If you’re running training in Lessonly, you probably want to know if your courses actually work—or if they’re just boxes people tick off. Gathering honest feedback from learners isn’t just a “nice to have.” It’s the only way you’ll spot what’s confusing, what’s working, and where you’re wasting everyone’s time. This guide cuts through the fluff and shows you, step by step, how to collect and use feedback in Lessonly to make your courses genuinely useful.
1. Don’t Wait for Feedback to Find You
Let’s clear something up: most people won’t volunteer feedback unless they’re annoyed. If you only rely on unsolicited comments, you’ll only hear about the worst pain points—if that. Good course improvement starts with you actively asking for input.
Here’s what tends to work: - Simple, direct questions: Skip the 15-question survey. Ask, “What could be clearer in this lesson?” or “Was anything confusing or missing?” - Multiple moments: Don’t just wait until the end of the course. Catch feedback after tricky sections, or right after a big concept. - Anonymous options: Some folks won’t be honest if their name’s attached. Give them a way to speak up without worry.
What to ignore: Overly complex feedback forms, “smiley face” widgets that don’t tell you anything useful, or any method that takes longer to fill out than the lesson itself.
2. Use Lessonly’s Built-In Feedback Tools (But Don’t Stop There)
Lessonly gives you a few built-in ways to gather feedback. They’re handy, but don’t expect magic.
How to Collect Feedback in Lessonly
- Lesson Feedback: At the end of any lesson, you can turn on a feedback prompt. Learners get a simple comment box to share thoughts.
- Pro tip: Edit the default prompt. “Any feedback on this lesson?” is too broad. Try, “Anything you’d change about this lesson to make it clearer or more useful?”
- Quiz Results: If a lot of people are missing the same quiz question, that’s feedback in itself. It means your explanation might not be as clear as you think.
Where Lessonly’s Feedback Falls Short
- It’s easy to ignore: Learners are often in a hurry. Many skip right past the feedback box unless they’re frustrated.
- Not much structure: Open-ended comments are good, but you might get a lot of “N/A” or “no feedback” replies.
What to do instead: Mix Lessonly’s native feedback with other approaches (see the next step).
3. Supplement with Your Own Feedback Techniques
If you want better input, go beyond what’s built in. Here’s what actually gets results:
a. Quick Pulse Surveys
Send ultra-short surveys after key lessons or modules. One or two questions, tops. Google Forms or Typeform can do the job. Try questions like: - “What part of this module did you find most confusing?” - “On a scale of 1–5, how confident do you feel using what you just learned?”
b. Targeted Interviews or Focus Groups
Pick a few learners—especially new hires or folks struggling with the material. Ask them to walk through a lesson with you. Listen for confusion, watch where they pause or re-read.
- Pro tip: Don’t ask, “Did you like the course?” Ask, “Where did you get stuck?” or “If you had to teach this to someone else, what would you change?”
c. Watch the Data
Look at Lessonly’s analytics. Where do people drop off? Are there lessons nobody finishes? High quiz fail rates or lots of retakes are a loud hint something’s off.
4. Make It Safe (and Worthwhile) to Give Feedback
People won’t tell you what’s broken if they think you’ll hold it against them—or if nothing ever changes.
How to encourage honest feedback: - Remind learners it’s anonymous (when it is). - Share what you’re doing with feedback: “Last month, you told us X lesson was confusing. Here’s what we changed.” - Thank people for specific input, even if it’s blunt. (No one likes shouting into the void.)
What not to do: Don’t punish honesty. If someone says a course is pointless, resist the urge to defend it. Use it as data.
5. Actually Use the Feedback (Don’t Just File It Away)
It’s easy to gather feedback, nod, and move on. The hard part—and where most teams fall down—is actually acting on what you learn.
How to Close the Loop
- Sort feedback into “quick fixes” and “big projects.” Fix typos and broken links right away. For bigger issues, track them so they don’t disappear.
- Look for patterns, not just one-off gripes. If three people mention a confusing video, it’s probably confusing for everyone.
- Update lessons, then tell learners what changed. This builds trust and gets you better feedback over time.
Pro tip: Keep a simple spreadsheet tracking what feedback you got, what you fixed, and what’s on the backlog. Don’t over-engineer it.
6. Avoid Common Feedback Traps
There’s a lot of noise out there about “transformational course improvement” and “seamless learner engagement.” Here’s what actually matters—and what you can safely ignore.
What works: - Asking direct, specific questions. - Following up and making changes. - Making feedback safe and easy.
What doesn’t: - Obsessing over Net Promoter Scores or vanity metrics. - Expecting people to write essays about every lesson. - Overcomplicating your process with fancy tools you won’t stick with.
Red flag: If every piece of feedback is “Everything was perfect!”—you’re not getting the real story.
7. Build Feedback into Your Course Design (So It Never Gets Stale)
Don’t treat feedback as a once-a-year thing. The best courses are always a work in progress.
Here’s how to make it part of your routine: - Set a calendar reminder to review feedback every month or quarter. - Rotate in new learners to test old courses. - Retire or rewrite lessons that consistently get bad reviews—don’t just patch them up forever.
Keep It Simple, Keep It Honest
You don’t need a PhD in instructional design to make your Lessonly courses better. Just ask real people what’s working, listen to what they say, and tweak things one step at a time. Skip the buzzwords, ignore the perfect survey templates, and remember: small, honest changes beat waiting for the “perfect” course.
Now, go ask your learners what they really think. Then make at least one change this week. That’s how courses actually get better.