HMRC — modernising learning content authoring and delivery
How Larmer Brown helped HMRC adopt dominKnow | ONE for 200 authors developing more than 2,000 eLearning courses for over 60,000 staff.
In 2016 Her Majesty’s Revenue and Customs (HMRC) identified a need to adopt a learning content authoring tool that could be used by 200 assigned Authors within the organisation, in order to develop more than 2,000 eLearning courses. The chosen tool had to meet a stringent list of more than 100 key requirements.
The Project
The HMRC Learning and Development Team were seeking to modernise delivery of their learning programmes and consolidate the vast range of authoring tools they used to develop learning content. The overall objective was to provide an improved user experience across multiple devices — including tablets and smartphones — as well as more intelligent tracking and reporting.
The tool would be used by an estimated 200 Authors across all HMRC departments, including the Tax Academy. The learning content was intended for an internal audience as well as potentially 1.5 million tax-paying UK citizens. As a UK Government department, it was critical that the chosen solution could be hosted within the UK and that security was high.
The Solution
Larmer Brown’s tender response proposed the dominKnow Flow tool to meet HMRC’s learning content authoring requirements — a cloud-based responsive tool with powerful rapid authoring features and no end-user licence, which was especially attractive given the potential size of the user community.
In February 2017, Larmer Brown was awarded the contract to provide a Fully Managed Hosted Solution of the dominKnow Flow content authoring platform, as well as consultancy, training and technical support.
Rather than train all 200 Authors, Larmer Brown trained the 20 assigned Lead Authors through facilitated workshops, who then disseminated the training across the rest of the authoring community. The team also developed 15 hours of eLearning training and assessments on Flow, available to all new Authors as a prerequisite — ensuring proven proficiency before working on live projects.
Prior to content development, a Discovery Workshop agreed the content standards and development methodology, and Larmer Brown developed a prototype course, “Tax Master”, as a meaningful exemplar for the HMRC Authors.
The Outcome
More than 2,000 courses have been developed by the HMRC Authoring Team using dominKnow Flow (now dominKnow | ONE). It is the main authoring tool used for developing and delivering online learning to more than 60,000 members of staff — with over 160 Authors developing content, 18 Administrators, and 2,000 SME reviewers.
In February 2020, HMRC committed to extending the contract with Larmer Brown for a further three years.
“We have been very happy with the ongoing support from Larmer Brown, which has ensured any technical issues or questions from our designers have always been answered promptly. Larmer Brown’s managed hosting service also ensures that we are informed and fully prepared for any planned updates to dominKnow | ONE.”
— Andy Noble, Learning Partner, Learning Academy HR People & Organisation Development, HMRC