Planning

Hey Gavin,

Sounds like you're living what a lot of what new (and experienced) elearning designers experience.

Can you share a little more around how your content was identified and created prior to developing in Articulate? Or was everything created at the same time it was built? By this I mean, did you write your course and activities at the same time you were assembling it in PowerPoint, Quizmaker and Engage? You mentioned "on the fly" so that's why I'm asking.

I follow a mildly formal process for most courses. One thing I like is to have my content written and finalized--signed off by client--prior to authoring and development. This is not always possible, but the more I can create a milestone between writing and development, the better my odds are that content won't need as much rework.

Have you seen some of the project management and storyboard documents in our Download section?

http://community.articulate.com/downloads/g/storyboards/default.aspx

http://community.articulate.com/downloads/g/interview-questions/default.aspx

The storyboards will help you focus content in a single document. Word and PowerPoint are the two most common apps for drafting course scripts.

The E-Learning Course Development Agreement is great for identifying what will be delivered and outlining individual responsibilities. The Project Kick-off questions are another tool for helping identify the importance of the project along with its intended outcomes.

In your opinion, what were some of the big misses or mistakes that happened in your last project? You could capture and list those as risks and potential pitfalls with your new project team.

Hey David,

nice of you to reply so quickly, so if i just give you a basic overview of what it was done. Our client basically had nine training modules worth of content, all were scripted and we originally planned for them to be filmed with the videos being synced in Articulate. However Articulate did not work with video as we initially believed (having to cut the video to slides rather than but the slides around video) and the client decided against this. So instead we decided to use stills, and incorporate more engage functionality also we added quizzes after a few of the key modules. So from what Ive described we built this e-learning course as we went along making thing and there was no pre-planning.

This time around we have hammered out some ideas but we wanted to know whether there were specific things that we could or should be considering when developing projects. 

Our biggest mistake was the client not knowing what Articulate was capable of doing, if they knew just the basics of what possibilities were then this would have helped with the creation process. Also with us being a video production company we was expecting to use video heavily but Articulate involves a lot more design skills so this slowed the the process a little as well

Okay that's a great point--for clients and anyone working on the design team. Most of what shapes our perceptions of elearning comes from what we've experienced or created. That's why just knowing what's possible is often more valuable than knowing "how" to build it--someone will always help out there.

Have you seen our E-learning Examples page? http://community.articulate.com/blogs/elearning-examples/default.aspx IT's a good place to direct new clients and walk them through diverse examples and design models.

Can you say a little more about "involves more design skills"? Do you mean because video is more about the set up and building courses involves things like design elements, text, images and so on? Just curious what you mean and how it impacted your dev times.

I am very particular about the planning process in my development. I find that having structure helps me to keep all my duck in a row. this is my process...

1. Training Request Form: This is the opportunity for the requester to describe their request in their own words. It helps me to identify what they are looking for and opens conversation on a topic i generally know nothing about. 
2. Key Topic and Sub-Topic Break Down: This is my research process on the given topic. I look at the main topic and then begin to break it down. I may take a large topic and have 4 or 5 layers in the break down process. (For Example Cake is the Key Topic - Types of Cake is Sub-Topic - Chocolate Cake is a section of a Sub-topic)
3. Script Writing: Now I begin to map out the information and where like topic should be placed together. In the end I usually have 3-4 scripts. The 1st is more like a book report on the topic. The 2nd includes how i envision the end program. All other include edits and adjustment by the owners/SME
4. Design Fun: I put the pretty together and build Engage and Quizmaker.
5. Review Process: Getting the owners edits and approval. 

Throughout and at each step I check in with the client to make sure i am traveling the right road. In the future I am going to be adding some steps that Kevin actually suggested.

1. Design Brainstorming: With the SME, after the Key Topic and Sub-Topic Break Down, through around some ideas and concepts for what the program should look like. Are games okay?scenarios? branching?
2. Storyboards: Due to the fact the the org I am with in very new to eLearning and inexperience in giving feedback in the review process we will be putting together Storyboards that they can make notes, suggest changes.