There are no usage and engagement issues with consumer apps and social media. While the same thing can not be said for corporate learning programs, most would argue that is not a fair comparison. (“It’s called work for a reason.”)
At PinPoint we take the view there is much to be gleaned from what the best minds in Silicon Valley are doing to get you to tap on that button. And the same models can be used in the enterprise – for learning, performance support, and field services.
If we look at the top consumer apps there are common attributes between digital media only apps (i.e. Instagram, Snapchat) and those apps that bridge the physical and digital worlds (Uber, AirBnB).
PinPoint looks at these and includes the best of them with a learning twist for successfully building or experiencing microlearning.
What do we think the trends are that can be leveraged for 2020?
Microlearning Stories: In the corporate learning market ‘microlearning’ originally meant short courses and videos. For the most part it was a repurposing of existing assets. The consumer app market has been going through its own changes. Each year the venture capitalist Mary Meeker publishes her own - exceedingly long but influential - Internet Trends report. It’s no longer about disparate assets like images or videos but one where the experience is “image based design + story-telling” that is “increasingly self-taught and collaborative.” Instagram Stories and Snapchat have both been very aggressive about letting their users combine assets. Basically, both consumer apps and eLearning courses are trying to move to a narrative structure wrapped with good design instead of individual media assets.
Augmented Reality: Breakout games like Pokemon Go and Happy Potter: Wizards Unite have exposed people to mass market Augmented Reality (AR). More important to the workplace is the investment Apple has made in its AR framework called ARKit. There is potential near term for experiences like AR work instructions and remote expert. Rumors continue too that Apple is experimenting with its own form of AR glasses for multiple gateways to AR experiences including phone, tablet, and a headset.
Look for these features in the PinPoint app going into next year.