Designing Learning Content for Rapidly Evolving Products and Services
“If it works, it’s out of date.”
David Bowie
As a much respected musician and creative force who was always considered an innovator, David Bowie’s quote is as timeless as the artist himself. What is more, it’s a statement that all of us involved in the automotive industry can relate to.
OEMs, for example, are evolving from businesses that simply wholesale a product, to offering a range of products and services direct to customers. In addition, these products and services continuously improve, and updates can be deployed rapidly through over-the-air software technology. Some upgrades might be tweaks, but they can also take the form of more significant, first-to-market innovations that enable a brand to gain a competitive advantage, such as Advance Driver Assistance Technology.
That means, from a learning and development perspective, there are significant new challenges to overcome. As automotive manufacturers settle into a faster rhythm of launching and upgrading their products and subscription services, the core mission that underpins a brand's ability to thrive - enhancing the customer’s experience – is not easily achieved.
Consider the front-line Sales Consultant, for example. They need to absorb information about new products and services much more rapidly. They need to be aware of upgrades to existing offerings which now have the potential to reach the customer, via an OTA upgrade or an in-app notification, faster than ever before. It’s easy to see how they might develop a negative view of the learning and development (L&D) support they receive if it is delivered in a traditional, time-bound manner. And that could mean they struggle to advise customers with confidence or to project the right level of enthusiasm that helps to build a brand.
“How to manage a project: Limit it in scope. Make it simple. Then iterate.”
Auren Hoffman, Author and CEO of SafeGraph
Automotive products have also become more complex, and so too have the L&D assets which support them. Larger assets take longer to build as they attempt to cover all the information the learner needs to absorb. And while the latest e-learning platforms often have an increasing level of synergy with more modern Learning Management Systems, reworking existing content has proven time consuming and expensive.
This has meant that any key updates might not be addressed until the next generation of learning commences. However, in a world where products and services are rapidly developing, such an approach is increasingly unfit for purpose. So instead of content that is ‘filed and forgotten’, learning assets need to be more fluid and able to respond ‘in the moment’ as a product evolves.
Some key approaches that help us to ‘future proof’ our learning assets include:
Ensuring that learning is quick and straightforward to access for all users, with effective support and easy, anonymous feedback systems
Creating content that is iterative, and primarily delivered in bite-sized modules which can be quickly developed and adapted as products and services are updated
Designing learning assets so that they are attractive to the eye and engaging to the soul is essential. Interactive content is especially effective in building knowledge, whether it is a technical course or one which focuses on ‘soft-skills’. However, highly engaging content can also be more resource-intensive to develop and maintain, compromises may have to be made for fast-moving content.
Developing ‘dual purpose’ content. With customer experience at the heart of your business, many learning interventions can be written in a way that appeals to both front line sales consultants, and to the customer. A ‘learn alongside me’ approach can help build empathy between the customer and the sales consultant
Delivering content that works in an omnichannel environment. Customers are increasingly interacting with businesses online, in person and through third party social media sites. We need to ensure that the learning asset considers all the potential pathways that a customer could follow
This final point is especially important when we are upgrading content in the light of new product or service updates. Remember it is not just our own people who are often overwhelmed by all the change in the automotive industry.
“It’s not information overload. It’s filter failure.”
Clay Shirky, Professor and Author of ‘Cognitive Surplus’
The shift toward electric mobility has raised many concerns in the minds of customers. Issues as disparate as sustainability and range anxiety are big topics that customers may already have formed strong opinions about: What might the customer have learned already about the issue from independent sources? Has their opinion been influenced by third party reviews or chatrooms? How, in turn, are we able to help them understand more about the broader concepts of owning an electric vehicle (EV), to dispel myths and explain how an EV could fit into their lifestyle?
Often these firmly held views are tangled and contradictory. So we need to provide our teams with the learning resources that help them provide the customer with clarity. What do they need to understand? What really matters to them? Why is the product or service a good fit, not only in relation to their mobility needs, but how does it align with their lifestyle and outlook?
The key is to not overwhelm the customer with facts, figures and superlatives. The advantage of iterative learning content is that it can provide a sales, consultant, with a manageable, and timely set of building blocks. It allows them to become the customer’s product or service Genius over time, as they develop their knowledge and understanding through learning content that is manageable in size and delivered when needed.