Here at Infopro Learning, we’re no strangers to content development (Top 20 content development company 6 times running). We’re also no strangers to content depreciation. We’ve been developing mobile learning, elearning, virtual instructor led training, and such for over 20 years, and a lot has changed.
It’s a hard pill to swallow, but ignoring content depreciation will either cause your training to become outdated and un-engaging, or will cause you to constantly try to create new updated courses (which can cost twice as much as keeping content up to date). Don’t ignore content depreciation. Understand it, stop it as much as possible, and prepare to overcome it.
Here is an infographic which breaks down five common ways legacy training content depreciates over the years:
And here’s the text in case you prefer plain text:
As the years pass by, legacy training content depreciates in value and effectiveness for a number of reasons:
Band New – “It’s Perfect”
New content hot off the press (or ePress). It’s exactly what you need. What could go wrong?
Year 1 – Content Inaccuracies
Company statistics change, products get updated with new specifications, and errors in the original content are uncovered over time.
Year 2 – Outdated Design
The graphic design for powerpoint slides and eLearning courses tent to look dated after just a couple of years. Additionally, images and colors might not be up to current company branding.
Year 3 – Training Not Aligned with Business Needs
Older training programs might not be aligned with the company’s business needs and desired employee performance outcomes. The issues that the original training were designed to solve may not be an issue after a few years of changing business goals.
Year 4 – Changing Learner Demographics
Training solutions that work for baby boomers might not be suitable for millennials. Training that is desired for a certain role may quickly see their audience change demographics.
Year 5 – Outdated Digital Formats
eLearning content developed in flash, legacy versions of rapid development tools, and older versions of SCORM can quickly cause technical difficulties. Whether it is integration with your LMS, tracking and measurement, or delivery, technology from just several years ago, often is not effective and needs to be updated.
STOP – MODERNIZE
Too many companies are allowing the depreciation of their training portfolios and are neglecting to leverage their old content. Maximize the ROI on training by modernize old training programs.
For more on how to stop content depreciation, see our eBook Modernize for Engagement, our five-step guide for revitalizing outdated content, and Modernize, our content strategy guide for maximizing corporate training ROI.
