Making corporate learning engaging
Completion rates of corporate trainings remain low, despite multiple reminders from Learning & Development teams. Lack of time to prioritize training over work and dis-engaging content are two primary factors for this behaviour.
At KNOLSKAPE, our intention was to address this issue by building a learning ecosystem that would motivate learners to engage with their training material and move towards completion.
Duration
Jan - Jun, 2016
Responsibilities
Interaction Design, Visual design, Gamification, Usability testing
Impact
28% increase in course completion rates.
Making corporate learning engaging
Completion rates of corporate trainings remain low, despite multiple reminders from Learning & Development teams. Lack of time to prioritize training over work and dis-engaging content are two primary factors for this behaviour.
At KNOLSKAPE, our intention was to address this issue by building a learning ecosystem that would motivate learners to engage with their training material and move towards completion.
Duration
Jan - Jun, 2016
Responsibilities
Interaction Design, Visual design, Gamification, Usability testing
Impact
28% increase in course completion rates.
Background Context
KNOLSKAPE hired an open-source Learning Management System (LMS) as the foundation upon which the intended system would be developed.
My Role
I was leading the UX for this project and was working along with a product manager.
In addition to gathering requirements, translating the requirements to prototypes, I have designed the end-to-end experience for this app starting from signup flows to course-completion. I also conducted usability tests with internal employees in order to remove any confusion in the user flows.
HMW engage learners in a corporate setting?
Let's gamify!?
The product team wanted to create a learning product in the B2B space to solve for engagement. The hypothesis was that by adding gamification elements (points, badges & leaderboards to be specific), we would address lack of engagement and create a differentiated product. I had trouble with this approach because we were using Gamification as a magic recipe without understanding it’s principles.
To solve for engagement from an experience perspective, I proposed that the app should have a personality that it cares about learners’ progress and the interactions should be non-serious & playful.
Constraints
I would have preferred to do primary research to understand user pains with respect to corporate trainings in detail – but, I was limited due to several factors. I relied on doing secondary research to put myself in the shoes of the users that I was designing for.
I studied user flows for Coursera, Udacity and edX to understand design patterns in the learning space. Google Primer was an inspiration for how to deliver content in an engaging manner using playful illustrations and smooth animations.
Design
..
Playful interactions
How information is presented to the user is an important factor in creating a desired perception of the space.
I’ve used loading states to communicate that the app has a personality and that it is not serious or business-like. I wanted it not to become too playful as this app would be for users in the corporate sector.
Caring about the learner's progress
..
Providing encouragement on the path of learning is an important boost that we can provide to learners. In this respect, it is important to show relevant messages that acknowledges the learner’s progress. Coupled with right messaging, I have used emoji 🙌 to achieve a non-serious tone and showing that the system cares about the progress made.
..
Gamification
Gamification is a persuasive mechanism that provides an extra push to the user to stay invested in the task at hand. When implemented in the right context, it can be very effective.
However, the team chose to have the popular aspect of gamification - points, badges & leaderboards, as a feature.
We have had many discussions about effective gamification implementation and how plastering points, badges & leaderboards will not create long-term engagement. In the spirit of an MVP, we went ahead with these constructs.
A concept gamification screen designed for a potential client (Badge icons created by a graphic designer)
Execution & Testing
I have designed about 80 screens for all the flows of the app – starting from user signup to training course completion.
By conducting internal usability tests, I have made refinements to the core flow of the app.
..
Impact & Learnings
The customer development team saw a lot of requests for a post-training engagement model with learners. In response, the product team offered a solution where short consumable content (bites) could be pushed to a learner over a period of time. This seemed to be a good intersection of the business need, the clients’ need and how users consume content on a mobile device.
We acquired 2 clients who were willing to test this app in their ecosystem. On average, we saw that the course completion rates improved by 28% with the app as compared to their traditional learning materials. This resulted in rollout of the training to wider audience within these organisations.
I had moved on from the company and hence not privy to report further metrics.
Learnings
My contribution as a designer was not just in terms of execution & collaboration, but in adding a certain personality and point-of-view of how the app should feel. I feel that this was an important product differentiator.
The product features were reactionary at times, without a strong rationale. This effected the team and what we wanted to deliver. I have learned that it is important to have the product direction validated before jumping into execution.
Other case studies
© VINAY CHILUKURI,
2025
Illustrations from Lukaszadam, Undraw.co
© VINAY CHILUKURI,
2025
Illustrations from Lukaszadam, Undraw.co
© VINAY CHILUKURI,
2025
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