Background
After six years of running blended learning courses in Wilderness First Aid, Paratus Institute was looking for a massive overhaul of its consumer facing presence. They had no consistent visual identity, a forgettable logo, non-existent color scheme, course materials that looked like PowerPoint default slides from the late 90s, and an Adobe Presenter/Ovation implementation that constantly created technical problems for students and headaches for instructors. It was time for a serious upgrade.
Strategy
Paratus’ goals were multi-fold…
The company wanted to establish clear branding and a purposeful visual language, which it had neglected in the past, including the development of a new logo and color scheme.
Paratus also wanted to update its online presence and bring the digital aspect of its blended learning into the modern age. The company’s course materials hadn’t been changed since the transition to a blended learning format. In those years, a lot had changed in the internet technology space. Firefox 3.0 was now Firefox 44.0. It was important to Paratus Institute that their blended learning tools be brought in line with both modern best practices in web design and the best available web technologies.
At the time Paratus launched their blended learning solution they were near the cutting edge of technology. While it remains the only first aid training center to offer such classes in Northern California, the larger field of e-learning had caught up to, or surpassed, what Paratus offered. This presented a wealth of knowledge about what worked and what didn’t in the e-learning space.
Combining the feedback from Paratus’ own students with the common complaints of participants in other e-learning outlets, such as online college courses, revealed an aspect of the student experience that Paratus Institute could solve. In essence…
The Insight
The biggest pain point for e-learning participants is the struggles with technology compatibility.The Idea
Retool every aspect of the Paratus Institute web presence to make their materials available whenever, wherever, and however a student wants.
New Logo
Strong and contemporary, the new logo’s design incorporated two ideas: a forest green to represent the outdoor focus of the company and a green/white cross motif that reflects a worldwide symbol for first aid.
New Course Material Design
The overhaul of the course materials had three major parts:
