Agreeing the scope

To show how easy it is to create an engaging eLearning game, the team sat down at our Leeds office @AvenueHQ to scope out the concept for a new gamified contact form for our website. To maintain user engagement, we decided to make the gamelet short - with completion to take less than 1 minute - while ensuring that it is accessible to all.

Getting the basics right

The first part of our journey from eLearning idea to engaging gamelet in a few days was to draw up a plan, so like any agile tech organisation, the team got to work on the whiteboards. By mapping out the process, we could see the individual tasks each team member would need to undertake and any potential difficulties that could arise.

Building for accessibility first

When building this course, we want to ensure that we aren't removing functionality for non-visual learners or those who might struggle with fine motor skills. We want to build a gamelet that provides the same experience for any learner and doesn't discriminate against people with different learning and accessibility needs. A common approach in eLearning seems to be removing accessibility functionality altogether by putting it on the 'too hard' list, which we don't think is fair.

With accessibility one of the primary focuses, this early planning ensures that the gamelet is designed with this in mind from the start rather than being an afterthought in the development process. Writing a detailed Storyboard that includes audio-description to accompany the graphic design makes sure that nothing is missed in enabling visually impaired people to have the same learning experience as any other learner.

Our goal is that all action within the game should be driven by the learner answering a question correctly rather than needing to use their motor skills. It’s essential to keep accessibility in mind throughout the entire process to produce gamelets that are WCAG AA compliant and provide a genuinely fun and engaging experience for all users.

Agreeing the brief

Our view is that eLearning games can - and should - be interesting to play. Using our team's creative, storytelling, design and technical development skills, we make exciting and gamified courses that keep the educational content in focus. This short gamelet should give you a taster of the work we produce.

So, what’s the brief?

·         Make a short gamelet that can be completed in less than 60 seconds

·         Make it look graphically interesting and engaging to play

·         Demonstrate our own processes so that others can use approaches that work

·         Finally, but most importantly, MAKE IT ACCESSIBLE!

Next step: Concept creation!

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The Journey Begins

We've been on a bit of an adventure over the past few days, and we're excited to share what we've been up to!

Building engaging eLearning training tools quickly and cost effectively can sound daunting, but it certainly doesn't have to be. We decided to run a short team sprint to show all the detail as we build an exciting new gamelet for our website. We'll be showcasing what we can do for organisations of all sizes to enhance their digital training.

We'll be posting everything so you can see how quickly an engaging gamelet can be created: from team discussions about the creative process and how these decisions were made, to the graphic design, development, accessibility testing phases and even the creation of the soundtrack!

Look out for the behind-the-scenes content we'll be posting to see how the creative and technical processes come together.

We hope you enjoy our updates and we’d love to hear your feedback. 

Please share content if it is helpful to other people, follow our LinkedIn for regular updates, and email team@konnektis.com if you want to get in touch.

Why is training within the retail sector important

Does your retail business have high staff turnover?

High staff turnover within the retail industry is infamously higher than any other. With 320 stores a week closing down in just the UK, staff are fleeing for employment prospects with more job security, an ensured minimum wage salary, benefits and better working conditions. However, those who remain within the industry note they tend to suffer in two key areas:  A lack of motivation and the feeling of being easily replaceable, regardless of experience.

Your employees are your most valuable asset, which is why employee retention in retail is critically important in today’s competitive environment. Long standing employees understand the business better and can provide better customer service in terms of problem solving and solutions for your customers.  

The high cost of losing employees

The new report carried out by Oxford Economics reveals that replacing members of staff within the retail sector incurs significant costs for employers at around £3,618 per employee. Some studies even report that figure to be much higher. 

High employee turnover costs businesses in unexpected ways in the form of temporarily covering an employee’s duties through overtime pay for other staff. The time it takes to place job ads, conduct interviews and carry out employment testing. Personnel training costs such as orientation, teaching new staff members, shadowing employees and supplying uniforms. A new employee’s learning curve, which could include reduced quality, errors and productivity. Low employee morale associated with constant turnover can lead to further departures.

Is lack of recognition causing high staff turnover?

Motivation is the willingness to work hard to achieve an end goal. How willing are your employees to go the extra mile? How committed are they to make sales and meet quota? Motivated employees receive recognition and satisfaction, encouraging them to continue working hard which in turn gives your company exactly what it wants: productivity, quality, and sales.  

A lot of retail staff below management level fail to see the importance of meeting budget as they believe there is no benefit to them. They believe there are no incentives below management level to work harder than the minimum amount required.

However, this couldn’t be further from the truth. When stores meet budget targets they are rewarded with more available hours for the store, which means more shifts for staff and in turn a higher wage. Many below management staff are not aware of this budgeting system. Not only do hours increase, but many larger chain stores will run competitions between stores with prizes awarded directly to staff. When staff are praised and rewarded for working hard and achieving above and beyond what is expected from them, they deserve recognition. The more valued and rewarded your team members feel, the less replaceable they feel. This leads to happier staff and happy staff stay, increasing employee retention within your business.

So what can we do to help?

Bottom line is, happy staff treat customers better and then they spend more. Happy staff, happy customers, healthy turn-over. If you put more energy into your staff, they’ll put more energy into the business.

Staff training is critical to any company and we can help you make the process easier, more relevant and problem specific.  

Our experienced team from diverse backgrounds including retail, corporate, marketing, accounting, cyber security and local government can tailor make training relevant to your specific business needs and demands and include training scenarios to address issues within your business.

Want to take the next step in ensuring your employee retention? Speak to one of our team today and let us see how we can help revitalise your training journey. Call 03300430096 or email team@konnektis.com.