[CASE STUDY] The Cooper Institute Training Application

The Concept

The Cooper Institute wanted to provide a more efficient and cost-effective way for its personal training instructors to receive certification training. Training would be delivered to students over the Internet and through fix media direct to their mailbox or computer. All documentation and support material was to be included with the training in digital format.

About The Project

Analysis

Rival Media Studios began tackling this project by first identifying the key issues that needed to be addressed in order to achieve successful delivery of training content according to the clients specifications, as well as insure successful project completion. We identified various delivery methods and technologies. Subject matter experts from The Cooper Institute would provide all the relevant content as well as training.

Features and Requirements

Once all research was complete, we then set out to document the features and requirements that were to be included in the site. We prioritized each feature according to user importance and business importance, then grouped them into appropriate phases to determine which features would be appropriate for initial roll out or a later phase. This effort was greatly assisted by The Cooper Institute team.

Information Architecture

Once all site requirements have been finalized, we then laid everything out in wireframes. We use wireframes to clearly layout the sites structure, navigation and functionality strategy. This is extremely useful as it allows us to identify weaknesses and make adjustments without the distraction of color, typography and other “polish” details that will come later.

Design

At this point, we began designing a user interface that was simple, clean and elegant while keeping inline with the project requirements. Since this application was an eLearning application, it was very important to keep it simple and to efficiently deliver the training content to ensure students received the quality education and training that The Cooper Institute is known for. the application would use instructor video synced with slides to deliver each lesson and would be broken down into subject modules. The design would be modular in nature to provide quick and easy access to training materials and content.

Development

Once the design was finalized by both Rival Media Studios and The Cooper Institute, we immediately began development of the application. A video production crew was sent to the clients facilities to record the instructor videos. We used Flash as the delivery platform because it provided the right platform from which training content could be delivered on both the Internet and DVD.

The Result

The project was a great success for both Rival Media Studios and The Cooper Institute. It significantly reduced the institutes travel expenses and overall training cost. Personal Training professionals were also able to successfully complete their certification process from the convenience of their own home or work place.