Have you ever been on a company or association website and clicked a link only to be sent to another site that doesn’t come close to the user interface you just left? Oh sure, it’s got that company’s or association’s logo.
But that is where it ends. You are obviously on some other website. And now, you need to try to figure out how to navigate it. Otherwise, you will not be able to achieve what you want to accomplish.
Poor Association LMS Branding = Lost Revenues + Higher Costs
The above scenario is a common occurrence with many Associations and Professional Bodies that offer their members training through an LMS. Their Association LMS branding does not really match their website’s branding. And worse, the overall look and feel of the user interface is significantly different.
As noted in a recent research brief published by the Brandon Hall Group, “ease of use is critical to the success of learning programs. Today’s learner expects a consumer like experience”.
Indeed, members are sophisticated and time constrained. Therefore, they tend to get frustrated using sites that are disjointed and not cohesive. Eventually this frustration leads to members not coming back to poorly branded LMS sites to take training. For Associations, this can mean high levels of member support, lost revenues or, even worse, members dropping out of the association altogether.
Think of it this way. Your association’s website is its front door, just as much so as the local grocery store. When you enter a grocery store you pretty much know very quickly where the items are that you want to purchase, just by a quick look around. and how orderly everything is laid out. However, if you entered the same store and saw that it was a jumble inside, you might only go in once. Most likely, you won’t go back. It’s the same with your web based applications. If your members can navigate to your LMS from your website and figure out how to use it by simply taking a quick look, they will keep coming back to take additional training.
Conclusion
It is therefore critical to ensure that your Association LMS branding and navigation matches both your website branding and look and feel. It allows your members to easily navigate around all your digital assets. It allows them to enjoy the whole experience you are offering. Once your members enjoy the experience, they become more engaged and are likely to take more training. Thus, it increases non-dues revenues for those Associations that are selling training and certification programs.
As presented in the above mentioned Brandon Hall research brief, “losing time to supporting learners or having learners give up because they cannot navigate the system needs to be avoided at all cost. To remedy this, [organizations should] determine their critical 3-5 use cases and have their short list of vendors demonstrate these.”
If this is a topic that would like to discuss further, don’t hesitate to get in touch. Ensuring the best user experience is at the front of our priority list and we will gladly share a few insights!
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