Interactive Timelines #13: Challenge | Recap
This week’s challenge idea comes from community member David Baker who shared a really cool timeline example in the E-Learning Heroes forums.
There’s a lot going on in this interactive timeline. The timeline is a menu slide that branches to different events. It features colorful rollovers and menu items that shift and expand when clicked.
Challenge of the week
This week, your challenge is to rebuild Big History Project’s interactive timeline.
This is our first challenge where everyone is working from the same source project. The tool you use to recreate this project will impact your design considerations. For example, the dynamic menu effect is not possible with most tools. You’ll want to capture the essence of the effect, whichever tool you choose.
Recreating existing projects is a great way to practice your course design and technical skills.
Discussion questions
Along with your project, share some insights about how you approached your project.
- How long did it take you to build your demo?
- How did you approach your design and development? Did you sketch out the project? Or did you jump right in and start building?
- What was the biggest challenge you encountered?
- Would you do anything differently?
Provide feedback
This is a good opportunity to practice evaluating and critiquing projects. Because everyone’s working from the same starting point, it’s easier to spot differences between projects and provide constructive feedback on another user’s project. Here are a few ideas to get you started:
- What do you like about the demo?
- What did they do really well?
- Is there a tip or suggestion you would offer the designer?
- What did you learn from the demo?
Tools
You can use Articulate Storyline, Articulate Studio ’09, or Articulate Studio ’13, to show and share your interactive timeline.
Last week's challenge
Before jumping into this week’s timeline challenge, check out the timeless examples your fellow community members shared in last week’s interactive infographic challenge:
- Jeff Kortenbosch kicked off the infographic challenge using both Storyline and Studio ‘13 to create a character-driven interaction. What’s cool about building the same demo in Storyline and Studio is the ability to compare production workflows and outputs from each tool.
- Paul Alders shared a custom puzzle interaction that helps users “get the picture” on why Storyline’s custom states are so powerful. I love how the puzzle pieces rotate when dragged.
- Ana Lucia Barguil shared an interactive map example that show percentages of Portuguese across the world. I really like how Ana used Storyline’s slide layers to simulate the zoom in effect for the countries. Ana always shares her source files so be sure to take a look at how she put her project together. Thanks, Ana!
- Mark Woolwine leveraged his clip art and flat design challenge demos for this week’s challenge. I really like vertical layout and the way he separated the interactivity from content sections. I could see this making a very nice template <wink>.
- Kelly Prince shared a demo that you won't forget. Great use of color and layout in this interactive markers demo.
- David Lindenberg posted a healthy example of creativity in this timeline makeover.
- Raymond M shared an interactive sample showing how The Wall compares to other large structures.
Have an great timeline this week, E-Learning Heroes!
Even if you’re using a trial version of Studio '13 or Storyline, you can absolutely publish your challenge files. Just sign up for a fully functional, free trial, and have at it. And remember to post your questions and comments in the forums; we're here to help. For more e-learning tips, examples, and downloads, follow us on Twitter.
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