"Flexible, responsive and creative."

Our clients tell us that they choose to work with us because of our ability to produce high quality content on time and on budget. They value our specialist design skills as well as our ability to produce creative ideas and get to the heart of their business objectives. Because of our consultative approach we pride ourselves on a high level of customer service, a good understanding of our clients' business needs and strong project management expertise.

What's it like to work with Brightwave? Your FAQs.

What is a typical process that I will go through when working with you?

Our process follows a well defined structure:

  • Analysis and Setup.
  • Design and Specification.
  • Development.
  • Deployment.

We have created a detailed and informative interactive Process Map that will explain to you all of the individual activities and milestones that constitute a well planned e-learning project. If you contact us we will be happy to give you online access to the tool.


How long does it take to build e-learning?

E-learning development is subject to many parameters that will impact the overall time required to design and deliver a final product. The key factors are:

  • Quantity of content being produced.
  • Production values required.
  • Availability of your stakeholders for timely review and approval at key stages.

A typical e-learning project delivering over 2 hours study time will take between 8-12 weeks from start to finish. We have also delivered smaller projects in as little as 2 weeks, through close collaborative working. Brightwave has access to a large number of expert resources that means we can produce many hours (in some cases over 150 hours) of e-learning content in parallel should your business requirements demand fast, reliable delivery.


What technologies do you use?

Brightwave will recommend and use the best tools to suit your needs. Our learning content typically uses HTML, DHTML, JavaScript and other standard browser technologies. We use Flash for animation work and can incorporate a wide range of video and audio formats where required.

Our WavePool Learning Development Environment rapidly accelerates the creation of highly professional e-learning content. Representing an accumulation of many years experience delivering hundreds of hours of e-learning content, WavePool ensures a robust, maintainable solution.

We also have experience with a wide range of other development tools (such as Toolbook, Lectora, Authorware, Breeze) and can turn our design skills to working with learning content management system environments where appropriate.


How much will it cost?

Any organisation that can give you a simple answer to this question is unlikely to be too concerned about the return on your investment, however large or small it may be. E-learning content development costs vary considerably depending on a variety of factors such as:

  • The quantity of content being produced.
  • The production values being applied.
  • The level of interactivity within the design.
  • The timescale for planning and delivery.
  • The availability and quality of source material, expert resources and other assets.

Typically the first module of content produced will cost more than subsequent modules as this does include the necessary analysis and design activities that will apply to all subsequent content.

Our preference is to provide you with design proposals that will generate a significant business impact and return on your investment, far in excess of any costs of production. To genuinely achieve this means paying close attention to the quality of the solution you are providing.


How much time do I need to dedicate to the project?

The time you need to dedicate will depend on the nature of the project. Where a high degree of collaboration is preferred, you may need to allocate dedicated resources to complete tasks such as provision of source content and assets, reviewing key documents and managing the flow of communication between our development team and your internal stakeholders. Where you have little time and resource, then our project managers and consultants can take on these tasks for you, freeing you to concentrate on other projects and objectives. This can be taken to the stage of Brightwave supplying all subject matter expertise as well.

On all of our projects we will allocate a dedicated project manager to guide the programme through to delivery, and it is recommended that you allocate a similar resource to manage communication and reviews.

At a more detailed level, your involvement will vary at different stages of the project. The most time intensive stage is the design and scripting stages where key decisions and approval will be required before moving into full production. Reviewing a Design Document may require a day of your time. Reviewing an Interactive Script/Storyboard may take longer subject to the quantity of content being produced. Acceptance testing early versions of the programme will also require some dedicated time.

Rest assured, at the start of the project we will advise on the amount of resources and time you need to allocate to ensure smooth delivery of a high quality programme.


How do I visualise what the learning will look like?

Our team of highly experienced designers have expertise in the key disciplines of instructional design, usability as well as the creative talents to produce highly attractive and engaging results.

As part of our design process we will provide you with a selection of treatments that bring together the branding, instructional and navigational models that will best fit the learning objectives. You will receive graphic treatments of key screens early on for review and approval prior to full production.


Who does scripting?

Our team of instructional designers and scriptwriters can offer you the opportunity to develop e-learning content that is professionally written, engaging and instructionally sound. Most of our client engagements use this service, saving you time and improving quality.

On occasion it makes sense to work collaboratively with your internal subject matter experts and trainers, who can provide detailed content scripts written to an already agreed design. Our writing team can then provide a script editing service to further improve the learning experience for your audience. Either way, you can be sure that our flexibility means we never compromise on the final quality of the learning content.


Can we test this on our target learners before launch?

As part of our production methodology we recommend planning the implementation and deployment of the e-learning programme as early as possible. We often include a representative group of target learners within the design process to test our design approaches before full production begins. This raises confidence levels significantly in knowing the final programme will be well received with the wider audience.

In certain cases, it is still advisable to pilot the final course with a subset of your final audience to allow for final feedback prior to the full launch. The most successful e-learning projects build time and budget for these activities from the outset.


Photo of people from Brightwave production team


“Creative, enthusiastic and a pleasure to work with! - Brightwave are an in-tune team of people."

Photo of people from Brightwave production team