A busy manager grabs a cup of coffee and clicks open the online course they just purchased. In the first video, someone in an outfit likely assembled in 2007 introduces the course structure using cringe-worthy language and graphics made with Photoshop 7.0.

We can all agree, this situation is not a good look for the company. It leaves learners wondering how much the organization values the learner experience if they haven’t bothered to update their training content.

Every learning experience, online or in-person, will eventually become outdated. It’s a natural part of the content lifecycle, and something that can be designed for if you consider it early on.

If your learning content is starting to feel stale, the examples no longer seem timely, engagement is dropping, or the landscape has evolved beyond the content in your course, it’s a good time to schedule a content refresh. It can be challenging to prioritize content refreshes when new offers are in the pipeline and on deadline, but the effort is well worth it – especially for established offers that are critical to your business.

While one-off fixes can help, taking a thoughtful and holistic approach to updating learning content will help you make the most of your time and keep your learning experience relevant for as long as possible.

Studion’s team of learning designers has helped many clients refresh their learning experiences over the years. Try these tips from our team for refreshing stale online learning content.

1. Set a baseline

How is your learning experience currently performing? What does the target state look like? What metrics can you compare before and after a content refresh? It’s hard to know if you’ve made progress when the starting line is undefined.

2. Solicit learner feedback

You are most likely already capturing learner feedback in some form. Comb through support tickets and NPS scores to surface common issues or consistent themes. Gather more learner feedback with an end-of-course survey or email survey.

One of Studion’s clients gained valuable insight into their online learning experience when a group of people with visual impairments took the course together. By making the updates the learners suggested, the client improved overall accessibility for all learners.

3. Action your data

What learners say is one thing, and what they do is another. Review course analytics to find moments where engagement drops. These are signals the interaction is difficult or the content is off. Trends in duration, content that is returned to, comments that solicit the most discussion among peers, and interactives that have the longest on-platform time all tell a story about learners that's key to your content refresh approach.

4. Solicit SME and stakeholder feedback

Ask the SMEs featured in your learning experience or other experts in the field to review your learning content and suggest improvements. Gather feedback on the relevance of course material, fresh examples, things to add or remove, and more. Create a system to collect feedback internally and externally. An email alias is a simple solution.

5. Conduct user research

Compensate a group of learners to complete the course and share feedback, or conduct a focus group with learners who recently completed the course and some who dropped out. Studion worked with a client who hired a consultant to go through their course with an equity lens. Small changes to tone, copy, and visuals had a big impact.

6. Prioritize the work

Does it feel like too monumental of a project to tackle all your content refresh needs at once? Prioritize the most pressing needs first – perhaps the most dated content, or the highest revenue-driving offer. Use your survey feedback, analytics, and SME feedback to create a prioritization rubric. Studion creates a “refresh roadmap” for our clients. We identify the “low hanging fruit” – updates that are easy and impactful – and stage out work over an appropriate timeframe.

7. Set a review cycle

Unfortunately, the work of refreshing online learning content is never done. Instead of playing catch up, be proactive by creating a review cycle to periodically assess your online learning content. What’s realistic for your team? How often is it necessary? Try reviewing smaller segments of content once a year. Identify a program manager to lead the work and ensure milestones are met on your refresh roadmap.

8. Make a plan for version control

Now that your content is updated, the game of “which file is the current one” begins. Make a plan to manage version control for videos and assets and you’ll avoid confusion later on.

9. Minimize content refresh needs with smart design

Studion’s team of learning designers follows a long list of best practices to ensure learning content stays relevant for as long as possible. For example, video content is more difficult to edit. Studion Project Manager Lauren Gould says the team keeps references to specific modules out of learning videos so clients can reorder them if needed.

10. Ask for help

When you’ve looked at your content 1,000 times, it can be helpful to get a fresh perspective (see tip #4). If you find refreshing online learning content continually slips to the bottom of your to-do list, consider partnering with Studion to make sure your online learning experience continues to reflect your brand standards.