Input on Story

Just my 2 cents:

You might want to consider a grocery checkout line instead of the cart idea. You can use the conveyor belt as your placeholder for items that the customer "wants" and then use a cart or something else as your placeholder for items they decide they don't want after they're on the conveyor.

The reason that I mention the 2nd drop area for items they change their mind about is that by doing so you can create triggers that will auto adjust the total price based on where the item is dropped.

See attached story file for programming. The green box represents items they want and the red box is items they don't want. I programmed the triggers for strawberries so you could see what I meant. Obviously I don't know the purpose of your course so if them actually using the calculator is a learning objective, then auto programming the total won't work.

Hi Jamie,

I'll take a look. Thanks for taking time to provide feedback. And I'm sure I'll learn a trick or two from your programming.

But regarding the auto-adjustment of the price, I'd considered that, and initially had set my story up that way. I actually had green checks that were turned on when they selected an item (rather than placing it in the cart) and removed, as was the price, when they "rejected" (deselected) the item. But I rejected that idea because:

It would be for a lesson on making correct decisions, planning, etc. I wanted it to be as close to real-life as possible. And my idea was that they'd be walking through the store with a calculator (or in my case I use the calculator on my Android phone!) and adding and subtracting the values in. If they didn't have enough money for the cookies (for example), they'd put them back on the shelf and subtract the amount from the calculator.

Thanks again...looking to others - and you again for that matter - for more feedback.

Hey Jamie and Others,

That was really great programming.Thanks!

A comment and some questions for future reference:

Comment

I eliminated one trigger by modifying the Set Total=0.00 trigger so it now reads as follows (oh, and I needed to reposition it at the top to get it work)

Set total equal to 0.00 when ITEM dropped no/cart OR yes/conveyor belt i total less than 0

Question

The idea to allow Learners to move things from one place to another, back and forth, and automate calculations is good and is something I and others could probably use in other situations (as I said, I don't want auto-calculating here). But here's the conundrum:

Currently your version, the items stack on top of each other, even though drag and drop is set to free. So Learners can only see the last dragged item, eliminating the ability to see things and move them back and forth.

I went into the Edit Question area and saw that there are no drop targets chosen. So, I chose the conveyor belt as the drop target for all items. Now Learners can place them on the conveyor belt where they want. But, items on the cart still drop on top of each other, and they can no longer be selected (a 2nd time) in the Quiz Editor.

Any ideas how to get around that?

Again, thanks for a look at the programming. Really got my brain in a scramble!

Hi again,

Sorry - I did the initial programming very fast just to illustrate the auto calculation feature. You can set your drop targets without going into the question itself. Simply right click the drop zone and go to Drag & Drop and you can set how you want the images to appear. For the attached version, I've set them to tile. You could set them to free or any other option.

Hope this helps!

Hey Jamie,

I NEVER knew you could do that. And I'm SUCH an avid right-clicker! Thanks. I didn't use your version 3, just went back into the one I'd created based on yours and right-clicked! That was a GREAT tip for me. Have a good evening.

No problem - happy to help. It's one of the true joys of Storyline - just when you think you know everything there is a little nuance that smacks you upside the head. In a good way!  =-)

I will NEVER know everything about Storyline. And I don't mean that in any negative, pessimistic kind of way. It's just so full of features!

Thanks again.

Hi Rebecca,

I had some extra time today so wanted to look at other options for your project incorporating the calculator idea that you wanted to keep for this particular project.

The main issue I had with the instructions is that there are so many of them and having the input field outside the calculator was a bit confusing. I took a stab at simplifying this by building 3 basic buttons on the calculator and masking all the other ones. If you click the plus button, you can input the value you'd like to add and then hit total to update the screen. Same goes for the minus button. The buttons themselves are not the greatest - I'd recommend you build a more 3-dimensional button that is also skewed to match the angle of the calculator, but I think you can get the idea of what I was going for with this as it is.

Let me know what you think.

Hi Jamie,

Thank you for spending so much time on this!

I also had some discomfort with the input field not being "on" the calculator. That's why I put it as close as I did. So I do take your point. Of course, on a real calculator, people would actually be hitting the individual numeric buttons, but I think that would take quite a bit of programming here! Arguably, it reminded somewhat me off the display screen at many cashiers now, where they scan the number down below and the price appears for the customer on a display up above.

I also take your point about the instructions. They concerned me.

So, I looked at your calculator while looking at the on one my phone (Android OS, BTW) and I thought, cool! So I wanted to get back to you before I'm done for the weekend and thank you.

Also, though, I think I'd need to make changes, but it's too late at this juncture on a Friday night. Here's what I'm running into. Mind you, I'm not asking you fix this, just describing what Learners would encounter.

• When I enter the scene, I can't click on the calculator to begin entering a number. I need to first click on the + button. This would require instructions to Learner.
• After I enter a number into the field, in order to enter another number I need to click first on the field. That's fine, but that would require instructions to Learner I believe.
• If I want to add 3 prices in a row before totaling, the calculations don't seem to work. Seems I'm coming up with the last price entered.
• If I add two prices and then subtract a 3rd before totaling I come up with zero.

So, I do like the calculator design, with the plus, minus, and total buttons. And I like that it mimics a hand-held (or at least phone-held) calculator. Very nice! But the challenge is getting it to work in the same or similar way.

From a learning standpoint, too, having Learners enter a negative number (my model) is a good reinforcement mathematically. On the other hand, from a learning standpoint, it's NOT a good reinforcement of calculator skills. The yin and the yang!

Have a great weekend, Jamie!