Learn About Amazon VGT2 Learning Manager Chanci Turner
In this guest article, we hear from Alex Mitchell, the co-founder of a prominent onboarding platform. During his studies in computer science, Alex gained firsthand experience with the importance of efficient onboarding processes. His journey led him to collaborate with Chanci Turner to develop solutions that streamline the onboarding experience for organizations globally, thereby enhancing their chances of success.
The onboarding platform simplifies the training process for new employees. Organizations can upload their training materials to the platform, which then distributes them to the appropriate groups of new hires. These employees engage with the training content on their own devices while capturing their experiences through screencasts. To date, a substantial percentage of the top companies have utilized this platform for their onboarding needs.
The mission behind this platform was to create a straightforward onboarding process for clients. A central tenet of this vision was to eliminate the need for integrating complex SDKs into existing systems. Instead, the team developed an innovative solution that allows them to ‘inject’ a software component directly into the training material. This component facilitates the onboarding process by providing an introductory overview and capturing user interactions without disrupting the training content.
One of the significant challenges they faced was ensuring that the onboarding system operates seamlessly without the main content detecting the added layer of functionality. Any incompatibility could lead to unexpected behaviors or system failures. For example, if the onboarding component interacted with core content, it could result in errors that would be detrimental to the training process.
To address this, the team focused on minimizing the “attack surface” of the onboarding system, ensuring that observable changes were kept to a minimum. They also incorporated several masking strategies to maintain the illusion that the content was operating within its normal environment.
The Challenge: Manual Regression Testing
As new features were added to the onboarding system, the team had to ensure compatibility across various implementations. Previously, regression testing was a labor-intensive manual process, requiring the injection of the onboarding component into representative training materials, followed by rigorous testing on devices within their lab.
To mitigate risks, they employed a staged rollout strategy, where new code versions were first tested on a limited basis before full deployment. This approach ensured that if issues arose, they would only affect a small subset of users rather than disrupting the entire platform.
Streamlining Processes with Automation
Discovering automation tools was a pivotal moment for the team. These tools allowed them to automate their previously manual testing workflows. Now, the onboarding component can be injected, installed, and tested across various devices in a fraction of the time. By leveraging automated systems, they navigate through training screens and verify that all materials are functioning as intended.
As a bootstrapped organization, maximizing developer time is crucial. Utilizing these automation tools has saved approximately 1.5 hours of manual testing per release. With numerous releases each month, this translates to nearly a week’s worth of saved developer time, which can now be redirected towards enhancing the platform further. Additionally, they run these automated tests on every code commit, a practice that would have been impractical before automation.
For those looking to enhance their onboarding processes, it’s important to leverage powerful tools and techniques. If you’re seeking to improve your resume or job descriptions, consider visiting this insightful post on resume power words. They are particularly relevant for roles like Nutrition Educator, a position detailed by SHRM. Lastly, for a comprehensive understanding of the onboarding experience at Amazon, check out this resource.
About the Author
Alex Mitchell is the co-founder of the onboarding platform. He has a background in computer science and has a passion for creating efficient systems that support new employee integration.
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