“Code Raiders” Case Study
Challenge
Initially founded in 1962 with its headquarters in Fort Collins, Colorado, Waterpik Inc, is a leading developer and manufacturer of innovative personal and oral health care products. The Waterpik headquarters in Fort Collins currently employs approximately 200+. Of the many departments (which include engineering; operations & production; quality assurance; marketing & sales; customer service; as well as a finance, legal, and human resources team, the marketing and sales team comprises roughly 25% of those employed at the Waterpik headquarters. Of the approximately 45 number of employees in the marketing and sales department, roughly 40 work in or with oral care products.
My initial needs analysis revealed that employees, who work in Oral Care, are expected to recall specific information about products based on the complex product codes. Interactions with the sales and marketing department often involve detailed conversations about specific products with the coding system used to reference the long list of oral care products. Because there are so many products, employees new to the Oral Care department often struggle to quickly recall information. Based on my discovery call with Marketing Associate, Austin West, and a series of conversations with multiple members of the oral care team, employees are taking a minute or more to look up the necessary information about the product when it is referenced verbally in real time. This additional task divides their attention resulting in misunderstandings, backtracking, wasted time, and missed opportunities for individual contributions and collaboration. According to current employees, informational slides were shared with them, in lieu of formalized product training. From these conversations, we collectively agreed on the following performance goal: that learners would will be able to retrieve information about a product, based on a product code provided in meetings, in 30 seconds or less.
Additional conversations with SME, Kim Erlandsen provided me with clear understanding of the knowledge and skills required for learners learners to effectively meet the stated performance goal. This insight allowed us to devise the following learning objectives which would serve as guide posts for the course content.
Following the training, the learner would be able to…
Identify the category and function of an oral care product, when provided with the product’s code, with the exception of WP codes, at 100% accuracy.
Identify the basic features of an oral care product, (such as flossing time, pressure settings, charge capacity, and control modes,) when provided with the product’s category, and/or function, at 100% accuracy.
Retrieve specific and relevant information about an oral care product, (such as shelf name, color variations, selling channels, MSRP, accessories, and specific features), using the Job Aid, when provided with the product’s code, in 30 seconds or less.
The training was also influenced by a careful consideration of audience needs and expectations. Employees demonstrated a preference for e-learning citing the importance of flexibility and the freedom to complete the training either at home or during work hours. Most employees cited their comfort with technology. In terms of expectations and motivations, reoccurring themes included both relevance and engagement. Frustrated with generalized trainings that don’t always feel applicable to their role, employees expressed the importance of trainings that felt like a valuable use of their time and trainings that showcased a clear path to application and integration. Regarding engagement, employees requested a learning experience that was creative and that held their interest.
Solution/ Process
In order to ensure that my training was effective, I began “with the end in mind” and mapped out knowledge and skills that learners would need to confidently meet the course objectives, as well as the assessments that would accurately measure those skills and knowledge. For each objective, I used knowledge checks as an initial formative assessment, before building toward more complex assessments that contextualized the learning task within realistic work place scenarios. Following Merrill’s Principals of Design, I used specific feedback to guide learners from guided practice to an unguided summative assessment that required learners to demonstrate their mastery of the learning objectives.
With a sound curricular structure in place, I began devising the concept of the course. Responding to the request for an engaging learning experience, I worked to create a compelling “Indiana Jones- esque” narrative that runs parallel to the structure of the course and supports the learning experience, offering a gamified adventure that rewards the learner and kept them invested in their own success. This plan is initially mapped out in my Instructional Design Document. Additionally, I created scripts for the “direct instruction” that would be presented to learners. Through my writing, I worked to foster a friendly and welcoming tone, to contextualize the learning experience, and to highlight distinct connections between the learning tasks and the learners’ job responsibilities at Waterpik.
Having a strong sense of the structure and the content, I got to work on the Visual Design, mapping out the initial look through a Storyboard. Adhering to Waterpik’s brand colors, I used Canva and Magic Media to create AI generated visuals to create an immersive learning experience. Using Murf AI, I coached and created voiceover that effectively relays information and instruction to the learner in a relatable and appealing manner. Finally, moving definitively into the Development phase, I built the final e-learning in Lectora, which allowed me to leverage branching scenarios in order to create a flexible user-centric experience. Mini-lessons built in Genially are integrated into the design and further support the learner’s active engagement with the content.
Results
The final result is a course uses a compelling story to pique the learner’s interest and create a meaningful and immersive learning experience.