The L&D

guide to
democratising
learning content
production
How to harness the smarts of your subject matter experts to
make creating learning content faster and more affordable

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 L&D teams are overwhelmed
with content demands and
harnessing the smarts of
your in house subject matter
experts to create user
generated learning content
is the buzz du jour.
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We’ve seen user generated learning content be a
huge success for some of the progressive businesses
we work with. So, we asked our team of learning
designers, coaches and consultants for their advice on
empowering subject matter experts to create content.
They came up with six top tips.
1. Teach basic learning design principles
2. Have a clear process for content creation
3. Provide templates and examples
4. Have a kick off briefing
5. Take charge of QA
6. Give people the right tools for the job
We’re going to dig into each of these topics, before
sharing learnings from some pioneering New Zealand
organisations who are walking the talk and putting UGC
at the heart of their earning content creation strategy.
Let’s get amongst.
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 How have the last few years
been for you?
If the answer is hella hectic, you’re not alone …
because two things have led to a vast increase in
demand for online learning content.

Covid 19 accelerated remote working and in-person

training became harder to organise. Training flipped
from being led by in-person experiences, to digital
first. Cue clamouring for L&D teams to make every
single training course digital, all at once.

Secondly, demands from digital natives who expect

to be able to do everything on the go from their
phone are syncing with a growing realisation that
one-and-done training doesn’t cut the mustard.
Research indicates we forget 50% of what we learn
within an hour and 80% within the month if learning
isn’t reinforced. Learning resources people can refer
back to whenever and wherever they need simply
make good business sense.

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 Is User Generated Content
the future for learning?
Progressive organizations are responding to the
increase in content demand by empowering their
team to create learning content.
User Generated Content, or UGC, is a smoking hot
topic in learning. Our team are talking about it with L&D
managers every week. UGC can be a real win for L&D
because you get more content for less money and it
takes pressure off your team.
But when L&D teams first hear about UGC they can
get nervous. And we get it. If you’re an experienced
learning designer, someone saying, “Hey, we’re gonna
get an absolute novice to create learning content,”
might feel confronting. You might even feel a bit
threatened because you’ve spent 10 years learning
your trade.
But here’s the thing. Experts in your organisation
are already creating learning content. How many
managers make PowerPoint decks to present to
their teams? Terrible presentations, sure. But terrible
presentations full of valuable knowledge. And it doesn’t
matter if you’re using PowerPoint, Chameleon, or a
string and two cups. If you’re communicating ideas,
theory or experience, you’re creating learning.
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So subject matter experts have been sharing learning for
years. It’s just that no one has given them the guidance
they need to do it well, or the tools to make their learning
more engaging.
Here’s a vision for you
Imagine L&D are no longer solely responsible for learning
content creation. Instead, you empower everyone in your
organisation to create learning.
Basic learning design becomes a core skill and your team
guide people and equip them with tools to make their
learning content more engaging.
Think how much your organisation could outperform
your competition if everyone who’s good at their job
shared their knowledge with others. In a few years,
you’d have an organisation with a 360° learning culture,
a hugely talented workforce sharing knowledge, skill,
and experience so effectively you outperform your
competitors effortlessly.
What could empowering everyone to create learning
content do for your organisation?
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 How to harness the power of
your subject matter experts
Inviting your subject matter experts to create
learning content to share with their colleagues
is a win, win, win.
Inviting your subject matter experts to create learning
content to share with their colleagues is a win, win, win.
• You engage your whole team in learning,
encouraging a learning culture.
• You take pressure off your L&D team.
• And you maximise return on your investment in your
e-learning platform by training more people to use it
to create learning content.
Chameleon’s so user friendly, anyone can create
e-learning. So, you can invite your whole team to use
it, knowing it’ll work for all. But making User Generated
Content work for your organisation takes a bit more
thought than simply training people up to use an
e-learning platform and letting them run wild.
It helps to understand where your subject matter
experts fit in the big L&D scheme.
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Typically, L&D teams produce two types of content.
1. Learning content that changes the way that people
think, feel, and behave.
2. Reference content that improves performance by
giving people info when they need it.
Subject matter experts aren’t learning experts, so most
of the content they produce is informational. We’re
talking quick reference guides, how-to job aids, and SOPs.
Embrace their specialist knowledge and channel it to
create rich reference resources, while your team focus
your specialist expertise on changing the way people
think, feel, and behave.
Every organisation serious about L&D should have a
knowledgebase. A rich reference resource is the gift that
keeps on giving. This is the ideal task for your subject
matter experts. Tool them up and set them free.
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 Six tips for nailing
user generated
content
1
Teach basic learning
design principles
Creating engaging learning material is different to
writing a report or creating a presentation. So, it’s
worth familiarising your team with a few basic learning
design principles before you ask them to start
making learning content.
Give your team a process to follow, show them what
good learning content looks like, give them guidelines
to refer to, and reassure them you’ve got their back to
set them up for success.
Basic learning design principles
1. Start by asking yourself what you want the
outcomes from your learning to be.
• Do you want people to know something new?
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• Do you want people to do something new or behave in a
different way?
• Do you want people to think and feel differently?
2. Then work backwards from the outcome you want.
What do people need to know to achieve this outcome?
• List all the info you need to share with them.
• Don’t get carried away and overwhelm people with too
much. Remember, they don’t need to be an expert like you,
they just need to know enough to achieve the outcome.
What do they need to do to achieve this outcome?
• Outline the steps people need to take.
• How can you help them take these actions?
• Do they need knowledge before they can act?
• Can you give them tools to help them, like a template
or a checklist?
• Can you share real life examples they can emulate?
How do they need to think and feel to achieve this
outcome?
• Do they need to adopt a particular mindset?
• Can you encourage them with advice and affirmations?
• Can you inspire them with stories of success?
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3. Good learning is active not passive
People learn by doing. Don’t throw a bunch of info
at people and expect it to stick.
Active learning:
• Uses interactive elements to engage people with content.
• Deploys gamification techniques such as quizzes to
engage people, evaluate their understanding, and
reward progress.
• Includes opportunities to roleplay learnings in risk
free scenarios.
4. Good learning uses stories
Real-life stories help people understand the point you’re
trying to make.
If you’re trying to teach people how to do something,
gather real-life stories of people doing that thing.
Stories from work are best because they’re most
relevant to your colleagues. And stories of fails are just
as helpful as successes because they show people
what to watch out for.
Chameleon makes it easy to include stories in
your learning.
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5. Good learning is blended learning
People learn in different ways. Some like lots of pictures.
Some like video. Some like to read detailed instructions.
So good learning content uses the full learning tool
kit from video, animations and audio to graphics and
graphs.
Chameleon makes it easy to include everything from
images to audio in your learning.
This free module on e-learning design basics might be
helpful too.
Excellent learning experiences
It can also be useful to consider the phases of an ideal
learning experience.
1. Present: Introduce information.
2. Understand: Test understanding.
3. Apply: Roleplay new learnings in a risk-free environment.
4. Practise: Test new learnings in real life situations.
5. Analyse: Find ways to improve the way new skill
is executed.
6. Consolidate: Provide reference resource
to support new skill.
7. Elevate: Create opportunities to elevate
new skill with additional learning.
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 Horrible learning horrors
Just as helpful as understanding basic learning design
principles is knowing what things to watch out for. Here
are a few culprits we see derailing learning on the regular.
• Trying to cram everything into one slide. White space is
your friend and less is more.
• Trying to give people all the info. Subject matter experts
are shockers for this. They know all the things and think
everyone else has to know all the things too. But when it
comes to learning, more can easily be overwhelming and
indigestible. Keep it short and sweet.
• Boring people silly. Don’t send folks to sleep. Instead use
stories, keep learning short and digestible, and mix it up
with different types of content, even the driest topic can
come to life. And it’s ok to have fun, make jokes, and be
silly. Learning doesn’t have to be dull.
• Lots and lots and lots and lots of text. Mix up your content
types. Use images, illustrations, videos, and interactive
elements. People learn in different ways.
2
Have a clear process
for content creation
Outline a clear process to walk your subject matter
experts step by step through what they need to do to
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create learning content. Here’s a draft process for you
to use as a starting point.
1. Intro learning design principles: An e-learning module
introduces people to basic learning design principles.
2. Complete content planner. This form helps people plan
content by walking them through the elements of a good
learning experience.
3. Kick off brief. Meeting with L&D team to discuss desired
outcomes from learning content, topics covered, and
types of content planned.
4. Intro learning design platform. An e-learning module
introduces people to the tool they’ll use to create learning
content. Chameleon is so intuitive to use it requires little
training.
5. Create draft content: We recommend L&D create a
reference resource for content creators to refer to for
refreshers on learning design as they create.
6. Content review: Debrief session with L&D team to review
content and identify opportunities for improvement.
7. Content approved: L&D review final version of content
and approve for launch.
8. Content launched: Support the launch of new learning
content with a comms plan to make sure your
organisation knows there’s a new learning resource for
them to use.
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 3 Provide templates
and examples
Branded templates
Learning content is a key manifestation of your brand, so
it should always be visually consistent with your brand
because branding your learning content creates a sense
of trust and familiarity for your team.
But your subject matter experts aren’t branding or design
experts. Which is why creating a suite of branded learning
templates to make life easy for them is a great idea. That
way they can focus their time and energy on creating
great content, knowing that they’re not going to mess up
when it comes to making it look good.
Best practise examples
You’ve all heard of the power of showing, not telling.
Sharing examples of great learning content with your
team gives them something to aspire to. For best results,
make those examples as relatable and relevant as
possible. Why not work with closely with a few experts in
your team to create exemplars of learning content for
everyone else.
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4 Have a kick off
briefing
Remember the seven steps of an excellent learning
experience? So, you’ve introduced your team to the
principles of learning design. But that doesn’t make
them learning design experts. Now it’s time to test
their understanding in a supportive way and help them
role-play with their new knowledge in a risk free, friendly
environment, aka a meeting with you.
A great way to do this is to make the first step in learning
content production a kick off briefing meeting with your
L&D team. When someone decides they want to make
some learning content, they come and sit down with L&D,
talk about the outcomes they want to achieve, the topics
they’d like to cover, and the kinds of content they’d like
to create. You can give them advice and feedback and
steer them in the right direction.
You can even help people prepare for this briefing
meeting by creating a content planning form that
walks them through the elements of a good learning
experience and prompts them to consider what they
might include to make their learning content a success.
There’s a draft content planning form on the next page
for you to use for inspiration.
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 Draft content planner
Here’s a draft content
planning form for you to Click Here
use as a starting point.
5 Take charge
of QA
You’re the learning design experts. So, after your team
have created their learning material, make sure it comes
back to you for quality control before it goes live so you
can check it follows sound learning principles, and the
quality is up to scratch.
This is a learning opportunity for your colleagues too.
They’ve tested their new learning design skills in a real life
situation by creating some learning content. Now they
get to analyse that content with you and look for ways to
improve. Maximise learnings for everyone by scheduling
a debrief session when people have completed their
content, where you review their work together and show
them opportunities for improvement.
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The L&D buck stops with you, so even after you’ve had
your debrief, and the content has been improved, you
still get the final say over launching it to the whole
organisation. That keeps QA consistent and makes sure
your learners are getting good quality content.
6 Give people the right
tools for the job
Whether it’s a training video, a content planner, an
e-learning module or a quick reference guide, make
sure your team have the tools they need to set them up
for learning content creation success.
And invest in Chameleon.
Yeah we know that’s a shameless plug … but seriously.
If you’re still using clunky, slow design software, you’re
not going to be able to keep up with content demands.
Chameleon’s so easy to use, everyone in your
organisation can create e-learning content.
So, invest in the tools you need, empower everyone in
your organisation to create learning content, take the
pressure off your team and share the load.
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 From day one, KPMG New Zealand’s L&D team got
excited about Chameleon’s potential to empower their
whole team to share knowledge and expertise. We sat
down with Ilana Kramer, Assistant Manager of Learning
& Development at KPMG New Zealand and asked what
they’ve learned through inspiring and empowering their
Tips from KPMG New Zealand team to create learning content.

on empowering your team to Make sure you’ve got the

create learning content right tools
Ilana explains, “Before we started using Chameleon
our learning content was almost all PowerPoint
based, which is quite boring. People hate sitting,
clicking through slides, so we needed something more
interactive.”

“We didn’t have a user friendly system to create our

own e-learning and we identified that as a gap. But
a lot of e-learning systems out there, no one can use
them, and when they spit out your content at the end,
it’s not quite what you want. We wanted something
easy enough to use, so anyone at KPMG can make
e-learning content. And that’s exactly what
Chameleon is. Anyone can use it.”

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 Encouraging knowledge
sharing
Ilana and her L&D colleagues have been using
Chameleon to create smaller content modules like their
Welcome to KPMG induction program and for introducing
new software.
Ilana says, “We’re finding it really helpful for knowledge
sharing. We have several diversity and inclusion teams,
and those groups have been using Chameleon to create
content. For example, we’ve just got our accessibility tick,
and introduced a training module around what you can
do to be an ally for someone with accessibility issues.”
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Lead by example
Demand for Chameleon spread through word of mouth.
Ilana explains, “Our national learning and development
team doesn’t always manage technical training for our
various departments. But once we started rolling out
training made with Chameleon and people saw how
amazing the system is, demand spread. For example, our
auditing team contacted us saying, “What did you use to
create that? Can we use it for our training content?”
“We also went out and approached each division,
introduced them to Chameleon, showed them what
they could do with the tool, and offered them a license.
We bought 10 licenses so we could offer different teams
their own login. And two of the divisions are already using
Chameleon for their own training.”
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 Engaging subject matter Guidance on what makes
experts good learning content
The KPMG L&D team encourage subject matter experts The KPMG L&D team supports their colleagues to
to share their knowledge and make learning content. produce content by sharing guidance on what makes
Ilana says, “The biggest hurdle is they don’t always good learning content.
have time. But that’s what makes Chameleon so great.
Ilana says, “We actually use the resources and
It’s so easy and self-explanatory to use, they don’t have
blog posts Chameleon has created to show our team
to do a training course. You just click and drag things
best practice and how to use interactivity to make
into place, add some pictures and voila, you’ve got
content more engaging.
beautiful training.”
“We give simple tips like insert a quiz in between pieces
“When it comes to inspiring subject matter experts
of information or get people to answer a question to
to make learning content, the content we’re already
make sure they’ve understood. Make it visually engaging,
making using Chameleon is encouragement enough
add imagery or show a video. Don’t have too many
because it looks amazing and it’s so interactive.
words on the slide …”
For example, recently we did a risk road show. Risk
management isn’t the most exciting subject, but we “For the first modules we created using Chameleon,
made it more exciting using Chameleon’s interactive Chameleon gave us feedback. That input was
elements. And the moment people see that content extremely valuable because it was very focused on user
they start thinking, maybe I can use this tool to create experience. Now whenever we create trainings, we ask
content for our team.” ourselves, ‘As a user what is the information I really need
to take away from this?’ We started seeing learning
“If subject matter experts are too busy to design their
through a different lens, from a user’s perspective
own e-learning modules they can provide the L&D
instead of as e-learning creators.”
team with their content, and we can design e-learning
content for them. We’ve had quite a few people create
content in partnership with us that way.”

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