Why a good UX and UI is so important for learners on short courses

Many courses funded by the Adult Education Budget (AEB) last an average of eight to 12 weeks. For short courses like this, providers need to onboard and engage learners quickly to avoid potential withdrawals.

It’s no surprise that short courses pose high risks of withdrawal. Learners on short courses tend to be less committed than those on year-long or multi-year programmes, which increases the chance of them dropping out if they run into difficulties.

While some withdrawals will be out of your hands, there’s plenty that training providers can do to give learners on short courses the best chance of completing.

We spoke to Bud’s Head of User Experience (UX), Stuart Janicki, to find out how an outstanding user interface (UI) and UX can keep learners engaged and help your organisation stand out in a crowded market.

Digital enrolment needs to be straightforward

Enrolment is one of the first barriers that learners face. You need to get the learner up and running as quickly as possible to keep motivation high and set the pace for the rest of course.

Digital enrolment is significantly faster and requires less admin for trainers than traditional paper-based enrolment. However, it’s vital to bear in mind that not all learners share the same level of digital literacy.

Many learners will be embarking on adult learning for the first time, so it’s likely they won’t be familiar with the processes involved and your chosen means of delivery. It’s therefore important that the learner experience is slick and easy to navigate from the get-go. This includes your enrolment process which needs to be clear and simple, with actions that are easy to understand.

As Stuart explains:

“Onboarding isn’t a guided experience. Learners might have been given a brief overview of how it works, but it’s likely they’ll be completing it on their own. This is why your platform or process needs to work in the moment – you really don’t want to put your learners off before they’ve even got into the learning programme.

“It can be tough for people to commit to adult learning and reskilling. You need to create something that clearly shows what’s required so they can follow the process in an easy manner without needing guidance.”

Read more: What data should be captured at enrolment for AEB learners?

Make progress visible at every stage

One of the best ways to keep engagement high on short courses is to provide constant reminders of progress and create a sense of achievement.

Learners should be able to easily access their learning plan and see their progress in the moment. In addition to the positive feedback they’ll receive from their trainer, being able to view their progress in their own time will encourage retention.

With Bud, learners can log into the system from any device and view their learning plan whenever they need to. Just like the rest of the platform, the learning plan is designed to be simple and easy to understand.

“There are two main aspects of the Bud platform: the administrator’s view and the learner’s view. The learner’s view is very simple – they can log in and see what courses they’re taking and what actions are required of them. They can see training materials, submissions and messages, so they’ve got a narrative of what they need to do at any particular time,” said Stuart.

Stand out in a crowded market

When it comes to successfully delivering short courses, it’s not just about the learners. Training providers need to be able to stand out in a crowded market to differentiate themselves to prospective employers.

To do that, it can only help if they are able to demonstrate that their chosen platform is the best in class and capable of delivering the best experience possible. Stuart recommends avoiding platforms that are not intuitive and will overcomplicate the user experience.

“Generally, if a user can get lost on a platform, they’re going to struggle. There’s also information overload in some interfaces, which is where you present the page with so much information that learners can’t determine what they need to do. You don’t want them asking, ‘what am I doing? Why am I here? What am I using this for?’,” he said.

Provide a seamless experience with Bud

Bud’s single, joined-up platform is designed to streamline the processes involved in delivering AEB-funded courses, apprenticeships and other training.

With Bud, learners benefit from:

• A straightforward digital enrolment process
• A simple, intuitive interface that is designed for accessibility
• Access to their learning plan at any time on any device, empowering them to take control of their learning
• Instant visibility over progress by viewing percentage complete
• Quick communication with trainers via our in-app messaging functionality

As Stuart adds:

“Bud takes the hassle away from users, so they can focus on the learning and training. For learners, they can easily access and navigate the Bud platform. For trainers, it reduces administrative workload, giving them back time to focus on high-value tasks. For operations and compliance teams, it drives compliance and helps them to secure their funding and complete their commercial contracts. Having Bud is a huge advantage and supports them to meet their ambition of being a leader in high-quality training provision.”

Book a demo or contact the team to learn more about how Bud works. Want more great UX insights from Stuart? Connect with him on LinkedIn.