Monday Blues #1

Less is more: Challenges for Instructional Designers in mobile learning

 

We are in the second week of February in 2016 and starting this week, I am going to write a blog that I am going to call, “Monday Blues”. I have kept this title as Monday being the start of the week and after having to spend a delightful weekend, it is immense stressful to work on Monday. So, I am here with first blog of the week, Monday Blues #1. And, the topic I am going to discuss this week is also really interesting – “Less is more”. A lot is being spoken about mobile learning these days and it is becoming a popular medium of learning for new-age learners today. In the new future, mobile learning will no longer be a choice rather it will become a compulsory mode of learning. This is simply because of the reason that most of us today carry a smartphone or a tablet. This infographic depicts why mobile learning will be future of workplace learning. The increase in sales of smartphone and tablets have created an opportunity to make the learning available to the learner anytime and anywhere.

So, while it is indeed a great news for the industry, this also brings a lot of challenges especially for the Instructional Designers to make the learning available to the learner via the mobile device. Let us look at some of these challenges.
 

Information density is low
This is the biggest hurdle that comes in a way as you need to fit the entire content and that too in a limited area. Usually, an information density for mobile learning is low than any eLearning course. This means that you must design the course for shorter attention span and memory limitations.  It is generally recommended to design bite-size chunks of information that should take no longer than five minutes to process.

Screen size is small
The biggest challenge for any instructional Designer to design and develop the learning for mobile device is its limited screen size. As IDs, we need to keep in mind that smaller screen size of a mobile device that makes the navigation very cumbersome than on a PC or a laptop. 

Luke Wroblewski rightly said, “Small screen sizes force you to prioritize what really matters to your customers and business. There simply isn’t room for anything else.”

Lack of common development platform
This is another major concern for any Instructional Designer that needs to be considered while designing the content for the mobile devices. There are a plethora of mobile devices available in the market today and each of these devices come with a different operating system, such as Android, iOS, Windows, and so on. As an ID, we need to ensure that the content we design will work for a couple of operating systems if not all of them.

Lack of proper security on mobile devices
A research indicated the technological infrastructure and security as a major challenge to implement mobile learning especially in the workplace. Most organizations are reluctant to implement mobile learning due to cyber security as they are not willing to compromise on the security and risk potential breaches of their networks. 

“One size fits for all” syndrome
This is another possible concern for IDs as mostly we had been used to design and develop the learning for desktop eLearning. So, most of the times, we often are tempted to just hit the Publish HTML5 button to make the learning in sync with the mobile. In reality, this is not true as the eLearning was simply designed to be used by the earner via the mouse whereas mobile learning requires a much bigger touch target for our fingers. This difference changes everything in terms of design and look and feel and this proves the fact that we need to get out of the “One size fits for all” syndrome. RJ Jacquez have listed some more guidelines to explain this fact in his blog.

So, here are my top five challenges that I believe Instructional Designers need to overcome in order to transition from elearning to mobile learning.

Do share your challenges by leaving a comment below. 

Chit-chat with Saurabh Kathuria!

Saurabh Kathuria

AK: Tell us something about yourself with a brief background.  
SK: Well, I am a Delhite! Someone who loves the winters and street food of Delhi. I did graduation in commerce from Delhi University and post graduation from IIFT. I have been in the learning and development industry for more than 13 years now. Worked with Sify, Symantec, Accenture Management Consulting before starting my venture about 3 years ago.

AK: How has the journey been so far for you as an entrepreneur?    
SK: It has been like a dream come true. As ‘work’ forms a major part of our day-to-day life. If you love what you do then life is truly good. It is like turning your passion into your profession.


AK: Did you face any challenges while starting as an entrepreneur in the learning domain? 
SK: Lot of challenges especially in the first six months to an year. This time is when you are most vulnerable – Leaving your high pay package and then landing into a completely uncertain world is very difficult.

Overcoming the fear of loosing the fixed income (Job Security!) is the biggest challenge. Thoughts of my colleagues will progress in their carrier and I leave fall behind is also one of the roadblocks..

However, if you plan your move as an entrepreneur, save money to survive for the first year, build your network of like-minded people who also want to work with you. Then, it is less difficult.

From a mindset perspective, think that all your colleagues will keep doing what their boss asks them to do. Yes, they will get a decent lifestyle – But do they have opportunity to make it BIG! No you have it! You don’t depend on yearly performance appraisals or have to worry 50% of the time that whether your boss is happy with you or not and whether I will get promotion or not.

AK: Tell us something about your family background like are you married and have kids. What was your family’s first reaction when you told them that I want to be an entrepreneur? Did you have any one in your family who was an entrepreneur that you want to share? 
SK: I am married, my wife Deepa works as a R&D Manager in a leading chemical company and I am father of a 4 year old boy Arsh.My family reaction was mixed :) My father never wanted me to leave my job and start as an entrepreneur. As per him, I had a secure job, decent salary package, I get off on weekends, travel globally for work. Why on earth I need to leave my job!!My father is also into business but like most of people in his generation have worked very hard but their majority time went into managing their enterprise. This was the time when no MNC’s were in India and you either do a government job or run your small family business.

AK: As an entrepreneur, does family play any role to start any new venture? 
SK: Family is a big support system. I don’t think I would have left my job if Deepa had not supported me. She was working so we had one source of income so I decided to take the plunge and see how it goes.

AK: Do you have any role model whom you admired before starting to become an entrepreneur? 
SK: As I wanted to make a great company, instead of a ‘human’ role model, I have these companies as my role model:

• Apple for the innovate products they make
• Microsoft for the way they made a near monopoly in the software market
• Amazon for their focus on customers
• Tata – You think of Tata and it resembles Trust
• Walmart – for their supremacy in the supply chain area

AK: What are the key strategies you used during the initial phases of becoming an entrepreneur in the learning domain?
SK: I published a linkedin post on this https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/my-experiences-while-bootstrapping-startup-india-saurabh-kathuria?trk=pulse_spock-articles


AK: What is the source of motivation for fighting frustration of self-working?
SK: Consider it as a phase and trust that it will get over. Watch success stories of people (loads of them available on TED and YouTube) if they can make it BIG …so can I

AK: What are three success sutras you want to give as a piece of advice to the people who are just starting out as an entrepreneur in the learning domain?
SK: I am no expert in giving success sutras. Just sharing my thoughts: Don’t think too much and take the plunge – Before starting my venture, I was majorly part of offshore delivery team with minimal experience in business development.  I trusted myself that I know the work so I would be able to sell it. When you think of starting up there may be some gaps (lack of capital, lack of resources). Trust yourself and take the plunge. As the days will progress, you will be able to fill the gaps.Confront the brutal facts of reality and have faith that will be sail through – Prepare yourself that the initial journey will be very difficult and you will come out of it. Be positive and read books as much as you can – books are your best friend, reading of the books will increase your knowledge, self confidence, and make you better prepared.

AK: Have you ever thought of quitting and going back to joining an organization?
SK: Yes, initially I did! But very soon I realized that starting as an entrepreneur is an evolutionary process, things won’t be easy, as the days passed you will start getting the confidence. You can check this linkedin post of challenges you face as you start as an entrepreneur: https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/when-we-decided-quit-job-start-our-company-indiasome-initial-saurabh?trk=pulse_spock-articles
 
AK: Have you had sleepless nights fearing failure?
SK: Yes absolutely! But the fear drives you to do your best. It ensures that you are not complacent! So I would say that the fear is good.

AK: Would you happily start any other venture if given a chance?
SK: We are investing and partnering in two startups that offer complimentary services and will help us deliver end-to-end solutions.

AK: Have you faced awkward questions while hiring staff?
SK: Yes, when you can afford a modern office and people don’t know your company. While hiring you will face tough questions.

AK: Would you like to share some tips with the budding entrepreneurs?  
SK:
#1 – Don’t compromise on the quality of people – Even if one good resource is double the cost of two mediocre resources. Hire the good resource!
#2 – Plan your financials to the core – Cut all unnecessary expenses even if you’re doing good. Be prepared the payments from the client can get delayed. Build a cash cushion.
#3 – Good project delivery is the best SALES you can do.