Enabling global digital transformation through micro-learning

For employees to engage with and benefit from WeLeap, it was essential for the team to deeply understand the user journey. Wärtsilä’s Transformation team and Futurice utilised existing as well as new interview data on people’s attitudes towards learning platforms to further develop personas and journey maps. This increased everyone’s understanding of how Wärtsiliäns were likely to behave, think and feel while using a microlearning virtual tool.

While design played a central role in shaping Wärtsilä’s content plan, the design of the capabilities supporting the tool was also essential. The tool needed robust, scalable tech to future-proof the development. Go microservices and React Frontend on AWS using powerful Kubernetes technology were used to ensure a tool to be easily scaled at speed and allowing continuous refinement.

Another cutting-edge aspect of the project was a decision that WeLeap should be a Progressive Web App. The content creation was planned to be in-house and user-friendly, which is the reason we chose Contentful as a content management system.

WeLeap was launched to Wärtsilä’s employees at the company’s internal Invent (Y)our Future event on June 2018. The tool has since been rolled out to Wärtsilä’s different areas and is already being used by around a fourth of the current target group. Feedback from Wärtsilä is that the tool’s flexibility and microlearning aspect is enabling free time slots to be converted into smart eLearning moments. “People have discovered that microlearning can be done if they have 15 minutes between two meetings. We also have users who are completing learning paths while commuting to and from the office: watching videos on the bus or listening to podcasts in the car,” says Carita Siponen, Wärtsilä’s Manager, Digital Transformation. Wärtsilians can experience earning points by completing learning paths, and by joining events and knowledge sharing sessions. This has resulted in Wärtsiliäns competing with each other and teams in different areas to see who can gain the most points.

Key learning from the project is that simplicity works. Working together on the MVP, the team realized that the microlearning tool doesn’t have to be super elaborate to be valuable. In fact, it was more important to be able to launch a streamlined, workable solution quickly and then improve it over time per user feedback.

Wärtsilä is a global leader in smart technologies and holistic lifecycle solutions for marine, energy, oil and gas markets. The 184-year old Finnish industrial and tech giant operates in more than 80 countries and has net revenues of 5 billion euros. Wärtsilä’s energy solutions play an important role in helping to meet the world’s increasing energy demand in a sustainable way. In fact, Wärtsilä sees its purpose as enabling sustainable societies with smart technology.

As part of this mission, Wärtsilä is transforming from a manufacturer of power sources and equipment to a smart marine and energy business. The company uses data analytics and artificial intelligence to support customers’ business decisions. Wärtsilä has established a number of Digital Acceleration Centres across the world to support this transformation and has also acquired smart technology companies including Greensmith, MSI and Transas.