Configuration vs. Customization - Well Designed e-Learning Programs Pay Dividends

When it comes to compliance training, most organizations want ready-made programs that can be easily adjusted to fit their policies and brand. The goal is to buy an off-the-shelf product that can accommodate changes, quickly and cheaply. In short, employers want the best of both worlds. If a program is well designed, meeting that need should be easy.

This is where the distinction between customization, and configuration is so critical. “Customization” is the process of making content-specific changes to an online course. Customization involves taking client materials and incorporating them into the program. If the program has been designed with a hard, linear format and a fixed set of learning objects, these changes are typically “one-offs,” to use the popular production lingo.

Aside from carrying a high price tag, this traditional approach to customizing for company-specific content involves a great deal of resources and project management – both on the client and customer side. My experience has been that the required investment is usually grossly underestimated, and what appeared to be simple turns into a costly, and frustrating process.

That’s where configuration makes a big difference. An e-learning program that is configurable anticipates common customer requests, and already has a solution ready (no custom build out necessary). The client simply selects or de-selects the component. It’s as easy as saying “yes” or “no” to a feature. 

The most powerful of these options relates to content. Do you want your harassment prevention training program to cover transgender issues? Yes or no. Do you want your program to address mental disabilities? Yes or no. Do you want supervisors having access to a 50-state survey that outlines remedies and protected categories? Yes or no.

Configuration also encompasses branding issues. Logos can easily be inserted on every page, because the program has been built in a way that assumes the change. Placeholder screens are “hidden” at the end of every course section, waiting to accommodate custom content.

If a program is designed to be configurable, you should be able to “build” a custom course at an extremely low cost. Configurable architecture requires your training provider to have thought through a lot issues ahead of time, and to have pre developed much more content than you are likely to ever select or use. By way of example, ELT’s harassment training program is designed to be 1 hour for employees, and 2 hours for supervisors. We actually developed 4+ hours of content to offer clients a powerful range of configuration options.

So ask your training vendors questions about their configuration capabilities. Configuration can give you the benefit of a completely custom solution without the time and expense of “from scratch” development. It’s the e-learning equivalent of having your cake, and eating it too (online that is …)

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