Nikon – Dealer E-Learning

Silver award winner for Best Private Sector E-learning Project at the 2012 E-Learning Awards, this case study shows how Nikon and Kineo partnered to create:

• an engaging suite of e-learning modules on cameras 
• a competitive online game to challenge dealers
• a whole dealer learning platform using Moodle open source LMS

You can sample the results for yourself by viewing an example e-learning module.

Here’s a summary of how we collaborated on the project: download the Nikon Dealer E-Learning Case Study (1MB PDF).

Challenge

Nikon, the leading camera manufacturer, has long since provided training to a large audience of resellers. Traditionally delivered via classroom based training sessions, store visits and product guides, Nikon decided to investigate an alternative approach. Although Nikon's classroom training has been well received, with a potential target audience of up to 100,000 store staff, it just wasn’t realistic to offer it to everyone. E-learning was seen as the way forward.

E-learning offered several potential benefits over Nikon’s traditional training:

• The ability to reach a wide audience instantaneously
• Cost savings over classroom-based training
• Measurable results on take-up and performance
• The potential to create a community of Nikon learners

Approach

1. Rapid prototyping

At Kineo we’re keen to get tangible ideas down quickly and prefer to build things than just describe them, so we put together a demo for Nikon. This enabled them to really get a handle on how the e-learning could look and work. We focused on making the material slick, engaging, practical and representative of the Nikon brand.

Built in just a few days, our demo really did the trick. The Nikon team could see what we were proposing and could discuss ideas in an informed way. It also helped us engage the target audience to get both their buy-in and views on what would and wouldn’t work for them. The final course stayed true to many of the features and the look and feel of the original demo.

"Often it’s the fundamental concepts of photography that can be the most difficult to grasp. Kineo’s approach to this vital part of any photographic training was fresh, engaging and above all – simple to understand."

2. Taking the Challenge – competitive quiz

To complement the e-learning, Kineo suggested the concept of an addictive, competitive quiz game, in which store staff could pit their Nikon camera knowledge against their colleagues' and other staff throughout the UK. This became known as the Nikon Product Challenge.

Nikon aimed to offer prizes to individual store staff for the best score, thereby completing the model to encourage use of the e-learning, i.e:

• Learners are attracted to the challenge to prove their knowledge, to compete against colleagues and win prizes
• They are incentivised to visit or revisit the e-learning to further improve their knowledge and get a better score

3. Moodle LMS Platform: an open source learning portal

How to get the solution out there, actively managed and tracked? The solution was to use Moodle, the ever-expanding and highly popular open source learning management systems (LMS).

Key portal features:

• Detailed tracking and reporting, so Nikon could get statistics on course usage and scores from tests and the Challenge
• Completely customised look and feel
• Group management: Moodle can be configured to provide restricted access and tailored experiences for different groups. So, for example, if you were a Jessops employee you would access a Jessops branded area of the portal, with no visibility or access to other supplier areas
• Provision of Nikon product links and resources, brochures and 'how to' guides, bringing many of these elements together in one place for the first time
• A bandwidth detector to advise users on load speed
• Calendar of events, such as Nikon workshops or new product releases
• Site-wide search
• Help and support contacts

The Results

Nikon’s view

Nikon UK has been showcasing the Nikon iQ portal and e-learning internally, with Nikon Europe and to dealers. A lot of interest has been built up. We are now looking at developing multi-language versions of both the portal and content.

"Kineo has developed a platform that delivers on every aspect of our initial brief. Furthermore their fresh approach to some of our initial ideas means we now have a training package that offers more than anything else within the photo industry." 

The target audience’s view

Thanks to Nikon we were able to run a trial of Nikon iQ with a major photographic retailer, which was followed by an online survey. With scores averaging around 80% positive across the board, the survey results speak for themselves and help show the importance of involving the target audience in the design lifecycle. Sample scores are shown below: