Illumina Interactive recently wrapped up an online course for a global client who planned to start allowing workers back to their offices or worksites following months of lockdown due to the global pandemic. American Institutes for Research (AIR), a frequent Illumina client, needed a solution that could be produced rapidly even as the landscape of the facts about the COVID-19 virus continued evolving and the various rules and recommendations for worker safety were shifting.

Illumina recommended producing the course in Articulate Rise 360. “Using Rise for this course was just a natural decision,” says Hal Stokes, vice-president of eLearning Development for Illumina. “It allowed us to get started right away, and we knew we could easily accommodate last-minute changes to the content, especially with the number of approvers who would be involved.”

The original timeline for development was just over 4 weeks for the 12-minute course. Illumina worked closely with AIR, who provided the detailed content outline along with valuable guidance and prioritized feedback throughout. A working version of the course, with placeholder graphics, was ready for initial client review in four business days. Adding custom graphics created by Illumina in Vyond plus executive videos supplied by AIR were among the next steps, along with revising, re-ordering, and restructuring the content as the protocols for employee safety evolved.

“This was the kind of project that Rise is perfect for,” says Stokes. “And it was cost-effective for the client, too. Let’s face it: who planned for a pandemic-driven project in their 2020 budget?”

The course was launched in mid-August, in time for the first wave of essential workers who needed to return to their worksites across AIR.