I'm looking for feedback on designing scenario-based e-Learning - please!!
Dec 16, 2015
I've created this scenario in Articulate Storyline 2, using the content from an article - "How to Deal With a Co-worker You Don't Like - But Everyone Else is Obsessed With".
I tried to follow the step-by-step process in Ben Pitman's "A Guide to Designing Scenario-based e-Learning" - which is an extensive guide and one well worth taking a look at. When I say tried, I already knew how I wanted to structure the scenario, so after reading through the guide, I just kept coming back to the guide to check that I was on the right track.
One of the steps in Ben's process is to seek feedback to improve any scenario you create, even if you're experienced at this - so I'm seeking feedback from this awesome community.
As Ben says, writing scenarios is complex if you want to do it properly, but it gets easier after you've done the first one. This one fell into place much more quickly than I imagined it would - but I'm sure there are things I could do to improve it.
I haven't spent much time on the instructional design, but wanted to get some feedback before I do much more work on this - so it could completely change - although the scenario navigation will stay the same (unless the feedback I get is really bad - in which case I'll be responding to the feedback and changing it!!)
Here is the link to the page with the demo in my Project Playground.
Any feedback will be gratefully accepted.
https://theknowledgeprojectplayground.wordpress.com/portfolio/scenario-based-e-learning/
9 Replies
Hey Dianne. I don't know if you're working on this live version or not but after viewing the three descriptions of the co-workers there is no option to move forward (no next or continue button). Tested in Chrome and Firefox.
Hey Michael - I've just checked this (yes, I'm constantly updating the design!) and the button to move on from the first screen appears after you've clicked on each of the three characters - so if you're wanting to move on without finding out about each of the characters, you're not able to. I thought this was appropriate at the time, but I could reconsider the design if you don't think it works...
Thanks Cecilia. Good suggestions - and you don't need to be an expert in scenarios - from a user perspective if things like you have mentioned are obvious, then that's exactly what I was after as far as feedback goes.
Hi Dianne, nice work. I really like the way this looks and how you've constructed the scenario. Here are a few specific things that I think could use a little work.
Thanks for sharing... this was very interesting to see!
Bill
Thanks for taking the time to provide your feedback Bill.
I've address all of your technical issues with viewing the scenario (I think!)
I set up a True/False variable for the Let's Get Started button to display when each of the three characters has been clicked - but you're right, when revisiting this randomly didn't work. I've now changed the slide property setting to "resume saved state" - tested a few times, and it now shows the Let's start button when you revisit.
I'm still thinking about some of the things you suggested - I've used "buttons" for most the elements the learner needs to click on - and I know that sometimes I just used text which if you hover over it the state changes which is an indication that the text is clickable - I really didn't want to use buttons for everything, or add any more directions to the screen.
I've also added another slide based on feedback from Liz Armstrong - she suggested going down the worst case scenario route and explore what happens if Atsumi doesn't do anything about the situation with Pam. I'm not sure what to add in here yet - so I've put it back on the learner to think about this - any suggestions would be welcome!!
I haven't received any negative feedback on the construction of the scenario - which was actually easier than I thought it would be once I got into the design.
Here's the direct link to the scenario - revamped based on feedback:
http://bit.ly/1Tr6zG5
Some (or all!!) of the links above are broken - so you can view this demo and read about how I developed this on my e-Portfolio here: http://bit.ly/2saSOqW
It's great that you're not only working out loud, but updating as you go. Not everyone's open enough to solicit feedback like this. These are offered only as my reaction and certainly not as "hey, you should fix this!"
Some comments on the navigation:
In Atsumi's "why do you have to be the center of attention?" slide:
Since most people would recognize this as a bad choice, what about combining it with the following slide that has the actual options [try again / get help / give up]? In other words, the outburst (or its capsule, like "Tell it like it is to Pam") is a fourth option. You could then have a reaction from Pam or from some onlooker as the feedback for the outburst. Or the feedback could be the blowup scene in a thought bubble with Atsumi admitting it's be fun to unload, but not too productive. This lets your learner choose to go down the blowup path just to see how things turn out.
On the "How did Atsumi do?" slide:
Would it help to save a click by dropping either "let's ask HR" or "find out what Atsumi did right?" What I mean is use just one of those -- if we see Madison the HR manager and a box with "find out what Atsumi did right," it's pretty clear that Madison's going to tell us.
Thinking about the do-nothing scenario:
Since Pam says elsewhere that she thinks Atsumi doesn't want to talk with her, maybe this thread could highlight some problem that arose because neither would talk to the other. A very rough sketch:
Atsumi avoids Pam because she's irritating. Atsumi's work falls short because Atsumi doesn't have everything she needs but hasn't taken action to solve that.
Unknown to Atsumi, Pam has a similar problem: she wants or needs X information from Atsumi, but thinks she's gotten a big "leave me alone" message (and may also be unaware of how her personality comes across, though that may be too much for a simple scenario). It may be that we just see Pam saying, "She's so cranky, I'll just stay out of her way."
The "Atsumi, have you got a minute to talk" turns into a three-sided conversation, because the same request went to Pam.
-- Offhand I think this'd be better from a supervisor than from HR, but that's easy for me to say since I'm not the one building the scenario. ;-)
Hey Dave - wow! thanks for taking the time to give such comprehensive feedback.
This all makes sense - and if I was building this for a client and/or had an SME involved, I would definitely have taken more time to make sure the content was spot on.
Because your feedback is so amazing, I will definitely find the time to revisit this scenario and update it with some/all of your suggestions.
Thanks!
Dianne:
I'm glad you found the comments helpful.
I admire what you're doing because I think the difference between a scenario and a good scenario is exactly this try-and-revise approach.
This discussion is closed. You can start a new discussion or contact Articulate Support.