Creating and Managing Custom Lab Collections

Custom lab collections let you build targeted learning pathways from specific labs, giving you complete control over the content assigned to your teams. This article covers everything from planning and creating collections to assigning and managing them.

Platform roles required: Organization Manager, Team Admin

What are custom collections?

Our labs are organized into collections — labs grouped by subject area, such as PowerShell or Linux. Managers can assign these collections to teams and individuals.

Custom lab collections go further: they let you choose exactly which labs make up a collection, giving you complete flexibility in content curation. This means you can target employees with labs that align with your organization's strategy and cybersecurity goals, rather than assigning a pre-built collection.

Why would I create a custom collection?

Custom collections are the best way to target specific groups of employees with content tailored to their role and your organization's cybersecurity goals.

Here are some examples of how you might use them:

• Onboarding new starters – Create pathways for new employees to complete as part of their onboarding process.
• Organization-specific tools – Build collections around the specific tools and technologies your organization uses.
• Closing skills gaps – Address weaknesses identified through learning needs analyses or assessments.
• Role-specific training – Develop targeted content for specific job functions or departments.
• Compliance requirements – Group labs that address regulatory or compliance training needs.

Planning your custom collection: best practices

Before you build your collection, take time to plan. Well-planned collections are more effective and produce better outcomes for your organization.

Define your aims

Start by answering these questions:

• Why are you creating the custom collection? – Identify the specific problem or opportunity you're addressing.
• What are you trying to achieve? – Set clear, measurable objectives.
• What difference do you want to see in your employees upon completion? – Define the expected skills, knowledge, or behavioral changes.
• When do you want to achieve this? – Establish a realistic timeline for completion.

Determine your measures

Once you've defined your objectives, consider how you'll measure outcomes. What would tell you whether your custom collection had the desired effect?

Platform usage metrics:

• Completion rates and timeframes.
• Individual and team progress data.
• Lab performance scores.

You'll have access to a range of usage and completion data through platform reports. Explore completion data for your custom collections through downloadable progress reports.

Employee feedback:

• Create surveys to accompany the completion of your custom collection.
• Use both open-ended questions (qualitative feedback) and closed-ended questions (quantitative data).
• Gather insights on relevance, difficulty, and applicability to their role.

Organization-specific measures:

• Number of threats exposed and remediated.
• Incident response times.
• Accuracy and speed of Indicators of Compromise (IoCs) identified.
• Reduction in security incidents related to trained areas.

Identify your audience

Think through the following:

• Who are you targeting? – Define the specific teams, roles, or individuals who will benefit.
• What is their current skill level? – Make sure content difficulty matches their capabilities.
• Are there other teams that might benefit? – Identify opportunities to scale the collection across similar groups.
• What are their time constraints? – Consider how much time they can realistically dedicate to training.

Plan for engagement and motivation

Think through the following:

• How will you communicate the assignment? – Plan your rollout communication strategy.
• Why should they care? – Clearly explain the value and relevance to their role.
• When should it be completed? – Set a due date to maintain momentum and focus.
• How will you maintain engagement? – Consider progress check-ins, recognition, or incentives.

Determine collection size and scope

Number of labs:

• Recommended range: five to fifteen labs — this size provides meaningful learning without overwhelming learners.
• Large collections can feel unattainable and may reduce completion rates.
• If you have extensive content, break it into multiple thematic collections rather than one large one.

Time to complete:

• Consider the total time required alongside the number of labs.
• Review individual lab durations when selecting content.
• Factor in your audience's availability and competing priorities.
• Align the completion timeframe with your objectives.

Content focus:

• Narrow focus with linear progression – Select labs in a specific area to build expertise progressively (for example, beginner through to advanced in PowerShell).
• Broad focus across multiple areas – Build capability across different topics, grouped by role or difficulty level (for example, security fundamentals for developers).

Note: Get in touch with your Customer Success Manager if you need specific advice or support with collection planning.

How to create a custom collection

Once you've planned your collection, you're ready to build it in the platform.

Step 1: Navigate to custom collections

Go to the Manage section of the main menu, select Custom Collections in the assigned activities area, then select the +Create New button in the top right.

Step 2: Title and describe your collection

• Title – Create a clear, descriptive name that reflects the collection's purpose.
• Description – Write a description that explains the value and objectives.
• Cover image (optional) – Add a visual element to make your collection stand out. The optimal image size is 900px × 642px.

Note: Use your planning notes to craft a description that communicates the "why" and "what" to learners.

Step 3: Select labs for your collection

You have three methods to browse and add labs, and you can mix and match these approaches:

By Category:

• Browse labs organized by subject area (such as PowerShell, Linux, or Networking).
• Filter by difficulty level (Beginner, Intermediate, Advanced).
• Best for creating collections with a specific thematic focus.

By Individual Labs:

• Search for specific labs by name.
• Useful when you know exactly which labs you need.
• Good for building highly targeted, curated collections.

By MITRE ATT&CK Framework:

• Browse labs mapped to specific MITRE ATT&CK techniques and tactics.
• Target areas where your organization needs improvement.
• Align training with threat intelligence and security frameworks.

Note: Color coding differentiates content types (Cyber Pro, AppSec, Cloud Security, Career Paths). Learn more about content and licensing.

Select the Add button in the Actions column to add specific labs to your custom collection.

To add more labs from different collections, return to the Lab Selection page by selecting Lab Selection in the breadcrumb, or by selecting the By Category, By Labs, By Organization MITRE ATT&CK , By Team MITRE ATT&CK, or by NICE Framework tabs.

Step 4: Review your selection

Select Next to review:

• Collection title and description.
• All labs selected.
• Total estimated completion time.
• Lab sequence and progression.

Make any final adjustments before publishing.

Step 5: Publish your collection

Select Publish to make your custom collection available for assignment. Once published, you can assign it to individuals and teams. Unpublished collections remain in your drafts area.

How to assign a custom collection

After publishing your collection, you can assign it to learners.

Step 1: Navigate to your custom collection

1. Select Manage in the main navigation menu.
2. Select Custom Collections.
3. In the catalog area, search for the custom collection you'd like to assign and select it.

Note: You can only assign published custom collections. If a collection isn't appearing in the catalog, it's most likely in the drafts area. Follow the steps in editing draft custom collections to publish it.

Step 2: Configure assignment settings

1. Select the Edit Assignments button in the right corner.
2. Set a deadline (optional but recommended).

Setting a deadline:

• Maintains learner momentum and engagement.
• Makes sure objectives are achieved within your target timeframe.
• Enables reporting on completion status against due dates.
• Creates accountability and prioritization.

Step 3: Select assignees

Choose who will receive the assignment:

• Teams – Assign to entire teams or nested team structures.
• Individuals – Assign to specific users.
• Entire organization – Make available to all users (Organization Managers only).

Permissions:

• Team Admins can assign collections to teams they manage, or to individuals within those teams.
• Organization Managers can assign collections to anyone in the organization, including all individuals and teams.

Step 4: Review and publish the assignment

1. Select Next to review assignment details.
2. Verify assignees, deadline, and collection contents.
3. Select Publish to activate the assignment.

Note: You can edit the collection's details, labs included, and assignees at any point. See managing custom collections below for details.

Best practice: communicate your assignment

After assigning, consider taking the following steps:

• Send a team announcement explaining the purpose and value.
• Share context about why these labs are relevant.
• Explain how completion supports individual or team goals.
• Provide a clear timeline and expectations.

Managing custom collections

Find custom collections under Manage>Custom Collections in the main navigation menu. 

The interface has two areas:

• Catalog – Lists all published custom collections, even if not yet assigned.
• Drafts – Lists custom collections that you started creating but haven't yet published.

You can browse both areas by searching for custom collections by title or by using the filters.

Editing published custom collections

Step 1: In the catalog, search for the collection you want to amend or assign, then select it to view its details.

Step 2: View collection information:

• Labs included in the collection.
• Current assignees (individuals, teams, organizations).
• Downloadable custom collection progress report.
• Completion statistics.

Step 3: Make changes to your custom collection or edit assignments:

• Edit collection content – Select the ellipsis icon (three dots) on the right, then Edit Collection to modify the title, description, categories, or labs.
• Edit assignments – Select the Edit Assignments button in the right corner to add or remove assignees, or change deadlines.
• Delete collection – Select the ellipsis icon, then Delete.

Note: Any changes you make take effect immediately.

Editing and publishing draft custom collections

Custom collections that you've started but not yet published are available in the drafts area for you to finalize.

To edit and publish a draft collection:

1. Go to the Drafts section.
2. Search for the specific collection and select it.
3. Amend the details and lab selection as needed.
4. Select Publish to make the collection available for assignment.

To delete a draft collection, select the delete icon in the bottom left corner of the collection.

Measuring success

After deploying your custom collection, regularly monitor and evaluate its effectiveness.

Platform metrics to review

• Completion rates – What percentage of assignees completed the collection?
• Time to completion – How long did it take learners to complete?
• Performance scores – How well did learners perform on individual labs?
• Progress tracking – Are learners on pace to meet the deadline?

Actions based on data

• Low engagement – Reach out to understand barriers, adjust deadlines, or communicate value more clearly.
• Low performance – Consider whether the difficulty level is appropriate, or whether prerequisite knowledge is needed.
• High success – Identify and share best practices, and consider expanding to other teams.
• Mixed results – Analyze patterns by team, role, or experience level to refine future collections.