When rolling out Financial System updates, implementing new compliance procedures or launching learning initiatives, our goal is a smooth transition for the university community, and a simple step may make all the difference: testing our training materials on a small group first. Doing a pilot run before going live allows us to catch issues early and improve the user experience.

The Benefits

Learning guides and training initiatives may look complete to the team creating them, but real use gives us the opportunity to uncover unexpected knowledge gaps. According to the Association for Talent Development, running a pilot test helps evaluate clarity, accuracy and usability. It lets designers verify instructions are clear, system links work and the steps outlined make sense in a real setting. Catching a confusing step or broken link during a test run may prevent employees from hitting roadblocks later.

Building Better Resources Together

Receiving constructive feedback during a pilot is not a sign of failure. Feedback from a pilot test simply shows where we have the opportunity to make the resource better.

Are you interested in joining our test volunteer pool? Sign up at go.ncsu.edu/fin-training.  

Your input helps shape the future of our learning initiatives.