The learning technology market is experiencing a familiar pattern. Every vendor claims they’re “AI-first.” Every pitch deck promises revolutionary business outcomes. Every RFP response checks the box for artificial intelligence capabilities. Yet most organizations still struggle with the most fundamental challenge in corporate learning: getting employees to use the platform.
Analyzing learning technology implementations reveals a critical mistake that vendors repeatedly make. They leap directly to the brass ring, promising measurable business outcomes, while glossing over the gateway that determines whether any of those outcomes are possible: the learner experience. But only by effectively executing on the learner experience can true business-shifting KPIs be delivered.
The Outcome Obsession Problem
It’s understandable why learning technology providers gravitate toward outcome-based messaging. L&D leaders face increasing pressure to demonstrate ROI and justify budgets to CFOs who view learning as a cost center. But here’s the uncomfortable truth: You cannot measure business outcomes from a platform that nobody wants to use.
The industry has created a paradox. We sell to administrators with promises of transformative business impact, yet deliver platforms that learners actively avoid. Then we wonder why adoption rates languish and that promised ROI never materializes.
During a recent briefing with Continu, a learning platform that’s been building its reputation working hand-in-hand with customers since 2012, quietly observed: “Before anybody can learn anything, they have to engage with the gateway first. Just because an organization brings in a new LMS, learning could go backwards if the interface creates friction. That’s why platforms that prioritize learner experience aren’t just being nice. They’re solving the fundamental problem that determines whether any business outcomes are possible.”
Internal LMS surveys conducted for clients regularly show abysmal scores. The instinctive reaction is to fire the LMS and bring in a new one. But that rarely solves the problem, because the next platform makes the same mistake: prioritizing administrative convenience over user experience.
Lead Indicators Matter More Than You Think
When evaluating learning technology implementations, there are two clear measurements that determine success: achieving 80% adoption within 90 days, and generating high learner satisfaction scores in that initial period. These aren’t vanity metrics. They’re lead indicators that predict everything that follows.
You cannot measure whether someone has become more capable within the first quarter. Behavioral change takes time. Performance improvement requires sustained skill application. Business impact measurements require longer observation periods.
But if you wait to make your case until those lag indicators appear, you’ve created a dangerously long quiet period where stakeholders question the investment and momentum stalls. Strong engagement and satisfaction scores provide immediate validation while building toward longer-term outcomes.
This is why Continu’s consistent recognition for user experience in external surveys matters. When a platform regularly wins awards for “best user experience” and “easiest to use,” it signals they’ve solved the gateway problem most vendors struggle with.
The Opportunity Nobody’s Pursuing
Rather than using artificial intelligence primarily for administrative efficiency or predictive analytics (which makes HR leaders uncomfortable given data quality concerns), smart providers should deploy it to radically improve the learner experience.
Think about what truly frustrates learners. They can’t find what they need when they need it. Navigation feels clunky. Getting answers requires too many clicks. Learning feels disconnected from work context. Each of these pain points represents an opportunity for thoughtful application.
Continu’s approach with their agent, Eddy, exemplifies this philosophy. Rather than leading with buzzwords, they’ve deployed it specifically to address learner friction points. Eddy brings conversational learning directly into the tools where employees already work (Slack, Teams, SMS), eliminating the need to context-switch into a separate platform. It’s powered by best-in-class AI, but that’s hidden behind an interface designed for a simple user experience.
As Scott Burgess, Continu’s founder and CEO, explained: “We don’t want to lean too heavily on the buzz. It needs to be outcome driven. Everything we’re doing is centered around how we produce real outcomes, not just time savings, but helping to measure the upskilling of employees and bringing learning to where they are.”
This perspective stems from Burgess’s 20-year background in L&D, where he observed the disconnect between knowledge within companies and getting that knowledge to the right people at the right times. The platform was founded on the principle that learning should be collaborative, delightful, and centered on the informal 70% of learning that happens outside formal programs.
The Replacement Reality
For learning technology providers competing in the enterprise market, most opportunities are replacement plays. Organizations shopping for a new LMS are typically doing so because their current platform failed them. When you dig into why, learner experience issues consistently top the list.
Continu has built its business model around this reality. As Burgess explained, “We’re best suited as a replacement play. When people come to us, they’re not happy with their current platform. We hear a lot that they weren’t getting the engagement, weren’t getting the support, weren’t getting the partnership they needed, and so ultimately were frustrated that they weren’t getting the business outcomes they needed.”
The company’s customer base reflects this positioning. Many customers have been with them for nearly the entire lifetime of the company, a remarkable retention pattern. Their net retention rate has historically been in the 120-140% range, indicating not just satisfaction but expansion within existing accounts.
If you’re positioning yourself as just another LMS with better technology, you sound like the vendor they’re trying to replace. But if you lead with obsessing over learner experience and using technology to make engaging with learning effortless, you’re speaking to the pain point that drove them to market.
Building the Outcomes Story
This doesn’t mean abandoning outcomes-based positioning. It means building toward it properly through logical progression:
Stage 1: Lead Indicators. Superior learner satisfaction and rapid adoption because friction has been removed.
Stage 2: Behavioral Change. Because learners want to engage, they use it more frequently. Managers notice employees applying new skills differently.
Stage 3: Performance Impact. Sustained behavioral change multiplied across teams manifests in measurable performance improvements.
Stage 4: Business Outcomes. Performance improvements at scale start moving organizational metrics.
Each stage provides measurable wins that maintain stakeholder confidence while building toward the ultimate goal. This progression is honest, acknowledging that transforming business performance through learning is a journey with meaningful milestones along the way.
Continu’s customers illustrate this staged approach. SoFi has used Continu’s Insights tool to fundamentally change their learning strategy based on data-driven understanding. GoPro uses the platform for both internal compliance and training six different external audiences globally. These aren’t just implementation successes. They’re examples of how superior learner experience enables organizational transformation that leads to measurable business impact.
The Path Forward
The learning technology landscape is crowded with vendors making similar promises. Differentiation comes not from feature checklists, but from demonstrating a deep understanding of what makes learning initiatives succeed or fail.
Start where success or failure is determined: at the moment a learner decides whether to engage with your platform or avoid it. Get that experience right and use every tool at your disposal to make it exceptional. Then everything else becomes possible. Get it wrong, and it doesn’t matter how sophisticated your analytics are. You’ll be measuring an empty room.
Continu represents what happens when learning professionals build learning technology. Founded by practitioners who understood the disconnect between organizational knowledge and getting that knowledge to people when they need it, they’ve maintained consistency of purpose while adapting to technological possibilities. Their design-first philosophy, focus on informal learning, and strategic deployment of technology to reduce friction rather than create buzzworthy features demonstrates a maturity that’s rare in this market.
Their positioning in the 1,000 to 10,000+ seat market is smart. These are organizations sophisticated enough to recognize that learning isn’t just a compliance checkbox, yet agile enough to make technology decisions based on what works. The customer retention patterns and consistent user experience recognition aren’t accidents. They’re the natural result of solving the right problem first.
As the market continues its frenzy, watching vendors who understand that technology serves learning (not the other way around) will be instructive. Continu’s approach of outcomes first, powered by learning expertise, enhanced by thoughtful application, offers a roadmap for how to build learning technology that organizations don’t just buy, but use.
