I've been tasked with turning my paper-based instruction guide into an e-learning course and I'm trying to figure out a good approach for development. Not sure if a scenario-based layout would work. The instruction guide consists of step-by-step processes for logging into the application, system navigation, and performing various tasks within the application. Any ideas?
I'd start by taking a look at your learner population.
Do they hold prior knowledge?
Is putting this in to an e-learning course going to solve the problem? How?
Would a job-aid be better if its procedural?
Are they completely new to the system in question? How complex will these tasks be?
Do you require assessment?
If your stakeholders just want to transfer it to an e-learning module without asking these types of questions, they may end up in the same situation as they are now. Maybe they have a good reason to as they want to track all staff on an LMS?
See if you can evaluate the needs of the learner first. Stakeholders may thank you for it in the long run. An elearning module might be the answer, but having supporting documents always helps in the long run!
I've been working on a similar project that is meant as a "one stop shop" for all users of a particular software program. I've branched the presentation based on user experience level/familiarity with the software, then had the Content Expert use Replay to record many short instructional videos, right from locating the application on the desktop to higher level uses of the program. I've got a main menu that allows users to view a brief synopsis of each topic (mouse hovered over button triggers synopsis to appear) and select whichever topics are of interest to them.
The screenshot approach works well because it is shot in the first person - the end user sees the processes play out exactly how they will look when they go try it themselves. I also like to use the zoom feature, coloured rectangles and annotations to emphasize the main areas of focus or steps. It's been a huge project but I think it will be an incredibly valuable resource for our staff.
Hi,
Hey, that's a really cool idea! I've had to do some homework on what the overall objective should be and review other alternatives to e-learning for this project. I'd like to give your idea a try, at least for practice on possible future projects.
I really appreciate your help and advice on this project!
Thanks again,
Shanna
My project is very similar to your and I would love your feedback. I have presentatain that I am trying to turn in to eLearning. I am new to Articulate and would like to create seperate projects for each top(navigation, download, update, etc.) in to micro lessons. I want to then bundle all the small courses in to one big course. Is there a way to link several small projects in to one course via a menu or other alternative. Thanks.
Hi Jessica, do you (or anyone else in the community) know if Articulate Studio comes with software that allows you to record screen movement? My experience with Articulate Studio is from back in 2008, so many versions ago, and one of the primary reasons we navigated away from it is I could not record the onscreen activity on my machine, and then incorporate that into the training module. We are delivering training on software applications and it's much easier for me and the learner to see how windows and menus advance real-time, instead of having to capture and modify screenshots then apply animation to make it 'appear' as movement. Maybe replay does this now? Thoughts?
Articulate has a product called Replay for screen recording. Sometimes they have deals where it is included with a purchase. I have used it, and I find it easy to use, but I prefer Camtasia for both capturing and editing. It has some really cool features. I find it to be slightly more difficult than Replay to master, but I wouldnt classify it as a difficult software to learn. It is intuitive.
I've been working on a similar project 2 years ago and, was in the same situation as you are right now. However, scenario-based approach works a lot in this case. For example: if this application is an ERP system then take scenarios like this "How to submit a Leave request".
Following will be the headers of your course.
Observation
Pre-requisite
Process flow:
You will let your user understand the structure of application and hierarchy through flow charts diagram and how this request will work. For example:
Submitted the Leave request --> Approve by manager --> approved by HR
Any luck with your project? I have just found my self in almost the exact same situation and was looking for any tips or ideas you had and were willing to share. Thanks!
I had a very similar project last year. There were 75 learning objectives (basically the table of contents from the user guide) for use in 8 different departments for a total of 34 different positions. An Apple like approach was taken. (I'd share but the solution is now owned by the client). Here it is in a nutshell. All 75 "tutorials" were developed as self contained files. Login was branched based on learner's department/position. If I was from Dept. X in Position Y, I was presented with these 48 Tutorials. The tutorials were organized into 7 Chapters, each Chapter had an icon based menu representing all associated tutorials (very visual approach). The user picked a la carte. This also gave the product double duty as a really effective resource on the job for quick access to specific info.
I have spent many years building software simulations in a previous role. The danger of simulations is they become a "button clicking exercise" where the user just blindly follows the instructions and doesn't remember how to reproduce this back in the real world. So a couple of things to think about:
Use the modes. Use the View, Try, Test modes to set the scene, engage the user to try it themselves, and then use the test mode to do it without instruction.
Don't show them where it is. People have a habit of putting arrows or red boxes on buttons and fields to show where to go. Students will just look for these and click without understanding why, so give the instruction and let them figure it out. You can always give feedback if they do it wrong.
What's in it for me? During the scenario you need to explain why it is important to do this step and what are the consequences of doing (or not doing) the step. this helps to create ownership of the actions. If it's a step that forms part of a bigger process, then it can be useful to show a flow chart at the beginning so the learner can see how their bit fits into the bigger picture (if you don't get this right all these other bits fall down!). You can also reinforce this with "breakout" pages that go into more detail about why a particular step is important. Don't be afraid to break the steps with a non simulation page and then go back to it.
Mix up the instructions. Don't always keep the information and instructions in the same format, for example screen explanation followed by action, as users will start to only look for the instructions. Mix them up a little and maybe only infer what they have to do e.g. "your consignment is for 10 boxes so select the amount from the approriate field" rather than "click the amount drop down and select 10".
Skip the dull stuff. Some people get obsessed with recreating every step in simulations and forget we are trying to teach an overall concept of how to do a task. This can lead to a whole bunch of extra interactions and a very long simulation. I look for ways to reduce extra steps and make the assumption that users know basic principles such as picking items from a list or scrolling (we can debate that another time!) so I may start by getting them to pick one item and then say "you should then continue to pick the remaining items for your order, in this scenario I will do it for you, so click next to continue." and on the next screen have the remaining items in the box.
Richard, that advice is killer - I'm currently working on software simulations in Storyline for my company, and our previous (3rd-party) E-learning company did exactly what you're describing. They would instruct the user to do something, then point to it on the screen. They also allowed the user to click "next" through all of these performance assessments.
I'm putting my foot down on things like that - the user will be able to skip some things, but the performance is essential, so they must do the task. If they fail several times in a row, there is built in feedback guiding them towards the right answer (and a prompt at the end allowing them to retake to feel more confident). Any feedback on this would be great.
That sounds just the job. If the process involves a lot of data entry then that's often the stuff I do for them (after all we're not testing their ability to type) as that keeps it short and prevents frustration because they've can't move forward because they've mis-typed something. We have to assume that they know how to handle fields like firstname, surname, address etc so we i would normally say something like "fill in the customer details as required in relevant fields, in this case i will do it for you...".
Letting them get it wrong a few times and then provide feedback is a really good idea too as they have to think and learn from their mistakes. You can also be less direct in your instructions such as "Click the button you think you should use to update the order and save the changes." Rather than "Now click Update".
14 Replies
I'd start by taking a look at your learner population.
If your stakeholders just want to transfer it to an e-learning module without asking these types of questions, they may end up in the same situation as they are now. Maybe they have a good reason to as they want to track all staff on an LMS?
See if you can evaluate the needs of the learner first. Stakeholders may thank you for it in the long run. An elearning module might be the answer, but having supporting documents always helps in the long run!
Good luck
- James
Awesome advise! This helps me to realize that I'll need to do more homework before "diving" right into development.
Thank you kindly,
Shanna
I've been working on a similar project that is meant as a "one stop shop" for all users of a particular software program. I've branched the presentation based on user experience level/familiarity with the software, then had the Content Expert use Replay to record many short instructional videos, right from locating the application on the desktop to higher level uses of the program. I've got a main menu that allows users to view a brief synopsis of each topic (mouse hovered over button triggers synopsis to appear) and select whichever topics are of interest to them.
The screenshot approach works well because it is shot in the first person - the end user sees the processes play out exactly how they will look when they go try it themselves. I also like to use the zoom feature, coloured rectangles and annotations to emphasize the main areas of focus or steps. It's been a huge project but I think it will be an incredibly valuable resource for our staff.
Hi,
Hey, that's a really cool idea! I've had to do some homework on what the overall objective should be and review other alternatives to e-learning for this project. I'd like to give your idea a try, at least for practice on possible future projects.
I really appreciate your help and advice on this project!
Thanks again,
Shanna
Jessica,
My project is very similar to your and I would love your feedback. I have presentatain that I am trying to turn in to eLearning. I am new to Articulate and would like to create seperate projects for each top(navigation, download, update, etc.) in to micro lessons. I want to then bundle all the small courses in to one big course. Is there a way to link several small projects in to one course via a menu or other alternative. Thanks.
Shabana
Hi Shabana,
Are you using Storyline or Studio? You can absolutely link micro lessons into one overarching framework.
Here's an example:
Voices for Women Volunteer Orientation
Hi Jessica, do you (or anyone else in the community) know if Articulate Studio comes with software that allows you to record screen movement? My experience with Articulate Studio is from back in 2008, so many versions ago, and one of the primary reasons we navigated away from it is I could not record the onscreen activity on my machine, and then incorporate that into the training module. We are delivering training on software applications and it's much easier for me and the learner to see how windows and menus advance real-time, instead of having to capture and modify screenshots then apply animation to make it 'appear' as movement. Maybe replay does this now? Thoughts?
Articulate has a product called Replay for screen recording. Sometimes they have deals where it is included with a purchase. I have used it, and I find it easy to use, but I prefer Camtasia for both capturing and editing. It has some really cool features. I find it to be slightly more difficult than Replay to master, but I wouldnt classify it as a difficult software to learn. It is intuitive.
Hi Shanna,
I've been working on a similar project 2 years ago and, was in the same situation as you are right now. However, scenario-based approach works a lot in this case. For example: if this application is an ERP system then take scenarios like this "How to submit a Leave request".
Following will be the headers of your course.
Observation
Pre-requisite
Process flow:
You will let your user understand the structure of application and hierarchy through flow charts diagram and how this request will work. For example:
Submitted the Leave request --> Approve by manager --> approved by HR
Scenario
Summary
Hope this work for you.
Hi Shabana,
Any luck with your project? I have just found my self in almost the exact same situation and was looking for any tips or ideas you had and were willing to share. Thanks!
-Heidi
I had a very similar project last year. There were 75 learning objectives (basically the table of contents from the user guide) for use in 8 different departments for a total of 34 different positions. An Apple like approach was taken. (I'd share but the solution is now owned by the client). Here it is in a nutshell. All 75 "tutorials" were developed as self contained files. Login was branched based on learner's department/position. If I was from Dept. X in Position Y, I was presented with these 48 Tutorials. The tutorials were organized into 7 Chapters, each Chapter had an icon based menu representing all associated tutorials (very visual approach). The user picked a la carte. This also gave the product double duty as a really effective resource on the job for quick access to specific info.
I have spent many years building software simulations in a previous role. The danger of simulations is they become a "button clicking exercise" where the user just blindly follows the instructions and doesn't remember how to reproduce this back in the real world. So a couple of things to think about:
Use the modes. Use the View, Try, Test modes to set the scene, engage the user to try it themselves, and then use the test mode to do it without instruction.
Don't show them where it is. People have a habit of putting arrows or red boxes on buttons and fields to show where to go. Students will just look for these and click without understanding why, so give the instruction and let them figure it out. You can always give feedback if they do it wrong.
What's in it for me? During the scenario you need to explain why it is important to do this step and what are the consequences of doing (or not doing) the step. this helps to create ownership of the actions. If it's a step that forms part of a bigger process, then it can be useful to show a flow chart at the beginning so the learner can see how their bit fits into the bigger picture (if you don't get this right all these other bits fall down!). You can also reinforce this with "breakout" pages that go into more detail about why a particular step is important. Don't be afraid to break the steps with a non simulation page and then go back to it.
Mix up the instructions. Don't always keep the information and instructions in the same format, for example screen explanation followed by action, as users will start to only look for the instructions. Mix them up a little and maybe only infer what they have to do e.g. "your consignment is for 10 boxes so select the amount from the approriate field" rather than "click the amount drop down and select 10".
Skip the dull stuff. Some people get obsessed with recreating every step in simulations and forget we are trying to teach an overall concept of how to do a task. This can lead to a whole bunch of extra interactions and a very long simulation. I look for ways to reduce extra steps and make the assumption that users know basic principles such as picking items from a list or scrolling (we can debate that another time!) so I may start by getting them to pick one item and then say "you should then continue to pick the remaining items for your order, in this scenario I will do it for you, so click next to continue." and on the next screen have the remaining items in the box.
Hope that helps!
Richard, that advice is killer - I'm currently working on software simulations in Storyline for my company, and our previous (3rd-party) E-learning company did exactly what you're describing. They would instruct the user to do something, then point to it on the screen. They also allowed the user to click "next" through all of these performance assessments.
I'm putting my foot down on things like that - the user will be able to skip some things, but the performance is essential, so they must do the task. If they fail several times in a row, there is built in feedback guiding them towards the right answer (and a prompt at the end allowing them to retake to feel more confident). Any feedback on this would be great.
Thanks again for the goods!
Hi Michael
That sounds just the job. If the process involves a lot of data entry then that's often the stuff I do for them (after all we're not testing their ability to type) as that keeps it short and prevents frustration because they've can't move forward because they've mis-typed something. We have to assume that they know how to handle fields like firstname, surname, address etc so we i would normally say something like "fill in the customer details as required in relevant fields, in this case i will do it for you...".
Letting them get it wrong a few times and then provide feedback is a really good idea too as they have to think and learn from their mistakes. You can also be less direct in your instructions such as "Click the button you think you should use to update the order and save the changes." Rather than "Now click Update".
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