Learning and Development Theory Applied to Technical Documentation
As part of our ongoing series, we are highlighting the diverse people who make up dmarcian. At our core, we are people helping people, and that spirit shapes the way we work with each other and with the organizations we serve. Our team brings together a wide range of backgrounds, experiences, and perspectives, all united by a shared commitment to make email safer for everyone. In this piece, one of our New Business Coordinators brings forward insights from a learning & development background.
Developing a product, system or software should always take into consideration how users can engage with your offering. Months can be spent by teams developing new offerings and expanding on existing ones. However, a documented problem that spans technical industries is a lack of good quality technical documentation.
Technical documentation is a key component of the customer experience. Complex and unclear documentation can cause longer product implementation times, push customers to rely more heavily on support teams, and make customers less likely to adopt advanced features, leading to a reduction of a product’s perceived value. On the other hand, documentation which is designed to consider how people learn can improve task completion, increase product adoption, and reduce demands on support teams. For organizations, this can result in decreased operational costs, improved customer satisfaction, and increased retention.
The Modern Professional Learning Environment
The modern workplace has had an impact on how and to what degree learners engage with complex technical information. Constant flows of emails, messages, and notifications are a regular part of the working life of many modern professionals; the result is a cognitive burden on attention and working memory that can make it much more difficult to engage with complex technical content.
While technical accuracy in documentation is essential, ensuring information is presented in a way that maximises engagement, considering how people learn and minimizing cognitive burden is equally as important. Learning and development theory can inform the instructional design process, as it provides an evidence-based framework that applies established principles of human learning to guide how information is presented.
Learning and Development Theory
Cognitive Load and Adult Learning Theory are among the most relevant and applicable learning and development theories for professional learning.
Cognitive Load Theory suggests that working memory has a limited capacity for processing new information. Writers should optimize documentation for navigation, conciseness, clarity, and organization. This helps make learning as frictionless as possible, allowing people to explore and learn how to navigate products and systems, build confidence, and boost engagement with your offering.
Cognitive Load theory recommends information be presented in a way that builds step-by-step understanding of the material, fostering a sense of progress over time, whilst allowing learning to remain manageable and the experience to be more enjoyable.
To incorporate this practically, topics can be divided into smaller, more digestible sections with supporting information utilized only when it serves a specific learning objective. Multiple forms of media can be used to enhance the learning experience, replacing words with images, graphs, video content, and more to convey a message.
dmarcian’s DMARC Academy is a great example of how information can be presented into digestible chunks. The curriculum is an interactive series of courses pertaining to DMARC fundamentals and deployment. Information is broken down by topic in a series of videos and courses employing a variety of different media to allow learners to integrate and consolidate the information. With the ability to learn in a piecemeal way, what can be a dense topic for newcomers becomes broken down into manageable building blocks.
Adult Learning Theory suggests that adults are motivated primarily by relevance and practical application. Learners in a workplace environment lean on educational content because they are trying to solve a particular problem, complete a specific task, or develop skills relevant to their profession. Because practical needs drive most workplace learning, focusing on how information can be applied in real situations is the most beneficial. Information that is practical and guides users through real examples can help learners connect what’s being presented with their own experiences. This propels learner engagement, improves knowledge retention, and betters the transfer of learning to the workplace.
Tying it together
Learning theory can help inform the development of technical learning materials. Using the theory as a basis, content should be detailed but not overwhelming, clear and concise so the learner can engage with the material and meet their desired goals.
Providing practical examples based on real scenarios provides meaningful context, and the incorporation of multiple forms of visual content can diversify how certain concepts are explained, better catering to different learning styles.
The application of learning theory does not have to be overly complicated, but rather involves making thoughtful design decisions that consider how people learn.
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