On my blog site, at the end of posts the algorithm decides what you might want to read next. As far as I know I have no control over which posts are displayed and have to assume it works on keywords in the post summary, or specific words in the content.

Looking at the stats, hardly anyone uses them – there might be an odd click on them once a month or so but they’re just filling th white space on the blog site. They look nice but don’t do much.

What does your LMS look like? Is it simply designed or are there lots of boxes, links, hot tips, and content? Think like a user – what does it look like and should I bother with it?

If you’re recommending more stuff to people, can you control it? Can you collect the data which identifies which content has the biggest effect on people’s performance? Can you create pathways which lead people from one piece of content to the next?

I remember my son spending hours on online encyclopaedia when he was little. He would look at one topic and then follow different links from one place to the next. Make your LMS the same – interesting enough so people will want to find stuff for themselves, but smart enough to lead people towards the things they’re interested in.