OVERVIEW
This interactive and gamified eLearning experience inspires instructional designers at a large company to use modern tools and features in their eLearning projects.
Instructional Designer eLearning
This gamification eLearning experience inspires instructional designers at a large company to use interactive features in their eLearning projects.
Audience: instructional designers in the northeast
Responsibilities: Instructional Design, eLearning Development, and Visual Design
Tools Used: Articulate Storyline 360, Canva, Audacity, and Adobe XD
Instructional Designer eLearning
This gamification eLearning experience inspires instructional designers at a large company to use interactive features in their eLearning projects.
Audience: instructional designers in the northeast
Responsibilities: Instructional Design, eLearning Development, and Visual Design
Tools Used: Articulate Storyline 360, Canva, Audacity, and Adobe XD
This is a concept project where the client, a large company, reached out to me for assistance with their training development initiatives for instructional designers. They noticed that their senior instructional designers located in the northeast region were not using new tools and features available in Articulate Storyline 360 and Adobe Captivate. As a result, the training that was developed at these branches was outdated.
A needs analysis revealed that employees heard about the new features but lacked experience with these new tools. They knew how to use the software but did not understand how to incorporate them into effective eLearning. This was because they have never seen examples of these features used in practice.
The instructional designers were open to new ideas and were very interested in learning about how these tools and features could be used to enhance their eLearning courses.
Problem and Solution
I proposed an eLearning experience that incorporates gamification and a wide range of features the client wanted the instructional designers to use. The goal was to inspire instructional designers to use these tools in their practice.
Process
I worked closely with Subject matter Experts (SMEs) to design and develop the interactive simulation. I used action mapping, a storyboard, gamification, Canva, Adobe XD, and Articulate Storyline 360 to create this immersive experience.
Action Map
I worked with SMEs to develop an action map. Focusing on the actions, we defined exactly what features instructional designers should use to make their eLearning projects more interactive.
We identified key features that would lead to enhanced eLearning experiences:
Drag and drop images into a picture
Drag and drop matching activities
Virtual Reality experiences
Interactive graphs and timelines
Custom dials that reveal information as it is turned
After these actions were mapped out and approved, I began working on the storyboard.
I worked with SMEs to create a story around the features the client wanted instructional designers to use.
I decided to create a story similar to a video game where the learner can select an avatar and go on an adventure with their character. As the character goes to different places throughout their day, each place they stop at illustrates a different feature and how it can be used.
Storyboard
When the learner visits a location, audio will begin to play creating an ambiance and bringing them into the story. I used a scene setting technique often used in games and movies where each scene begins from a bird’s eye view, then shows the exterior of a place, and reveals the interior. The combination of these techniques allows the learner to feel like they are part of the story.
Each scene reveals a different activity that can be created in an authoring tool like Articulate Storyline or Adobe Captivate. For instance, the cafe shows an example of how to use a drag-and-drop interaction to place items into an image. The avatar the learner chose is present in the scenes to guide the learner and provide more details about the interaction.
I included all of this in a storyboard that consists of the script, various options, visuals, and the interactions listed in the action map.
Working with and receiving feedback from the SMEs helped me develop a captivating story that brought the learner into a new world full of imagination where they can be inspired. This helped make the interactions more meaningful to the learner.
Prototype
Once the storyboard was approved, I used the feedback to develop an interactive prototype. The prototype featured the avatar selector, an immersive introduction, the story map, and the drag-and-drop interaction at the cafe.
Final Product
After applying the feedback on the prototype, I began developing the final product. The storyboard and prototype were already approved, so this next step was fairly straightforward.
Takeaways
In this concept project, the final product was handed over to the client and they integrated it into their training program. It was a big success. After their senior instructional designers experienced the project, they were seen using new tools and features that very next day. One instructional designer even went back into a project he was working on and enhanced it using virtual reality.
This eLearning experience was a really fun project for me as a tech geek and a creative because I got to play around with a lot of advanced tools in Articulate Storyline 360. Unfortunately, due to the lack of time, I was not able to get all of the graphics I wanted, and it resulted in some inconsistency in the design. If I could do it again, I would ask the graphic design team to create some graphics consistent with the look and feel I wanted to create.
Going forward, I hope to use my instructional design skills on creative projects like this. I really love the feedback and the responses I received from the instructional designers, and it makes me feel good that I had such a strong impact on their professional development.
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Problem and Solution
This is a concept project based on a real project I once did for a business. The client, a large company, reached out to me for assistance with their training development initiatives for instructional designers. They noticed that their senior instructional designers located in the northeast region were not using new tools and features available in Articulate Storyline 360 and Adobe Captivate. As a result, the training that was developed at these branches was outdated.
A needs analysis revealed that employees heard about the new features but lacked experience with these new tools. They knew how to use the software but did not understand how to incorporate them into effective eLearning. This was because they have never seen examples of these features used in practice.
The instructional designers were open to new ideas and were very interested in learning about how these tools and features could be used to enhance their eLearning courses.
I proposed an eLearning experience that incorporates gamification and a wide range of features the client wanted the instructional designers to use. The goal was to inspire instructional designers to use these tools in their practice.
Process
I worked closely with Subject matter Experts (SMEs) to design and develop the interactive simulation. I used action mapping, a storyboard, gamification, Canva, Adobe XD, and Articulate Storyline 360 to create this immersive experience.
Action Map
I worked with SMEs to develop an action map. Focusing on the actions, we defined exactly what features instructional designers should use to make their eLearning projects more interactive.
We identified key features that would lead to enhanced eLearning experiences:
Drag and drop images into a picture
Drag and drop matching activities
Virtual Reality experiences
Interactive graphs and timelines
Custom dials that reveal information as it is turned
After these actions were mapped out and approved, I began working on the storyboard.
Storyboard
I worked with SMEs to create a story around the features the client wanted instructional designers to use.
I decided to create a story similar to a video game where the learner can select an avatar and go on an adventure with their character. As the character goes to different places throughout their day, each place they stop at illustrates a different feature and how it can be used.
When the learner visits a location, audio will begin to play creating an ambiance and bringing them into the story. I used a scene setting technique often used in games and movies where each scene begins from a bird’s eye view, then shows the exterior of a place, and reveals the interior. The combination of these techniques allows the learner to feel like they are part of the story.
Each scene reveals a different activity that can be created in an authoring tool like Articulate Storyline or Adobe Captivate. For instance, the cafe shows an example of how to use a drag-and-drop interaction to place items into an image. The avatar the learner chose is present in the scenes to guide the learner and provide more details about the interaction.
I included all of this in a storyboard that consists of the script, various options, visuals, and the interactions listed in the action map.
Working with and receiving feedback from the SMEs helped me develop a captivating story that brought the learner into a new world full of imagination where they can be inspired. This helped make the interactions more meaningful to the learner.
Prototype
Once the storyboard was approved, I used the feedback to develop an interactive prototype. The prototype featured the avatar selector, an immersive introduction, the story map, and the drag-and-drop interaction at the cafe.
Final Product
After applying the feedback on the prototype, I began developing the final product. The storyboard and prototype were already approved, so this next step was fairly straightforward.
Takeaways
This concept project was inspired by a real project I once made for a company. The final product was handed over to the client and they integrated it into their training program. It was a big success. After their senior instructional designers experienced the project, they were seen using new tools and features that very next day. One instructional designer even went back into a project he was working on and enhanced it using virtual reality.
This eLearning experience was a really fun project for me as a tech geek and a creative because I got to play around with a lot of advanced tools in Articulate Storyline 360. Unfortunately, due to the lack of time, I was not able to get all of the graphics I wanted, and it resulted in some inconsistency in the design. If I could do it again, I would ask the graphic design team to create some graphics consistent with the look and feel I wanted to create.
Going forward, I hope to use my instructional design skills on creative projects like this. I really love the feedback and the responses I received from the instructional designers, and it makes me feel good that I had such a strong impact on their professional development.
You may also like…
Diversity and Cultural Sensitivity Training
This scenario-based eLearning simulation was developed for an international organization to build cultural competency in a very diverse workplace.
Workplace Safety: Gamified AED and CPR eLearning
This scenario-based eLearning simulation applies gamification to teach employees how to use an AED to save the life of a person in cardiac arrest.