Training Tips

Matt Dever, Global Product Line Manager

Have You Ever Wondered...?

Have you ever wondered how all that great content gets created and posted for HARMAN University?

With nearly 2,000 enrollees around the world at the on-line HARMAN University and almost 70 courses of current product content either available or in production, that’s almost 24 hours of non-stop learning modules for the bingers out there. HARMAN University has become the go-to Learning Management System (LMS) for the specialty audio industry. And HARMAN University is only three and a half years young and growing! There is a lot of behind-the-scenes work that takes place to bring these modules to life.

Content Selection

With all the new products that HARMAN Luxury Audio brings to market, we prioritize these new product initiatives (NPIs) for learning modules. We make our best efforts to release the learning modules for these new initiatives at the same time a product is officially announced, enabling everyone plenty of time to get familiar with the products about to hit the market. Secondary topics considered for the University are technology topics that impact our products, as well as the industry, examples; HDMI 2.1 Update, Hi-Res Audio, Dirac Live, and HARMAN brand introductions.

Outline Development

Once the topic is selected, the Global Product Line Manager (GPLM) closest to the topic will develop a high-level outline that will be shared with our external LMS partner – Cogent360. Cogent360 is an industry-leading media design firm that incorporates groundbreaking immersive technologies to help us accomplish the delivery of the modules that you experience in the University. The outline gets everyone on the same page as to What’s most important, Where does this fit into the market, Differentiators over other like products, Demo tips/Appealing features, and Who is the target demographic. We then meet with the Cogent360 team to review the outline, discuss the topic in detail, and answer all questions that their team may have on the topic.

Script Creation

From the outline and background information, Cogent360 will draft a module script that includes the general flow, information priorities, section break-outs, and the first-pass narration. The HARMAN team (Management, GPLM and Engineering) will perform a deep dive into the script, red lining the document, making corrections, modifying the flow, supplying clarifications on the topic, and then pushing it back to Cogent360 for an updated draft. A second and third pass will be performed if needed, until all stakeholders feel that it is the best it can be.

Image & Graphics Selection

In tandem with the script creation, the Cogent360 designers are envisioning and planning image needs and graphics that could be used to visually showcase the technology being verbalized in the script. These may be lifestyle images, video segments to help explain the topic, and general product images.

Module Build-Out

Now all the content and script are pulled together in the module framework. Appropriate pauses inserted, deeper dive information sidebars inserted, and a computer narration voiceover is laid into the module. The timing of the module is taken into consideration, not too short to be considered worthless, but not too long to have someone lose interest. Our target are University modules that can be viewed in 12 to 15 minutes. With the quiz at the end and building in some back-up review time along the way, the typical module will run about 20 minutes.

Team Review – Review – Review

The module has now come together with content, graphics, computer-voice narration, etc. The HARMAN team now begins the review process. The module is placed into a test environment that allows us to make comments, suggestions and corrections directly into the module. This design allows us to work directly with the Cogent360 team while inside the module to fine tune the presentation to best deliver our message on the topic.

When the HARMAN team is satisfied, the final human voice-over is recorded of the script and the module will be ready for release as a new course in the University.

Release

As mentioned earlier in this article, our goal is to release the training module as soon as a product is officially announced to the world. When a new University module is released, we will send an email notice to all enrolled learners of the new module and a link to the HARMAN University to give you the first details of our latest products coming to market.

And speaking of the world, part of our final wrap-up in launching a module onto the University is getting the module script translated into numerous languages to support our world-wide presence. The languages that a module gets translated will vary depending on circumstances, but for the most part we translate into Spanish, Japanese, Chinese and Korean. The English voice-over doesn’t change, but there is a side-bar narration window that opens that allows a person to follow along with the written word.

We would be interested to know if you have viewed any of the University training modules in a different language. Drop us an email at [email protected] and let us know:
• Which module(s) you have taken using the translated script?
• Did you find it useful in your understanding of the material?
• How could we make the translated experience better?

One last note about the training modules. At the end of each training module, we have inserted a quick Three Question Survey. The answers help make sure that we stay on the right track with these modules and that we are delivering quality content. The third question is an open-ended question where we want to hear from you about training topics you believe we should cover in the future. This is your HARMAN University and as we continue to grow, we want to make sure that we are not only delivering the product that your market needs, but how we can improve your knowledge on those products.

Thank you for your continued support!

As always you may access all the training courses by clicking here.
Once you sign in, if these courses are not populated on your home page, click “Go to Courses” to sign up. Stay tuned next month as more training becomes available.