PIXELearning was established in 2002 as a specialist learning technologies service, product and tools provider. Our specialty is using computer game and simulation techniques to create extremely effective education, training and marketing communications solutions within the constrained corporate IT infrastructure.
PIXELearning has achieved three consecutive years of triple digit revenue growth and have secured a number of internationally-recognized corporate customers in the UK, EU and US as well as completing several dozen smaller projects.
A selection of these are described below.
Global Oil Company (UK and global)
Internal communications tools
A web-based, rich media, high-level process simulation based on client’s sales to business customers, lubricant supply chain and product lifecycle management processes. The goal is to reinforce internal understanding of new streamlined business processes in preparation for global SAP rollout.
'Big 4' Accountancy Firm (US)
Audit intern training
Low level audit process training simulations for circa 2,000 learners annually. Supports face to face instruction to give employees authentic ‘virtual experience’ of a real client audit engagement. This was part of an ASTD Best Practice award winning training programme in 2007 based on overall return on investment.
HP MEA-I (Switzerland)
SME IT/business training (IT security)
An engaging online game that blends business and technology training to give small enterprises in EMEA an appreciation of how technology tools can help them to increase productivity and to grow with a particular emphasis on IT security.
'Big 4' Accountancy Firm (UK)
Internal course awareness
A small simple fun ‘viral game’ aimed at getting discreet messages across the corporate community (e.g. raise awareness of changes to tax legislation and related face to face courses).
Large Retail Bank (US)
Diversity awareness & inclusion training
A very ambitious and innovative online game aimed at tackling issues around diversity and inclusion topics within the 27,000 employee based – uses a sci-fi themed context to help staff make linkage between abstract diversity issues and real world, day to day business activities and objectives.
Global telecoms, TV and Internet provider (US)
Call centre agent training
A web-based simulation aimed at the approximately 30,000 call centre agents in technical operations, sales, customer support and retention to achieve effective listening, probing, call strategy and closing skills for in-bound calls (300m p.a.). The simulation simulates a number of complex branching-tree conversations and scores users on how effectively they negotiate the call whilst balancing commercial objectives and average call handling times.
Coca Cola (UK)
B2B communications & CSR
[Project 1] Several B2B-focussed ‘viral games’ aimed at improving communications with Coca Cola UK's B2B business partners. This lead to significant additional traffic to the www.cokepubandbar.co.uk web site.
[Project 2] An online business simulation to educate school children in business/operational management as part of Coca Cola’s corporate social responsibility agenda. Players design a new drinks product, make a wide selection of decisions in relation to, for example, product type, packaging, pricing and marketing, and then assume the role of Product Manager for a year of trading.
"Coca-Cola Enterprises commissioned PIXELearning to bring
their Serious Games expertise to bear on our 'Coke
Pub & Bar' web site. Our eBusiness team required
a fresh and innovative front end makeover to this web site which
supports our publican customer base in order to offer them information
about how to increase profits from soft drink sales".
"PIXELearning developed an exciting proposal and, after getting
the go-ahead, delivered the finished solution on time and to budget.
We were impressed not only with their creativity but also their
professionalism. They always communicated effectively with us
and were also able to make insightful and positive suggestions
of their own".
Head of eBusiness,
Coca-Cola Enterprises |
Skillsmart Retail (UK)
Promoting careers in the retail industry
PIXELearning were commissioned to create an engaging and fun online game specifically to help Skillsmart Retail to address the skills shortage in the UK retail sector and to help to overcome the perception amongst British teenagers that retail offers poor career opportunities.
The game allows users to undertake a mini interview before working through four levels in different retail environments - each of which was set in a different retail environment - with an increasing degree of responsibility. Users (teenagers) make choices around products, marketing, inventory and pricing in order to try to achieve as high a profit as possible.
We also added a public high score table - on which several players even beat our in-house simulation designer - and the ability to set up mini-leagues between friends.
Scottish Enterprise (UK)
Marketing technique awareness raising for SMEs
Scottish Enterprise commissioned PIXELearning to create an online business simulation after an exhaustive tender process.
The simulation focuses on marketing concepts and is intended to help small businesses to better understand the marketing cycle and to be able to use it in their orgainsations to drive increased sales.
The simulation also includes nine mini-games which address specific marketing concepts such as, for example, the Boston Box.
The Black Country Knowledge Society
Business fundamentals awareness training
PIXELearning were asked to tailor a version
of it's Enterprise Game product for this £16million project.
The Black
Country Knowledge Society (BCKS) programme aims to
create a skilled labour force, support growth of knowledge based
industries, generate a culture of entrepreneurial e-business,
and address the digital divide that exists in communities across
the Black Country.
The programme places learning at the heart of the Black Country
regeneration agenda through the development of nine key ‘building
blocks’.
The Black Country Knowledge Society
Business fundamentals awareness training
PIXELearning are technical partners in the INTELS
project which will generate a comprehensive eLearning suite aimed
at European SMEs and which will serve to help them to improve export
sales.
The project is funded under the EU
Leonardo initiative and involves Coventry & Warwickshire
Chamber of Commerce, Företagarna (The Swedish Federation of
Private Enterprises), Virtech (a leading Bulgarian technology developer) and Democenter (an Italian
centre of excellence for technology transfer).
The project runs until September 2007. PIXELearning are providing
eLearning research, consultancy, instructional design and game/simulation
development input into the project. Företagarna, CWCC and Democentre will deploy the eLearning suite to thousands of SMEs in their respective
countries.
SEER (IT/telecoms sales training provider)
Sales process and CRM training
Seer had developed an advanced sales team forecasting
and support software application (the Seer BAT) and wanted a solution
that trained people how to use it whilst at the same time promoting
the benefits.
They were reluctant to go down the road of a mundane software simulation
and approached PIXELearning to develop a game that put sales professionals
into a realistic sales environment. The users of the eventual solution
have to interact with internal and external stakeholders, research
and gather relevant information and to manage a fictional sales
opportunity.
To this end we emulated the Seer BAT within a richly recreated sales
environment so that users understood how to use the tool in the
context of a complex and evolving sales situation.
Advantage West Midlands (UK)
Small company strategic planning
We used our own proprietary business simulation and role play engine
to create a business simulation game for this AWM-funded project.
The goal of the Foresight project is to encourage SME's to plan
in a more longer term manner: to anticipate opportunities and threats
in order to ensure long term commercial success and competitiveness.
The game allows learners to set up their own virtual business which
they then have to grow successfully for a period of 10 years (about
2 hours in real time).
Learners have to make long term strategic decisions whilst all the
time consulting with their management team, investors and mentors.The
Foresight Challenge! was delivered to around 10,000 users in
the West Midlands and beyond via CDROM and online.
Coventry Transport Museum
History & technology education
We used the Audiotain system to build an online & on-site application
which contains a series of mini-games aimed at enhancing the museum's
dedicated Thrust Supersonic Car exhibition. Thrust SSC holds the
current land speed record (633 mph) and forms the centerpiece of
a very exciting exhibition at this leading UK museum.
The edutainment games cover all aspects of the Thrust SSC project
including science, people, engineering and local/automotive history.
The museum has a strong educational programme and provides onsite
learning activities to many thousands of West Midlands school children
each year.
Over 200,000 visitors were able to use the application on-site each
year and many others will be able to use it online
Sender Freies Berlin (Germany)
Technology R&D project
We were engaged as a sub-contractor to Sender Freies
Berlin (a large German public TV and radio broadcaster) to provide
eLearning development and consultancy services on this multi-million
pound, European 5th Framework-funded project.
The Audiotain project was aimed at developing a suite of software
systems that allow audiovisual content holders such as TV, radio
and music companies, to quickly and easily manage, edit and re-purpose
this content for edutainment, infotainment and eLearning.
Click
here to read a more detailed article
Other participants were: Dalet Digital
Media Systems, a French content management system provider; InfoRadio,
the Berlin-based radio broadcaster; Exozet, one of Germany's foremost
multimedia companies; and, Bremen University.
In a nutshell; we have a unique and well-established ability to tackle a diverse range of complex business & learning-related challenges and can apply an appropriate blend of simulation modeling, game design, instructional design, graphic/multimedia design and business consulting to create uniquely effective online learning & communications solutions.
Contact us if you want to learn more about these projects (where NDAs allow) or to discuss your organization challenges.
