Lager vs. ale? Pilsner vs. helles? IBU vs. ABV? Dry-hopped? Märzen vs. festbier vs. dunkel? Huh?!?
Oktoberfest might be best known for its giant beer tents, pretzels, and lederhosen, but it’s also a great excuse to play with a topic that’s surprisingly rich for training designers.
Beer has a process (brewing), a vocabulary (styles, ingredients, glassware), a history (500+ years of it), and real on-the-job skills (pouring, pairing, serving responsibly). In other words, it has everything you’d find in a typical training project, only with better visuals.
So, whether you’re a beer enthusiast, a casual Oktoberfest fan, or someone who can’t tell a pilsner from a porter, this week’s challenge is your chance to turn a familiar beverage into engaging, interactive training.
🏆 Challenge of the week
This week, your challenge is to create interactive training inspired by Oktoberfest and the wonderful world of beer! From brewing basics and beer styles to historical origins and Oktoberfest traditions, there’s plenty to explore, discover, and learn.
Ideas to get you started
- How it’s made: Walk learners through the brewing process, from grain to glass, with a step-by-step interaction.
- Style explorer: Let learners compare lagers, ales, stouts, and wheat beers using tabs, sliders, or a click-and-reveal tap wall.
- The perfect pour: Turn glass angle, foam, and timing into a simple simulation or drag-and-drop activity.
- Pairing practice: Build a matching game that connects beer styles with the foods they go best with.
- Tasting notes: Design an interactive flavor wheel or a “What am I tasting?” quiz.
- Responsible service: Create a short scenario where a server decides how to handle a tricky customer situation.
- Just for fun: Try a “Which beer style are you?” personality quiz, a German beer hall vocabulary game, or an Oktoberfest history timeline.
🧰 Resources
Here are some related games and interactions to help get you started:
- CraftBeer.com: Interactive Beer Style Guide
- BeerGuessr: Where in the World Is This Beer From?
- GlobalBeerIndex: Interactive Beer Style Explorer
- Find Your Beer Style: Interactive Personality Quiz
- Run Brewery: Interactive Brewing Simulation
- BEERSCOVERY: Beer Infographic Collection
- BrewMyBeer: Interactive Brewing Guide
🙌 Share Your Work
You put in the effort. Now make sure your work gets seen:
- Personal blog: If you have a blog, write about your example from this week's challenge and share the link with your submission.
- Social media: Share your examples on LinkedIn and mention both David and Articulate using the #ElearningChallenge tag so we can help promote your work.
- Peer feedback: Try leaving helpful feedback on at least three projects this week.
- Community forums: Cross-post in the forums to give your work even more visibility.
🙌 Last Week’s Challenge:
Before you tap this week's challenge, check out the accessible drag-and-drop interactions your fellow community members shared over the past week:
Sliders for Accessible Drag-and-Drop Interactions #569: Challenge | Recap
👋 New to the E-Learning Challenges?
The weekly e-learning challenges are ongoing opportunities to learn, share, and build your e-learning portfolios. You can jump into any or all of the previous challenges anytime you want. I’ll update the recap posts to include your demos.
Learn more about the challenges in this Q&A post and why and how to participate in this helpful article.
