When Harlequin started in 1996, “e-learning” usually meant a CD-ROM, a lot of patience and a computer in the corner of the training room. Since then we have designed for intranets, learning management systems, tablets, phones, video platforms and, most recently, AI-generated presenters.
Every one of those shifts was described at the time as a revolution. Some were. But looking back over thirty years, what stands out is not how much has changed, it is how much hasn’t. Here are the lessons that have held true through every generation of technology.
1. People learn what they need to use
The most effective projects we have worked on all started with the same question: what do people need to do differently? Courses built around that question stay focused. Courses built around “everything we know about the topic” become long, dense and quickly forgotten.
That was true when content was delivered on disc, and it is just as true now that it can be generated in minutes.
2. Clarity beats cleverness
Every new platform brings new ways to impress: animated transitions, 3D environments, gamified leaderboards. Used well, they help. Used for their own sake, they get in the way. The learning that lasts is almost always the learning that is clearest, with plain language, honest visuals and a logical flow.
3. Learning doesn’t happen in isolation
A course launched into silence rarely changes much. The projects with the biggest impact have been the ones where learning sat inside a wider picture: managers who knew what was coming, communications that explained why it mattered and resources people could turn to afterwards. That is why we now plan learning and communications together from the start.
4. Subject experts are partners, not just reviewers
Whether the subject has been engineering, finance, veterinary nutrition or new software, the best results have come from genuine partnerships with the people who know the subject inside out. Bring them in early, explain your choices and listen hard for the one nuance that really does need to stay.
5. Good process protects good ideas
Creative ideas are easy to have and easy to lose. What gets them delivered on time is unglamorous: a clear brief, agreed review rounds, a single point of sign-off and a shared view of what “done” looks like. Thirty years of projects have taught us that the process isn’t the opposite of creativity, it is what lets creativity survive contact with a deadline.
6. New tools are worth trying, carefully
We have adopted plenty of new tools over the years and dropped a few, too. The test has always been the same: does this help people learn, or does it just make production faster or look more impressive? When the answer is genuinely “it helps”, we use it. When it isn’t, we don’t, however fashionable it is.
Then and now
- 1996: Mostly classroom training, supported by printed workbooks, video and the first CD-ROM courses.
- 2000s: Learning management systems and rapid authoring tools made e-learning part of everyday training.
- 2010s: Responsive courses for phones and tablets, and video, became central to the work.
- Today: AI-assisted production, alongside the same focus on clarity and purpose.
What this means for your project
Experience doesn’t mean doing things the way they were done in 1996. It means knowing which new ideas are worth adopting, which old principles still matter and how to avoid the mistakes that cost time and money. That is what thirty years brings to every brief we take on.
