Platform access level: Org Admins, Managers, and Writers (anyone who builds courses).
The best content in Arist starts with defining the business impact you want to create. Arist gives you three content types to work with, a course, a nudge, and a survey, and each one turns that goal into messages your learners act on, delivered in the tools they already use, with proof at the end that the goal was met.
This guide gives you the mindset for creating content that works, whether it's your first piece or your fiftieth, and points you to a step-by-step guide for each path. If you remember one thing, make it this: start with the outcome, not the content.
1. Start with the outcome, not the content
Before you write a single lesson, message, or question, get clear on two things:
The behavior: What should learners do differently once your content reaches them?
The proof: Which number tells you it worked, and where will you see it move?
Everything that follows serves those two answers, whichever content type you build.
2. Choose the content type that fits the outcome
A course isn't always the right tool. All three types start from Create new on the Content page.
Match the content type to the job:
Course: Build a course when the change takes practice over time, and spacing lessons out over days is what makes it stick.
Nudge: Build a nudge when one timely message will do, like an announcement, a deadline reminder, or a line that reinforces a course after it ends. See Building Nudges.
Survey: Build a survey when you need to ask rather than teach, whether you are measuring what learners already know, gathering feedback, or routing each learner to the course that matches their answer. See Building Surveys.
The three work together as one campaign. A survey can enroll each learner in the course that fits their answer, and a nudge a week or two after that course ends keeps the behavior in practice.
Tip: Keep a course focused on one outcome. Five to fifteen days, one idea per day, is the sweet spot. A short course learners finish beats a long one they drop.
3. Structure a course so learners can follow it
A course is the only content type built out of lessons, so this section is about courses. Once the outcome is set, these three practices keep every lesson clear and focused:
Give every lesson the same shape: Open with a quick intro, cover one or two main ideas, add an example your learners will recognize, and end with a clear takeaway.
Sort your material into Core, Flavor, and Fluff: Keep the Core that drives the outcome, add a little Flavor to make it stick, and cut the Fluff.
Ask questions for a reason: Every question should check understanding or capture how learners feel, so it doubles as proof later.
Note: The questions you build in are how you'll show the course worked. For the question types and how to set them up, see Using Question Types and AI Assessment.
Core, Flavor, and Fluff is worth applying to a nudge and a survey too, where the space is tighter still. A nudge is one message, so give it one point, and every survey question you add is one more thing for a learner to answer, so ask only what you will act on.
4. Keep learners engaged to the finish
Results come from learners who finish, and a course is where that takes the most care because it runs across days. Protect completion in two ways:
A cadence learners can keep up with: Send short daily lessons, spaced so they don't pile up.
Questions worth answering: Ask questions that make someone think, not just tap through.
A nudge and a survey each arrive in one sitting, so what protects those is respect for the learner's time. Lead a nudge with the point, because that is what a busy learner reads first, and keep a survey to the questions you plan to act on.
Tip: To add a little friendly competition mid-course, you can run a leaderboard that spotlights your most active learners. Your Customer Success Manager sets it up and sends the standings out, so reach out to your CSM directly if you'd like one.
5. Pick your starting point
Everything you create starts on the Content page with Create new, where you choose Course, Survey, or Nudge. A survey or a nudge asks for a name and a language and takes you straight into its own editor, and a course opens a menu of five starting points first.
You don't build a course from a blank page unless you want to. Pick the path that fits where you're starting, then follow its guide.
Starting fresh? Let AI draft it from your material with Building a Course with Creator, grab a ready-made course from Pull Templates from the content library, or write it yourself in Starting a Course from Scratch.
Adapting a course you already have? Reshape it for a new audience or focus with Modifying an Existing Course, or open it up to more learners with Translating an Existing Course.
Surveys and nudges have one path each, walked end to end in Building Surveys and Building Nudges. Both can be translated as well, from the Translate action inside their own editors.
All three content types are written on the same editing surface, so it is worth knowing that surface. Using the Content Editor is where lessons, nudge messages, and survey questions are written and refined, and Using Question Types and AI Assessment covers the questions inside a course.
6. Preview, deliver, and prove it worked
Before anyone is enrolled, preview your content end to end so you see exactly what a learner will get. Every content type has a Preview action that sends you the real thing on a real delivery method. See Previewing and Testing Content.
Then deliver it and watch the number you started with move. Courses, nudges, and surveys all reach learners through the same schedules. See Best Practices for Delivering Courses.
Analytics reports delivery and completion for courses and nudges, and a survey gives you its result directly in the answers it collects. Either way the data shows you where learners needed more support, and it shows leadership that the training moved something the business cares about. That is what turns one piece of content into an ongoing campaign. See Reviewing Analytics.
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Note: Need help at any point? Reach out to your Arist Customer Success contact, or email support@arist.co.