BKF Online-Schulungs GmbH

As driving schools in Germany had to be closed during the coronavirus pandemic, professional drivers were unable to complete the training required to renew their driving licence. 

BKF Online-Schulungs GmbH is therefore offering online training courses and tests required for the renewal of truck drivers' licences via its new e-learning platform. Until the COVID-19 pandemic, these training courses and tests were held on site at driving schools. However, the pandemic abruptly changed these conditions and new solutions had to be found. Our task was to create an online solution that met the legal requirements defined by the EU and the German governments.

A time and location-independent training opportunity for professional drivers

The e-learning platform BKF Online, founded by BKF Online-Schulungs GmbH, has set itself the goal of offering a decentralised and contact-free digital solution for the changed framework conditions due to the pandemic - and beyond. In future, the learning modules will be booked, paid for and completed independently, regardless of time and location.

Both the company and the learning platform were founded as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Project goals

1. Create acceptance for new processes: We rely on the 'bottom-up principle': first-time users should ideally be turned directly into advocates of the platform in order to gain acceptance on a broader basis. To achieve this, the benefits offered by the service must be easy to understand and immediately apparent. The entire process must be easy and straightforward so that first-time users share the service with their colleagues and/or convince official bodies to try out the platform
2. State recognition: All legal requirements had to be met in order to become a state-recognised online school institution - i.e. the driver identification and the online learning process must be designed in such a way that they are legally incontestable. 
3. Establish a fallback plan: The legal situation in Germany at the time required compulsory training modules to be completed in person. The lessons took place with tutors present and in driving schools that could be visited and inspected by state examiners. We therefore had to have a plan B ready for the start in case the state recognition did not work out immediately. One requirement for the design was, for example, to ensure scalability and to create room for manoeuvre in the event that the legal situation in Germany did not change in time for the launch.

Our UX and design solutions to achieve the goals

The task was clear: we had to convince drivers, logistics companies and government inspectors that their usual process was a thing of the past. We had to convince them to try out and use our solution. In addition, the service had to fulfil a long list of government and EU legal requirements to convince the authorities that we offer a trustworthy, visionary solution that can simplify bureaucratic processes.

This is how we proceeded:

#1 Identification of previous pain points to stimulate transformation

There is a saying that goes something like this "Change happens when the pain of staying the same is greater than the pain of change" - and this is exactly the principle we wanted to use to initiate change.

Although our user groups were used to the established licence renewal process, the existing process also had its disadvantages. 

After all, the restriction that the pandemic impaired examination qualifications for drivers, for example, was only temporary. We didn't want to build on that. Instead, the goal was to improve the permanent weaknesses of the traditional process. Therefore, we had to get to know our user groups, identify their needs and problems and develop solutions for these problems.

Qualitative user research is the best way to find out more about user groups and develop solutions on this basis. Another approach is to work with pure assumptions, to label them as such and to test them after the launch.

We tried to change a long-established process. To do this, we had to change the "Das haben wir schon immer so gemacht“-quantity and people with different affinities to the technology. A user experience that feels smooth can improve the general acceptance of a new service. But for people to be willing to try out the new thing in the first place, the benefits need to be specifically named and stand out.

We have therefore focussed on functions that increase convenience and process transparency and make life easier for drivers, logistics companies and government inspectors alike. 

One obvious advantage for drivers was the opportunity to take part in decentralised training courses and complete them anytime, anywhere. Logistics companies benefit from the fact that they do not have to find free training places in driving schools for their employees. The advantage for the inspectors was a user profile that allows them to conveniently inspect companies and drivers without having to travel to the training facilities.

#2 Simplification of onboarding, learning and payment processes

Whilst the authentication process for students needs to be completely secure and compliant with EU law, we didn't want it to get in the way of exploring the site for the first time or finding and launching training modules. 

We also wanted to give students who were still undecided the opportunity to explore and try out the platform before committing themselves. 

We wanted to prevent students who do not have the necessary documents or identification information at hand from not being able to start a course. 

Our solution was to make authentication mandatory only when drivers wanted to download training certificates.

In addition, payment for training modules only became necessary as soon as students wanted to download certificates for completed training courses.

Employee drivers can therefore apply for payment from their employer and start training when it suits them best, without having to advance the invoice or wait for the costs to be paid. Companies benefit from this process as they can keep an eye on their costs and the training status of their employees.

#3 Provide a comfortable learning environment within the legal framework

While the service offers a high level of convenience, it must also ensure that the entire learning process complies with existing laws.

The platform's training modules consist of video tutorials, just like the training process in driving schools. When attending lessons in a driving school, students have the opportunity to contact the tutors at any time if they have any questions, while the presence of the tutors means that active participation in the lessons is a matter of course. This is not necessarily the case in an e-learning environment at home. The requirement for our solution was that our students should be able to ask questions and pay attention at any time, just like in the analogue world. 

We integrated solutions for both requirements as they were crucial for the state licence. The questions asked by participants during the module included video timestamps indicating the time of the question. This allowed tutors to understand the context of the question and provide helpful answers. Randomised, easy-to-answer attention tests also served as evidence of class participation.

#4 Building a design system with potential for change

When deciding which viewports to optimise, we kept the primary use cases of the user groups in mind. 

Mobile first: As two of our three user groups do not spend the majority of their working time at desks or with laptops or desktop computers, a mobile-first approach was taken in conception and design. 

The user interfaces must be optimised for touch interactions so that drivers can complete training on the move and logistics managers can manage their employees' module requests from anywhere.

The design system also ensures flexibility

We also had to deal with an unresolved legal situation in Germany during the project. We therefore had to ensure that the functionality and design of the website was also suitable for training options other than the planned six-monthly licence renewal. 

A modular design system helped us to define such scalable features that can be used for each video e-learning module. We were also able to design user profiles that were flexible enough to be used at different stages of the e-learning platform's development.