Turning Points Into Knowledge: Redesigning E-Learning for Real Learning
A renewed and improved experience for employees and trade partners on products and technologies, designed in collaboration with the client.
- Dashboard
- Gamification
- UX/UI Design
The Challenge: Employees Earning Points Without Gaining Knowledge
A multinational multi-brand appliances company faced a critical problem: as the company grew, employees found it increasingly difficult to stay updated on all the latest products and technologies.
Their existing e-learning platform allowed users to skip lessons and go directly to exams, earning points without actually gaining knowledge. Boring modules, flow bugs, and confusing navigation made the experience frustrating for employees, salespeople, and management.
The result? A platform that was failing its main purpose: spreading product knowledge throughout the organization.
Discovery: What Product Managers and Users Actually Needed
All information came directly from the client's product manager, who provided clear data on user needs and pain points. Through customer journey maps, we mapped the experience of three key personas: internal employees, external salespersons, and management.
Key insights:
- Users wanted to complete courses during work hours but didn't know how long each would take
- Multinational employees traveled between countries but remained locked in the current country's language
- The dashboard didn't clearly distinguish between started, completed, or new courses
- Users felt overwhelmed by notifications
A benchmark comparison helped us define the strategy and establish shared expectations with the client.
Reframing the Problem: Navigation Logic, Not Just Interface
The problem wasn't just visual. The platform had a fundamental structural issue: it allowed users to "cheat" by skipping content.
With strict budget and time constraints, we made a strategic decision: split the project into two phases. An MVP focused on information architecture and user flows to launch quickly, leaving gamification for a second phase.
Our hypothesis: Solving navigation and usability problems first would create a solid foundation to make the platform engaging later.
UX Goals: What Had to Change for Real Learning (Not Just Points)
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Mapping the Learning Journey, Then Fixing the System Logic
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The MVP Package We Shipped to Unblock Launch
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The Redesign: Multi-Step Learning + Smart Information Architecture
Forcing learning, not punishing the user
We redesigned course navigation with multi-step logic: each course is divided into chapters with mandatory intermediate tests. Users can go back to review content but cannot move forward without passing the chapter test. This ensures knowledge acquisition, not just points.
Dashboard that speaks the user's language
We created two dashboard versions with similar information architecture but different navigations (side tabs vs top navigation) for A/B testing:
- "My courses" divided into "In progress" (priority) and "Completed" (for reference)
- "Available courses" as a complete collection with advanced filters by type, brand, and category
- Tag system ("in progress", "new", "completed", "assigned") for immediate visual organization
- Completion time indicator on each course, allowing users to plan when to take them during work
Search and findability for years of content
With courses accumulating year after year, we integrated a search engine to quickly find specific content. Smart filters allow sorting by newest, specific brand, or appliance category.
Notifications that don't overwhelm
Maximum 5 notifications displayed simultaneously (new courses, status changes, new rules), made possible by the client's constraint of creating few courses per quarter. In settings, users can choose whether to receive notification emails.
Design for a global workforce
Ability to change country and language at any time.
"We didn't want users to be limited to German when they only speak Italian or English, just because they're temporarily working in Germany."
Clear onboarding with "Where to start"
Improved pop-up explaining how to earn points, where to find platform information, news, and updates. An Info Center section collects all the information needed to get started.
Profile as motivation
The profile section shows an overview of user status: number of completed courses, points missing to the next level (each course worth 1,000 pts, each quiz 500 pts), and a personalized report based on the most suitable brand for the user.
The Impact: Improved Usability and a Foundation for Engagement
The redesign was successful in providing a pleasant user experience. Users found the platform easy to navigate and visually pleasing, with positive feedback on design, layout, and user-friendliness.
We achieved the main goals
- Improved platform usability and course findability
- Prevented lesson skipping, ensuring real knowledge acquisition
- Provided the client with a solid foundation for future implementations
But there was an unexpected insight: During user testing, users clearly expressed that they wanted to be more engaged to complete courses not because they had to, but because they wanted to. This feedback validated the strategic choice to divide the project into two phases, with gamification as a natural evolution.
The MVP was successfully developed and launched, while the second phase is still in the approval process.
What This Taught Me: Strategy Over Speed
The most challenging part was redesigning the dashboard, requiring a deep understanding of user needs and goals. But the most important lesson was strategic: splitting the project into phases allowed us to quickly launch a working MVP, solving critical problems immediately instead of waiting for a perfect solution.
The challenges we faced pushed the team to think creatively and find innovative solutions. Through frequent iterations with the client, we exceeded their expectations by providing not just a redesign, but a clear vision for the platform's future evolution.
The project demonstrated that sometimes the best UX is one that forces users to slow down, not out of frustration, but for real learning.
Want the same for your training platform?
If your users are collecting points instead of knowledge, there is usually a structural reason. Let’s find it.
