designer. If you need assistance with your documentation or learning management system, please feel free to reach out.