Designing mobile training for hospitality

Now that you've decided to create mobile training for hospitality, you'll want to include these features in your content:

KISS

A mobile training program so good you could kiss it? Not quite. Keep It Simple, Stupid.

Mobile users demand simplicity and ease of use above all else so you need to design mobile training with this in mind. Is your program easy to log into and navigate? Are the units small and concise? Are all the pages clearly labelled? If your employees can use the training program easily, they're far more likely to work on the course in their spare time and on the go, as well as pick it up when they have questions at work. Which, really, is the whole point of your training being mobile.

Make it fun

With so many other entertaining ways to use mobile devices, your mobile training for hospitality course has a lot of competition for attention. Facebook, Instagram and Candy Crush will get a lot more screen time than your course if you don't put some effort into its gamification. We're not saying your training needs to involve flinging angry birds at pigs, but consider adding elements of a game. Maybe each unit completed earns the learner a gold star (or an industry-relevant icon), so they can collect every one. If you add a testing function, let them retake the test as many times as they want so they can challenge themselves to achieve 100 per cent on each unit, or compete with colleagues. Consider how it looks and feels. Would you want to pick it up in your spare time?

Know your audience

One of the key features of the hospitality industry is the diverse range of ages, cultural backgrounds, educational levels and of workers. For that reason, it's important to be sure your mobile training is accessible to everyone. Don't worry, it's actually not as hard as it sounds.

Firstly, collect as much data as you can about your specific organisation. You may be able to narrow down your audience more than you realise. If your staff consists of mostly or entirely tech-savvy millennials, you may be able to make your program a little more complex. If your staff skews older, you'll need to focus on keeping it easy to use. Perhaps if you have a high number of employees who speak a different language, you could consider offering a translation of your program in that language. Do you have largely inexperienced staff? Ditch the lingo. Maybe your staff are largely comprised of students who are fitting work in around study, and they need smaller units to complete in their downtime. Small details like these will make a world of difference.

One size does not fit all

Conversely, one way to simplify your mobile training for hospitality companies is to only include information pertinent to the student. It may make sense for your business to create more than one training course: one for managers and one for non-managers; or one for F&B staff and one for reception staff. Obviously this isn't relevant for smaller or more focused companies, but larger ones may find this streamlines their mobile training.

Mobile first

Remember: this is mobile training, so design for mobile. It sounds simple, but it's often forgotten. There's no point designing a stunning desktop training program that is clunky and difficult to use on a phone or tablet. That's a surefire way to disengage staff.

The interface must be simple and attractive, the pages and media must be quick to load and the log-in process has to be straightforward. Play with different media, but limit long videos and longform copy, and make it attractive. Make sure it works for both iOS and Android, and the UX works even on a smartphone screen. Consider adding downloadable features for offline use.

Intuto is designed with a mobile-first approach, so courses will work and look great on any sized screen.

It goes both ways

As well as teaching employees about the business, mobile training can teach you about your employees. The Intuto platform allows you to follow their progress as they go, and track any common weak spots. It also acts as a way to communicate with employees, which is particularly useful in the unique hospitality industry. Use your mobile training course to send out surveys and offer the opportunity for feedback. It's important for staff to feel like their opinions are being heard, and this is an effective way to make it happen. Again, make sure any call for feedback is quick and easy to do - nothing is more tedious than a long-form survey.

For help setting up your mobile training for hospitality, get in contact with us today.