KnowBe4’s Learner Experience Guide

KnowBe4's Learner Experience (LX) offers customization ability and engaging and fun gamification to your security awareness training plan.

Your users can compete against their peers on leaderboards and earn badges while learning how to keep themselves and your organization safe from cyber attacks. An informative, optional tour is also provided to show your users around and make them feel comfortable with their new learning environment.

Read below to learn more about these features, or watch our LX videos on our Tutorial Videos page.

Jump to:
Set Up Your Learner Experience
Customization
Learner Experience

• Tour
• Localization
• Learner and Team Dashboards
• Learner Library
• Messages
• Learner Assistance
• Gamification
• Leaderboard
• Badges
• Surveys

Sample Templates

• Template for Stakeholders
• Template for Users

Training Notifications
FAQ

Set Up Your Learner Experience

The below steps will explain how to set up your LX. Click here to view a short video explaining these steps.

1. Log in to your KnowBe4 console.
2. Click your email address in the top right corner and select Account Settings.
3. To customize the look and feel of the Learner Experience, navigate to the Branding section.
4. Here you can add a Company Logo and set a Brand Color.
   
5. Navigate to the Learner Experience section.
6. Under Learner Assistance, enable the custom help button option, if desired. For more information, see the Learner Assistance section of this article.
7. Enable the Learner Dashboard if desired. This can show users additional information, such as their Phish-prone Percentage, Personal Risk Score, Training History, and more. Learn more in the Learner Dashboard section.
8. Click the checkbox next to Enable Badges if you’d like to try out our Badges feature.
   
9. Click the Leaderboard Type drop-down and select Group Leaderboard to try out the Leaderboard feature.
   
10. Select a Leaderboard Time Period. You can select from the following: Past 30 Days, Past 90 Days, Current Quarter, Current Year, or All Time. Any enrollment that was active during that time period will be included in the leaderboard rankings.
    
11. Select groups that you'd like to include in your leaderboard in the Groups to Include in Leaderboard drop-down. You can select between 3 and 25 groups.
    
12. Click Save Changes at the bottom of the page to save your changes.

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Customization

You can set a brand color for your LX and upload your company logo from within your Account Settings. We recommend that you match the brand color in your Account Settings to your organization’s logo to provide a familiar feeling for your end-users.

Below are some examples of how you can brand your LX:

Example #1:

Example #2:

Example #3:

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Learner Experience

We offer the ability to customize your users' learning experience from gamification to localization. Create a unique learner experience that fits your organization's culture. We include a tour to help familiarize your users with the interface. Their first training assignment will be on the top of the list of assignments and after a course is completed, it will move down to the bottom. 

To help your users get started, you can send them our 4-Step Guide to Getting Started or send them the link to this video.  

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Tour

Upon their first login, your users will be invited to take a quick tour to show them around their LX. They can skip the tour if they’d prefer.

The first step of the tour will vary slightly depending on if you elected to use leaderboards or badges along with the LX. See below:

If Leaderboards and Badges are enabled:	If Leaderboards or Badges are not enabled:

The tour can be re-launched at any time. To do so, your users will click their name (or email) in the top-right and select Launch Tour in the drop-down.

Users who log in after three months of inactivity will be prompted to take the tour again, to refresh their memory of how to use the interface and introduce any new features that may have come out since they last logged in.

A short, optional User Profile tour is also available when the user navigates to their Profile from the top-right drop-down. This tour does not launch automatically--from their User Profile, your users can launch the tour by clicking the Show me around button. Click here to view a short video explaining the user profile area.

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Localization

Users can set their Training Language by clicking their name in the top-right corner and then clicking the language at the bottom of the drop-down menu. The LX interface will be localized for the selected language. For more information on your users' Training Language, see our Localization Guide.

If a training course is available in the selected language, this setting will update the default language of that course. If a training course has already been started in a different language, there will be no change to that course.

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Learner and Team Dashboards

The Learner and Team Dashboards are customizable dashboards that provide information such as training progress, optional learning, phishing results, and risk scores. 

The Learner Dashboard is specific to the individual user who is logged in to the LX. For information about the Learner Dashboard, view our What is the Learner Dashboard? article. 

The Team Dashboard is designed for managers to view statistics for the users on their team and the team as a whole. For more information about the Team Dashboard, see our Team Dashboard Overview for Admins article.
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Learner Library

If you have enabled Optional Learning in your Account Settings, the Library tab of the LX will be visible to all users. On the Library tab, your users can view and complete the optional content of their choice. Users can also download a completion certificate for each piece of optional content completed.

Depending on your settings, your users will have access to either a Preselected Library or a Full Library. Users will see the Preselected Library if you only enable the Optional Training Campaign feature, which is available to all paid accounts. 

Users will see the Full Library if you enable the AIDA Recommended Optional Learning feature, which is available to Diamond level accounts.

For more information about the optional learning features, see our Optional Learning Guide.

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Messages

The Messages tab is hidden by default. This tab can be enabled by using the User Messaging feature. Once a message has been created, users will be able to see the Messages tab. They will also see a tile on their Dashboard notifying them about any unread messages. 

Once a user has read a message, they can click Mark as Read to move the message to the Read Messages section at the bottom of the page. Users can review any message in the Read Messages section by clicking on the message subject.

For more information about messages, see our User Messaging Guide.

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Learner Assistance

To support users during training, the LX includes a Need Help? button in the bottom-right corner of the page. By default, this button leads to our Knowledge Base. You have the option to change the destination of this button to a URL or contact email that you would like users to use when they need assistance with their training.

Follow the steps below to customize the learner assistance links.

1. From your KnowBe4 console, click your email address in the top-right corner of the page and select Account Settings.
2. Navigate to the Learner Experience section of your Account Settings.
3. Under Learner Assistance, select the check box labeled Enable Customized Need Help Button.
   
4. Once you've enabled this setting, enter the URL or email link that you would like to direct users to. See the list below for requirements and options.
   
   • To direct users to a webpage, you must enter a full URL. Shortened versions of the URL may result in an error. For example, https://support.knowbe4.com is a full URL.
   • To allow users to send an email using their default mail client, enter the mailto: HTML tag, followed by the email address of your choice. For example, mailto:AdminName@YourDomain.com
   • To have users send an email using Outlook Online, copy the URL below. Then, replace [[Email Address]] with the email address of your choice. 
     https://outlook.office.com/owa/?path=/mail/action/compose&to=[[Email Address]]
     • To prefill the subject line, add the text below to the end of the URL. Then, replace [[Subject"]] with the subject of your choice. 
       &subject=[[Subject]]
   • To have users send an email using Google Workspace (formerly G Suite), copy the URL below. Then, replace [[Email Address]] with the email address of your choice. 
     https://mail.google.com/mail/?view=cm&fs=1&to=[[Email Address]]
     • To prefill the subject line, add the text below to the end of the URL. Then, replace [[Subject]] with the subject of your choice. 
       &su=[[Subject]]

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Gamification

KnowBe4’s LX offers optional gamification, in the form of leaderboards and badges, so your users will be incentivized and motivated to take their assigned training.

Gamification is the addition of gaming features or principles to something that typically does not have a gaming element--in our case, security awareness training and e-learning content. Gaming features can include badges, points, rankings, rewards, and more.

Gamification has been shown to improve user engagement by increasing people’s inherent ambition to compete, achieve, or master. When people are motivated to complete a task, they learn better and retain more information.

KnowBe4’s addition of gamification includes leaderboards and badges. Leaderboards allow users to see how they rank up against their peers, promoting friendly competition. Badges will provide users with unexpected rewards after their training to remind them that they’ve accomplished something important. Continue to read below for more details about leaderboards and badges.

Click here to watch a short, animated video explaining gamification in the KnowBe4 console. Want to learn more about gamification in general? See Wikipedia: Gamification.

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Leaderboard

The Leaderboard tab provides a way for user groups to compete with other user groups in your organization.

Under the Learner Experience area of your Account Settings, you can enable the leaderboard, select what groups you want to display in the rankings, and select a specific time period you’d like to track on the leaderboard

See more here:

• How Leaderboards Work (End User)
• Cyber Hero Training: Leaderboards (End User Video)

Leaderboard Groups

You can include up to 25 user groups in your leaderboard. The selected groups will appear in your leaderboard rankings and users in those groups will be able to view the leaderboard. You must select at least three groups to use the leaderboard.

When using leaderboards, the most important item to consider is how it makes sense for your users to compete in your organization--meaning, what groups should be included in your leaderboards, and should new groups be created specifically for your leaderboards?

Here are some examples of how your users can compete with each other using leaderboards:

• If you have a smaller organization with only one location, you may want to have users compete by what department they’re in.
• If you’re a larger organization and your users span multiple buildings or floors, you could have your users compete by what floor they’re located on or building they’re in.
• If your organization spans multiple states or countries, you may want to have users compete by their location, whether by state or country.

If you are a new KnowBe4 customer and you haven’t set up groups yet, consider how the leaderboards function when you set up your groups. Remember, there is no limit to the number of groups a user can be in, so feel free to get creative with how you group your users.

Platinum and Diamond customers can create Smart Groups to link several groups together in a single group.

If a user is part of multiple groups displayed on a leaderboard, the interface will indicate that they are part of the group that is ranked the highest.

Leaderboard Calculation

Groups are ranked based on the percentage of training they’ve completed. The percentage completed for each group is calculated from the number of training assignments completed divided by the total number of training assignments.

For example, if a group of 10 users is enrolled in a campaign that has two training modules assigned, this would equal 20 training assignments.

Leaderboard Time Period

You can select the range of time that you’d like the leaderboards to display rankings for from within your Account Settings area. Any enrollment that was active during that time period will be included in the leaderboard rankings.

Select from: Past 30 Days, Past 90 Days, Current Quarter, Current Year, or All Time.

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Badges

Badges add engagement to your security awareness training plan by providing an incentive for your users to meet specific achievements while taking their training.

Each badge has requirements associated with it. Once a user meets these requirements, they’ll receive a pop-up indicating they earned a badge. They can click the Badges tab to see what badges they’ve received and what badges are still available.

You must enable badges in your Account Settings to turn them on in the LX. By default, all badges will be available to earn. You can select or deselect badges in your Account Settings to enable or disable them in the LX.

To learn about the available badges and how users can earn them, see our How to Earn Badges article. You can also share that article with your users to encourage them to earn badges.

If you would like to download these badges, you can do so from our Can I Download the Badges From the Learner Experience? article.

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Surveys

You have the option to enable surveys for your user to take after they complete training content. The feedback provided can be used to help you evaluate the effectiveness of your training campaigns. For more information on surveys and the best way to utilize them, please see our article on How to Use Surveys.

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Sample Templates for Stakeholders and Users

If you used the previous version of KnowBe4's training environment, you will want to consider:

1. Informing stakeholders in your security awareness plan of this new learning environment, and,
2. Notifying users, especially those that have taken training through the KnowBe4 console in the past, that the Learner Experience has changed.

Template for Stakeholders

Ensure you read through the template before sending, as some of the proposed text may not apply for your organization. Make any changes as appropriate for your organization.

As you may be aware, [[company_name]] partners with KnowBe4, a leader in the cybersecurity industry, to deploy security awareness training. KnowBe4 has optional gamification, in the form of badges and leaderboards, as part of its learner experience.

Gamification has been shown to improve engagement by supporting a user’s natural ambition to compete, achieve, or master. When people are intrinsically motivated to complete a task, they learn better and retain more information. Click here to watch a short, animated video explaining KnowBe4's addition of gamification.

[[company_name]] will be using the gamification option and will have badges and leaderboards turned on for our account. We are excited to see how this gamification will motivate our users and support our defense-in-depth plan.

Please reach out if you have any questions.

[[Your Name]]

Template for Users

Ensure you read through the template before sending, as some of the proposed text may not apply to your organization. Make any changes as appropriate for your organization.

Hi all,

Next time you log in for assigned training, you’ll notice some fun changes to your online learning environment. KnowBe4, the organization we partner with for training, has added gamification features that you’ll want to check out.

• Leaderboards - The leaderboard will show you how you rank up against your peers. Completely finish all of your training assignments to boost your group’s spot on the leaderboard.
  • How Leaderboards Work
  • Cyber Hero Training: Leaderboards (Video)
• Badges - You can now collect badges as part of your training assignments. Build up your Cyber Hero trophy case by meeting the requirements of each badge.

We will notify you when you’re enrolled in training. Have fun, and be sure to let us know what you think.

Thank you,

[[Your Name]]

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Training Notifications 

Training notifications are available to support your Cyber Hero LX. These can be found by navigating to Training > Notification Templates > System Templates and searching for Cyber Hero in the training notification search bar.

If you're not using badges and leaderboards as part of your user training, we recommend using our standard notifications--i.e., those not labeled with (Cyber Hero).

We also recommend including a link to one or more of the following videos, which will explain how your users can access and complete their training;

• Getting Started with KnowBe4 Security Awareness Training (Use if gamification is disabled)
• Getting Started with Cyber Hero Training (Use if gamification is enabled)
• Badges (Use if Badges are enabled)
• Leaderboard (Use if Leaderboards are enabled)

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FAQ

Why is gamification useful?

Gamification has been shown to improve user engagement by increasing people’s inherent ambition to compete, achieve, or master. When people are intrinsically motivated to complete a task, they learn better and retain more information. Click here to watch a short, animated video explaining gamification.

Can I see what badges my user has received, or where they rank on the leaderboards?

No, user badges and leaderboards are only visible to users and will not be viewable by admins or available in reports.

How can I access my training from the admin console?
Click your email address in the top-right corner of the page and click My Training.

How can I return to my admin console while in the user learning experience?

Click your name or email address in the top-right and click Return to Console.

How are leaderboard ranking determined?

Each group's ranking is determined by the percentage of assigned training completed by the group members. All groups that have a 100% completion rate will be ranked depending on how fast all users within that group completed the training.

How is the language for individual courses determined? 

If a course is not available in the language you selected for the interface, our system takes other factors into consideration when it comes to setting the default language for each course. These factors include the default language your administrator set, the language set in your browser, as well as what other languages you have selected for courses you have taken previously. However, the language you set for you LX, using the language drop-down menu on the top left of the LX, will override all other factors as long as you have not previously set it. Courses you have already started will remain defaulted to the language you originally started the course in.

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