My Top 5 favorite features on Lynda.com

Do you have a Lynda.com account? Have you signed in recently? I want to call out my top 5 favorite features on this product.

I love learning on this product and in this article, I want to call out my top 5 favorite things about Lynda.com. I could definitely write another article about the top 10 things that drive me bonkers or the top 10 things I would like to improve, but that's why I work on Learning Solutions at LinkedIn and just know it's on my to-do list.

If you use Lynda.com or Linkedin Learning feel free to comment below on the things that you love the most or the things that you wish were different. No feelings will be hurt. Product design is an iterative process and we all care about making experiences better. So sharing perspectives is how we do that. Ok, lets jump in.

#1 Site Speed

I got to say over the years of being a user experience designer I didn't double down on the importance of Site speed on my designs in my earlier years, but for Learning this is critical. When I'm commuting on the ferry or watching courses at home, I do not have the time to wait for a loading screen. I want this content fast, across all platforms, and Lynda.com is super fast!

Site speed is a feature!

#2 Cross-Platform Support

I don't always watch on my iOS APP, Desktop APP, or Apple Tv, but I'm super thankful that they're there when I need them. I've turned the TV to watch the documentaries, weekly series, as well diving into the more soft skill courses around effective communication tips, or even having difficult conversations. This is becoming an expectation to have cross-platform support for anything that is content related. You never know when a learner is going to need it, so it's important to provide that avenue.

#3 Variety of content

The variety of content is outstanding. After 12+ years of using Lynda.com, I'm impressed that the content team ran by Tanya Staples has been able to streamline the highest quality of learning content at massive scale. This is not easy. To do this she built a world-class team that believed in the mission and cared deeply about their specific segment. They have to keep up with the trends, product releases, and even anticipate new trends that are emerging.

A few weeks ago I published another article on my Top 10 Documentaries on Lynda.com. I love that we release inspiring documentaries about professionals in the Business, Technology, and Creative industry. We also have Weekly Series. A weekly series is exactly how it sounds. It's weekly and they're great because its shorter videos that target specific soft skills, tips, tricks, and all other types of goodness. If you're the type of professional that only has a few minutes here or there and struggles with prioritizing learning time, then Weekly Series might be a good entry point for you to get hooked. If you're interested in User Experience Weekly Series, I just released my first season of Practical UX Weekly which is all about practical lessons I've learned working deep in the trenches. It's available on Lynda.com and Linkedin Learning.

#4 Video Player Options

The details, those little baby details. The video player is where all the goodness happens. We take for granted that a video should just play. It's become a basic expectation. Last year we shipped a new responsive video player. This means that when you resize the browser width or come to the site on a smaller display, the websites viewport will resize appropriately so you can access the content. There are a number of specific features inside the video player like playback speed, closed captioning, video quality, auto play, pop out video, next video, previous video, rewind 10 seconds, tooltips, and even keyboard shortcuts.

We also take it a step further when you're in full-screen mode. You'll get an optimized video playback bar that is larger so you don't have to squint or have click targets the size of ball-point pen tips when you're on 21-27 inch display.

#5 Transcript

The transcript to me is one of my favorite learning supports. When you start playing a video the transcript tab automatically becomes active and starts highlighting the words the author is saying. I personally don't always learn by watching and I can't always follow the authors perfectly. The transcript is powerful because I can actually click on the text and it resets the part of the video to the specific point in time. I'll use the transcript when I want to relisten to something the author said. I'll use it when I want to skip ahead. I'll use it when I just feel like reading. I'll use it to copy and paste into my notes. It's something Lynda.com has been doing for years and I have to say I think they #nailedit

These were my top 5 features on Lynda.com based on what's most important to me when I'm learning. I would love to hear what your top 5 features are if you use Lynda.com or Linkedin Learning. If you don't use either of these platforms then I would love to hear what your top 5 features are and why on your product or even your favorite app or website. You can also reach me on Twitter @abridewell.

#alwaysbelearning #top5features #lynda