Tips for a successful learning platform upgrade

We speak to a lot of big organisations who recognise learning and development is evolving. They need to find better ways to engage with their workforce and really harness the knowledge from experts in their business. 

A learning experience platform will empower you to do just that. So, here are 4 tips for a successful learning platform upgrade from our Chief Technical Officer, Mark Ward. 

1. An LXP is more than a modern interface 

With years of legacy learning content and user data on your LMS, it might be tempting to evolve what you already have in place. But an LXP is way more than a new interface. 

The backbone of an LMS is not designed to support the front end functionality of an LXP. There are tools such as machine learning, analytics, personalisation and user-generated content which are all designed to drive deeper engagement and promote a positive culture towards learning. 

That’s why we built THRIVE completely from scratch. LXPs are a whole new product, with different fundamentals and inner workings. 

So, watch out for add-ons. There are quite a few platforms out there that, due to the popularity of the LXP, are trying to find solutions which fit into this category. Sometimes this can work well, but often it’s just a case of putting a shiny layer on something which is fundamentally not fit for purpose.

2. Involve your learners 

Learning experience is all about the end-user, so get them involved as early as possible.

An important thing to consider as you prepare to roll out your new platform is planning a soft launch. It’s well worth getting a focus group of users together and collecting valuable feedback before you launch to the whole organisation. 

3. Evolve your team’s skills

Upgrading your learning platform is a really good opportunity to look at the skills within your L&D team. 

Traditionally learning teams were made up of trainers, learning designers and administrator type roles. With a jump to a new system, the roles evolve to suit learner experience and user engagement, 

So, your team may need to develop some new skills. Content creation: making videos and infographics, not just elearning. Content curation: knowing where to find the best material online.

Marketing skills are also key to run campaigns that increase engagement and promote L&D within the business. And data analysis, you suddenly have all this data, but do you know what to do with it? This is another skill your team might be missing. Don’t worry too much, we have a team of Customer Success Managers dedicated to helping you make the most of all these tools at your fingertips.

4. Migrations aren’t scary 

One of the most daunting things about a project like this can be moving all your learning content and user data over to a new platform. 

Don’t let this scare you off! 

We’ve built a converter tool that allows you to seamlessly transfer your data from your previous system. We do this by taking your content, simplifying the structure and running it through our personalisation engine. This means when your users log into their LXP for the first time, they’ll receive relevant recommendations based on their skills, groups, and interests.

So, it’ll actually unlock the potential of a lot of the relevant content you might have forgotten about. 

Want to find out more? Speak to one of our experts about how our free converter tool makes the modern transition from LMS to LXP  effortless.