This series explores the six decisions to make when planning software training from the August 2016 article in TD magazine, “All Systems Go”.
 
The second decision is “What can you cut?”
 
The authors ask three questions when planning what you don’t need to include in your online software training:

1. “Are your users computer-savvy enough that you can skip or lightly cover basic tasks?”
2. “Do you need to cover every way to do something?”
3. “Can you take inspiration from cooking shows?”

 
For the first item, I often see customer-focused online training get bogged down by everything you can accomplish on one screen or other extraneous information outside the focus of accomplishing a specific task. I’m a big believer in micro-learning, so if you think your customers need the basic information, make it a separate lesson from the task, and users who need that information can take advantage of it separately.
 
Customer-focused training may not show every way to do a task. You can, however, provide extra details like keyboard shortcuts without narrating every possibility.
 
If you want to take inspiration from cooking shows, skip the details if they aren’t pertinent to the task being taught. The example in the article is, “unless the episode is about chopping onions, the chef has them already chopped.” In other words, don’t waste learning time on something the customers already know how to do.
 
Next time, we’ll discuss the third decision from the article-“ are you targeting new or existing users?”

In the "All Systems Go" article in the August 2016 issue of TD magazine (Elkins and Elkins), the authors describe six decisions to make when creating online software training. The article is intended for an audience who needs to train employees. I'd like to unpack those decisions for an audience that trains vendors and customers, whether it is for customer marketing, onboarding, or support strategies.

The first decision has to do with context. “Do you teach just the procedures, or more?” This is especially relevant if you use online videos or training as a marketing tool. You want your customers to get the most value possible out of your product to not only keep them as customers, but to make them so happy, they refer their friends and colleagues to purchase or subscribe to your product as well.
 
Providing a step-by-step procedure in online help or even a training video can be quite helpful. But you think about how you are providing context for that procedure? Would creating a common scenario or other contextual online learning situation provide more impact or more meaning?

​Consider that simply telling your customers why they should use a certain feature may not be enough to motivate them to learn how to use it.

You can use online learning to show not only how a feature solves a problem for them, but how they can perform the procedure. Providing practice through a simulation can go one step further to change the customer’s behavior and increase the chances that they become and remain satisfied customers.
 
Next time, we’ll discuss the second decision from the article-“what can you cut?”