Oh this is a terrific example, Ryan! I remember trying this effect in Flash about 7 years ago. It was a bit more work than Storyline, but I recall the writing to be the biggest challenge.
Any tips or insights into how you storyboarded the project? How'd you tackle the distractor choices?
Well, we tackled this in a very small way, and I believe in a somewhat pragmatic way too.
At the beginning of elearning courses, Instructional Designers typically ask a question. For example, "What would happen if SARS broke out in your city?" or "Are you prepared for the next Hurricane?" or "Think you can close the sale?"
These early questions are used to arouse curiosity or identify gaps.
So, instead of just asking the question then moving on, give the learner a range of options and make it an interactive experience—since we already know (to a degree) the range of how people feel about our topic.
You could start with something simple like:
"You're going to spend the next 30 minutes learning about onboarding. How do you feel about that?"
[Sounds great! Do I get a certificate too?!]
[Um, what the hell is Onboarding?]
[I'm already an Onboarding Pro. Do I have to sit here for 30 minutes?]
Now, if they select the third option, we can reply with, "Actually friend, you don't. Let me escort you to our handy-dandy pre-test. Get 100% and you save 25 minutes."
So, my best tip is to pick that easy low-hanging fruit at the beginning of your course. Put yourself in the learner's shoes, and brainstorm some ideas like I did (options and distractors).
In our course we addressed the fact that some learners may even be skeptical that they'll learn anything of value... which makes sense to address early on I think?
Play around with ideas, bounce them off your client / stakeholder—see what sticks :)
Love Jellyvision since they created "You Don't Know Jack". I constantly refer to their work for inspiration or a laugh. I think you got the whole jellyvision feel right on the spot with this.
Love the Benny Hill overview. :) Great job. Could you show a screenshot of Story View so people can kind of see how the course flows?
I worked on a course a while back that was based off of an earlier Jelly Vision demo. We called the persistent path the conversational tour guide. Whenever you deviated, we had an usher who'd respond to your questions and then get you back to the tour guide.
It was an easy way for us to work through the branching of the course.
Glad to know you're appreciating the nod to Benny Hill. I laughed when I thought of it... fits perfectly.
And you're right about Interactive Conversations being easy. They don't take time to implement—considering you can keep the slides simple where you implement them. Just takes an evening of wine and creative thinking.
I don't think Jelly should 'own' the market here... lots of talent in the articulate community can pull this off.
I'd suggest you do another demo and be more 'rapid fire' with the questions and conversation. At least, that's what I would for mine too... 10 to 20 conversation questions in a course intro isn't too much work considering it can be a linear progression (each question leads the learner towards a Menu for example)... a lot of learning can happen too (I envision the 'narrator' telling the learner to read a resource or policy page if the learner's perspective (based on the option chosen) would justify the narrator saying, "You should really read our harassment policy before we continue, here it is." ... or, "Stay right where you are. Corporate security is being dispatched to remove you from the premises ... just kidding... your answer was fine."
On Linkedin, I got called out for my use of bullets at one point in the Intro. Which is an excellent point. Give me a do over, and I would make those 3 objectives Interactive conversations too... probably be more ambiguous too in the response just to arouse curiosity ... Now I'm just noodling out loud :P
I went to edit my post and deleted it by mistake so here is my Jelly example again: Jelly
This was my first attempt at this style. This was actually a marketing demo and I used the jelly approach to give the viewer more control over which information they wanted to see because there was a ton of material. I was a little nervous about whether or not the style would go over with the client so played it a little safe with the question and answer approach.
If I get an opportunity to do something like this again, I would definitely have more rapid fire questions up front like Ryan suggests. I noticed that David Anderson has based the challenge this week on Ryan's example so maybe I will get another kick at the can.
Yeah, from our perspective—as learning developers—it's a question of how "Jelly" fits in our projects. I think the model is more applicable to our industry than Jelly's (product marketing) ... it's just about picking our spots and experimenting ... getting feedback etc.
I'm sure an elearning developer can niche with just this model and do really well.
Nancy, I was nervous too ... really surprised how much of the schtick got the okay, the "tool" reference and "onboarding ninja" for example...
25 Replies
wow Ryan that was really cool
Thanks Blair.
Oh this is a terrific example, Ryan! I remember trying this effect in Flash about 7 years ago. It was a bit more work than Storyline, but I recall the writing to be the biggest challenge.
Any tips or insights into how you storyboarded the project? How'd you tackle the distractor choices?
I've long admired Jelly Vision's work. Thanks for sharing your take on their interactive convo design!
Hey David! :)
Tips or insights... here goes.
Well, we tackled this in a very small way, and I believe in a somewhat pragmatic way too.
At the beginning of elearning courses, Instructional Designers typically ask a question. For example, "What would happen if SARS broke out in your city?" or "Are you prepared for the next Hurricane?" or "Think you can close the sale?"
These early questions are used to arouse curiosity or identify gaps.
So, instead of just asking the question then moving on, give the learner a range of options and make it an interactive experience—since we already know (to a degree) the range of how people feel about our topic.
You could start with something simple like:
"You're going to spend the next 30 minutes learning about onboarding. How do you feel about that?"
[Sounds great! Do I get a certificate too?!]
[Um, what the hell is Onboarding?]
[I'm already an Onboarding Pro. Do I have to sit here for 30 minutes?]
Now, if they select the third option, we can reply with, "Actually friend, you don't. Let me escort you to our handy-dandy pre-test. Get 100% and you save 25 minutes."
So, my best tip is to pick that easy low-hanging fruit at the beginning of your course. Put yourself in the learner's shoes, and brainstorm some ideas like I did (options and distractors).
In our course we addressed the fact that some learners may even be skeptical that they'll learn anything of value... which makes sense to address early on I think?
Play around with ideas, bounce them off your client / stakeholder—see what sticks :)
Ryan
Love Jellyvision since they created "You Don't Know Jack". I constantly refer to their work for inspiration or a laugh. I think you got the whole jellyvision feel right on the spot with this.
Okay Ryan's example has inspired this Friday's challenge!
Excellent design and excellent demo, Ryan. Yakkity Sax for the win!
Great work. JellyVision is seriously awesome fun stuff. I like how you used the button click sounds for a whimsical effect!
Love the Benny Hill overview. :) Great job. Could you show a screenshot of Story View so people can kind of see how the course flows?
I worked on a course a while back that was based off of an earlier Jelly Vision demo. We called the persistent path the conversational tour guide. Whenever you deviated, we had an usher who'd respond to your questions and then get you back to the tour guide.
It was an easy way for us to work through the branching of the course.
Glad to know you're appreciating the nod to Benny Hill. I laughed when I thought of it... fits perfectly.
And you're right about Interactive Conversations being easy. They don't take time to implement—considering you can keep the slides simple where you implement them. Just takes an evening of wine and creative thinking.
Screenshots are coming :)
Great work Ryan, I have "borrowed" a lot of jellyvision stuff over the years, and this is a wonderful example of what you can do. Thanks for sharing.
Nice work and thanks for sharing.
Yeah, I think there is some opportunity with the technique. At least have it in your back pocket as an engaging & marketable elearning solution.
This concept is easy to do to add to your portfolio too. Just take a course that's out there and "Jelly" it for a demo piece.
That's the new elearning design buzzword. "Just *jelly* it up."
This thread is doing well in the new buzzword department.
I envision clients & stakeholders requesting a "Benny Hill Overview" to speed up their project gate reviews.
Hell, I'm sure learners would love the Benny Hill option too ;)
"Jelly it up with some Yakkity Sax" Ha!
JYS
Just JYS it.
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Fantastic example, thanks Ryan.
This was so great! I laughed, I anticipated, I cried..... wait, no, i just laughed again.
That's really good Nancy.
I don't think Jelly should 'own' the market here... lots of talent in the articulate community can pull this off.
I'd suggest you do another demo and be more 'rapid fire' with the questions and conversation. At least, that's what I would for mine too... 10 to 20 conversation questions in a course intro isn't too much work considering it can be a linear progression (each question leads the learner towards a Menu for example)... a lot of learning can happen too (I envision the 'narrator' telling the learner to read a resource or policy page if the learner's perspective (based on the option chosen) would justify the narrator saying, "You should really read our harassment policy before we continue, here it is." ... or, "Stay right where you are. Corporate security is being dispatched to remove you from the premises ... just kidding... your answer was fine."
On Linkedin, I got called out for my use of bullets at one point in the Intro. Which is an excellent point. Give me a do over, and I would make those 3 objectives Interactive conversations too... probably be more ambiguous too in the response just to arouse curiosity ... Now I'm just noodling out loud :P
Thanks for sharing! Got me thinking.
I went to edit my post and deleted it by mistake so here is my Jelly example again: Jelly
This was my first attempt at this style. This was actually a marketing demo and I used the jelly approach to give the viewer more control over which information they wanted to see because there was a ton of material. I was a little nervous about whether or not the style would go over with the client so played it a little safe with the question and answer approach.
If I get an opportunity to do something like this again, I would definitely have more rapid fire questions up front like Ryan suggests. I noticed that David Anderson has based the challenge this week on Ryan's example so maybe I will get another kick at the can.
Yeah, from our perspective—as learning developers—it's a question of how "Jelly" fits in our projects. I think the model is more applicable to our industry than Jelly's (product marketing) ... it's just about picking our spots and experimenting ... getting feedback etc.
I'm sure an elearning developer can niche with just this model and do really well.
Nancy, I was nervous too ... really surprised how much of the schtick got the okay, the "tool" reference and "onboarding ninja" for example...
Cheers Richard :)
This post was removed by the author
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