Oracle Guided Learning: Features and Benefits

Oracle Guided Learning (OGL) is a digital adoption platform (DAP) designed to streamline user onboarding, enhance software adoption, and improve the overall user experience within Oracle applications. It provides in-application guidance, personalized support, and tools to help users navigate complex processes, understand new features, and resolve issues efficiently.

The Modern Learner and the Need for Guided Learning

The modern learner is characterized by specific traits and expectations that influence their approach to learning and software adoption. They are often impatient, tech-savvy, disrupted by constant change, and frequently on the move. Statistics highlight key aspects of their learning preferences:

Information at the Point of Need: A significant 52% of modern learners prefer to access information precisely when they require it, within the context of their task.
Flexible Learning Schedules: Nearly half (47%) of modern learners prefer to learn during evenings and weekends, accommodating their personal schedules.
Learning at the Desk: A substantial 42% of modern learners engage in learning activities while at their office desk, integrating learning into their workday.
Proactive Updates: A noteworthy 30% of modern learners appreciate receiving alerts and updates on new features or changes.
Mobile Learning: Over a quarter (27%) of modern learners utilize their commute time for learning, emphasizing the need for mobile-friendly resources.

These trends underscore the importance of accessible, contextualized, and flexible learning solutions like Oracle Guided Learning.

Different Learning Formats

The landscape of learning and adoption has evolved, encompassing various formats:

Social Learning: Collaborative learning experiences that leverage peer interaction.
Mobile Learning: Accessing learning materials on mobile devices for on-the-go learning.
Gamification: Incorporating game-like elements to enhance engagement and motivation.
Cloud-Based Access: Providing 24/7 access to learning resources through the cloud.
Digital Badging: Recognizing learning achievements with digital badges.

The three primary training formats are:

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In-class/live
Digital/eLearning
In-application guidance

Blended Learning Approach

The Blended Learning Approach combines instructor-led direction with learning subscriptions. This approach combines the most immediate project need with instructor-led boot camps followed by a learning subscription for ongoing learning needs during the project. The instructor-led core team courses get the whole team or the majority of the team members up to the same level of understanding and knowledge. Subject matter experts (SMEs), key members of the core team or administrators, continue their learning journey using learning subscriptions to attain deep product knowledge during projects and also keep up with the latest product updates.

Core Features and Functionality of Oracle Guided Learning

Oracle Guided Learning provides a range of features designed to enhance user adoption and productivity:

In-App Guides: Use in-app guides, such as tours, process guides, and simulations, to provide walk-throughs in the system. These interactive guides walk users through specific tasks and processes within the application, offering step-by-step instructions and contextual assistance.
Tooltips: Provide subtle contextualized guidance as users complete processes. Tooltips offer brief explanations and guidance as users interact with specific elements within the application interface.
Help Panel: Allow users to access self-service guidance and documents from the Oracle Guided Learning Help Panel. The Help Panel provides a centralized location for users to access self-service resources, including documentation, FAQs, and troubleshooting guides.
In-App Messaging: Send announcements, newsletters, and maintenance updates about new applications, processes, features, and policies with in-app messaging. This feature enables administrators to communicate important information to users directly within the application.
Beacons: Add beacons to draw attention to new features and updates in the web app. Beacons are visual cues that highlight new features or updates, drawing users' attention to important changes.
Banners and Buttons: Use banners and buttons to encourage users to take necessary actions in the web app. Banners and buttons can be used to promote specific actions or encourage users to explore new features.
Customization: Customize user guidance using activation and step conditions. OGL allows for tailoring the user experience with role-based configurations and auto-segmentation capabilities.

Advanced Capabilities and Customization Options

Oracle Guided Learning offers a range of advanced capabilities to customize the user experience and ensure effective guidance:

Activation and Step Conditions: Display guides based on a user’s behavior, activity, and time spent in the application. These conditions allow administrators to target specific user segments with tailored guidance based on their roles, behavior, or application usage.
Validation Conditions and Rules: Apply validation conditions and rules to help users complete forms and fields correctly. Validation rules ensure data accuracy and consistency by guiding users through form completion and preventing errors.
Element Blockers: Use element blockers to prevent users from interacting with page elements until specific conditions have been met. Element blockers restrict user interaction with specific page elements until certain conditions are met, ensuring that users follow the intended workflow.
Embedded Self-Service Guidance: Embed self-service guidance in the app to help users resolve simple issues. Users can resolve simple issues efficiently.
Permalinks: Allow help desk operators to point users to in-app guides and send guide links (permalinks) to solve issues efficiently. Permalinks enable help desk operators to direct users to specific in-app guides, streamlining support and issue resolution.
Intranet Integration: Embed guides into your intranet portals and sites. This allows for seamless integration of OGL resources within existing organizational platforms.
In-App Surveys: Use in-app surveys to gather feedback on your users’ satisfaction with the application or to collect feedback on program changes. Surveys provide valuable insights into user satisfaction and help identify areas for improvement.
Embedded Analytics: Measure adoption outcomes, guide effectiveness, and usage with embedded analytics. Analytics provide data on user engagement, guide effectiveness, and application usage, enabling administrators to track progress and optimize guidance strategies.

Analytics and Measurement

Oracle Guided Learning provides robust analytics to track user engagement, measure the effectiveness of guides, and identify areas for improvement. Key metrics include:

Page Visit Duration: See what pages users are spending time on in the application. This metric provides insights into user engagement and identifies areas where users may be struggling.
Hotspot Analysis: See what elements (hotspots) users are clicking. Hotspot analysis reveals which elements are attracting user attention and which may need further clarification.
Search Pattern Analysis: Identify search patterns by analyzing user queries. Analyzing user queries helps identify common issues and knowledge gaps, enabling administrators to improve self-service resources.

Whatfix offers two types of user analytics: Guidance Analytics and Product Analytics. Guidance Analytics is included for all Whatfix DAP customers. It provides engagement and usage data on your in-app content built with Whatfix. See Task List completion rates, Flow dropoffs, Smart Tip views, common Self Help queries, and more. Whatfix Product Analytics is a comprehensive no-code event-tracking solution.

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Benefits of Oracle Guided Learning

Accelerated Cloud Adoption: OGL streamlines the adoption of Oracle Cloud applications by providing users with the guidance and support they need to quickly learn and master new features.
Improved User Experience: By providing contextualized guidance and self-service resources, OGL enhances the user experience and reduces frustration.
Increased Productivity: OGL helps users complete tasks more efficiently and effectively, leading to increased productivity.
Reduced Training Costs: By providing in-application guidance, OGL reduces the need for traditional training methods, resulting in cost savings.
Enhanced Compliance: OGL can be used to enforce policies and ensure compliance with regulatory requirements.

SpearMC's OGL Starter Kit for PeopleSoft

SpearMC offers a Starter Kit to help your team fast-track development of OGL guides for PeopleSoft.

The Starter Kit immediately works in your environment.
Guides can be turned on or off.
Guides work in all PeopleSoft versions and deployment models.
Training is provided on how to modify the guides, add or remove steps, update language, links and logos.
Assistance with migrating to Search-Based guides or even to the Classic Menu.
Quickly copy and modify templates and techniques for Process Guides, Smart Tips, Task Lists, Launchers and more.

Considerations and Alternatives

While Oracle Guided Learning offers significant benefits within the Oracle ecosystem, it's important to consider its limitations and explore alternative solutions.

Limited Outside Oracle Ecosystem: OGL is Oracle-centric, limiting its functionality to Oracle applications.
Basic Guidance Features: OGL offers only essential in-app guidance features, lacking robust cross-platform or multi-app adoption capabilities.
Lack of Digital Adoption Expertise: Oracle lacks a digital adoption focused team, with its general sales and service teams supporting OGL customers.
Translation: Oracle’s AI services provide instant translations using their own automated translation service, ‘OCI Language,’ which supports only 31 languages.
No sandbox environment creator: OGL cannot create replica sandbox environments of Oracle applications to provide hands-on training or beta testing.
No advanced product analytics: OGL provides general end-user engagement and in-app content analytics.

Whatfix is a Digital Adoption Platform (DAP) built for large-scale enterprise applications, including Oracle. Whatfix has successfully onboarded and trained thousands of users for major enterprises using Oracle, delivering in-app guidance, personalized training, and on-demand support across various apps. While OGL works well within Oracle’s ecosystem, it struggles with multi-application environments.

AI-Powered Self Help: Whatfix integrates with your process documentation, SOPs, user training, and knowledge base, allowing users to search for any support-related or task-related question without leaving the application.

Five Habits for Successful Cloud Adoption

To ensure successful cloud adoption, consider these five habits:

Invest in your team
Communicate
Provide fast access to the answer
Stay engaged
Evolve with the cloud

Read also: Exploring Oracle Learning Cloud

tags: #oracle #guided #learning #features