I’m incredibly lucky to see and hear so many people promoting their products, services, and ways to learn. A lot of the time, the conversations I have with them are about the why people will use the product; I think I’ll start asking ‘how’ from now.

This came to me when I read a fantastic blog post this week from Chelsea Troy on ‘How do we build the future with AI?’. In it, she mentioned how the iPhone became a success as a platform and a way for other people to build resource, solutions, and services as independent applications. As Troy asks, what made the iPhone a platform rather than just a product:

Most famously, the iPhone’s capacitive multi-touch screen. That screen—unlike the tiny keyboards on other mobile devices of the day—made it possible to dream up any user interface design.

How do we build the future with AI?

This was about accessibility; in 2005 Apple acquired a gesture recognition company known mainly for its TouchStream multi-touch keyboard. They added this to the iPhone design and mobile phone design changed forever. So many of the other tools on your mobile are a result of other accessibility challenges – voiceover and talkback, alternative gestures, virtual assistance, live captions and voice recognition.

Think about how you support learning and performance in your workplace. Make a list of the reasons why people don’t engage, or more appropriately, ACCESS your support. What are the things which prevent them from accessing the support they need, when they need it, on their terms?

Make access to what you offer your number one priority.

For avoidance of doubt, that doesn’t mean putting it all in one place; it means creating a single front door that anyone, anywhere, at any time, can go to and find just enough, AND just for them, support.

If you don’t, the reason they’re not using your stuff isn’t their fault – it’s yours.