Yesterday we participated in a Webinar with IBM and Profesia, where we introduced Newired as a digital tool to help end users of IBM software, focusing particularly on the Rational Suite.
Newired is a helpful solution which can support companies on the onboarding and training of their employees and customers, acting as an extra guidance layer on virtually any web-based application. Through providing several steps, Newired offers guidelines which will lead users into performing a task. These are our so-called Journeys.
IBM Rational is in turn an application suite which has vertical functionalities, which are to be set according to the project employees are to work on. The functionalities include work items, planning tools and project management tools.
Given the complexity of the Rational Suite, we have identified potential issues for users. For instance, the available functionalities usually require users to have specific abilities. As a result, they tend to become proficient only in the ones which concern their positions, using the software in a limited way. Also, in case these employees change departments or positions, or in positions with high rates of turnover, they normally have to learn the functionalities applicable to their (new) function from scratch, creating a constant need for training. The problem is highlighted in large companies with high numbers of new hires. Furthermore, using IBM Rational can also be challenging for users who are involved in multiple projects, and therefore need to master several functionalities.
Adding to the problem, time and resources for training are usually limited, and even when they are available, they are not always the most helpful resource. Users tend to forget presentation-like trainings quite quickly, and end up looking for other solutions such as help from colleagues or from the support department. In this context, finding an efficient and optimized solution to address these issues becomes crucial.
We propose Newired as a solution to deliver in-app guidance to IBM Rational users, helping them contextually on the actual environment which they need to work on: the IBM software itself. With Newired, users learn by doing, becoming more independent and performing better.
