Tips & tricks
When writing a copy for your track, notes, or assignment it is important to keep the user in mind, think about who is going to read your text and put yourself in their shoes. Will they understand what you wrote? Is it actionable and concise?
To help you on your way, here’s a checklist of rules that you can apply to write user friendly copy.
✅ Say exactly what will happen in as few words as possible
✅ Read your copy and remove redundant words
❌ Don’t invent new words for actions, keep it familiar
✅ When giving feedback, focus on how to help the user move forward, make it actionable
❌ Don’t focus on the negative, instead highlight the positive side of making a mistake
Hick’s law states that the amount of time it takes to finish a task increases with the amount and complexity of each choice. This means that it’s best to keep as few choices and possible outcomes as possible to maintain a steady learning flow.
So if you are building a track or challenge and you are running into a situation where there are many choices available for the user to complete a challenge, ask yourself how you can cut them into pieces by comparing each option to the learning goal. Is each option equally important right now, or can something be learned at a later point in time?
After each workshop or classroom training we recommend asking your participants for feedback on how they experienced the training, the platform, and the flow of your track. This helps you improve the pace of your training and get a better understanding of how people are interacting with the platform.
A challenge should touch one subject only
If multiple steps are required, split it up into multiple challenges
Try to find the right balance between “fun” and “educational” by making challenges as short as possible, this increases the likelihood of someone passing and makes learning therefore more fun
Try not to give ready-made solutions, but allow users to solve it themselves
A good challenge provides just enough hints
Googling the solution should be encouraged
Don’t add too much text in the assignment, use notes to explain complex theories instead
Add tabs with links to relevant documentation
Many students find themselves eager to learn more after they have participated in a classroom training. This is a great opportunity for you to recommend them a online track that they can follow in order to expand their skills even more.
Miller’s law states that an average person is able to keep 5 to 9 items in his working memory at any given time. This doesn’t mean limiting options you give to the user, but it means it’s best to group information efficiently by categorizing information in groups no larger than about 7 items.
For more information, read: https://uxdesign.cc/ux-inspiration-7-millers-law-69a659fb1263
Parkinson's law states that any task will inflate until all if the available time is used. This means that if we use a time limit and show the countdown timer on a track, the user is more likely to be more efficient in performing the task at hand because he or she will be motivated to choose a method to finish the task without overthinking the alternatives too much.
This only works well if the given time is a realistic reflection of the amount of time needed to finish the task.
