How to discreetly get the viewer attention to click on an object ?

Jan 02, 2018

Can anyone share their techniques to make a viewer aware that some areas can be clicked ? Obviously putting a pulsating marker is one, but I feel when there are many blinking objects it is distracting. Some objects can have a roll-over state but I prefer when the user does not constantly have to click, just pass the mouse over an object to reveal the link. 

I like to train the user to discover on their own.. but how about the "less astute" one ?

Thanks for your suggestions!

5 Replies
Ray Cole

I often create my own hotspot by just using a rectangle shape formatted with no line and a fill that is 100% transparent. That's the Normal state, which is invisible. You can then lay it over any part of the screen that you want to make "clickable." I also create a Hover state by allowing the fill color to be only 50% transparent, and a Selected state by placing a solid (0% transparent) 3 to 6 pixel line around a duplicate of the Hover state.

When you add a trigger to an object like this, so that it becomes clickable, Storyline will automatically change the mouse pointer to the hand shape when the learner hovers the mouse pointer over it.

Add an on-screen direction that says something like "Roll your mouse pointer over any <whatever> you see, then click it to investigate further" (where <whatever> is something like "problem," "anomaly," "device," "person," etc., depending on the scenario you are implementing).

Between the on-screen direction, and the color-change that occurs when the mouse rolls over your custom hotspots, most people will be able to figure out what to do.

Cheers!

     -Ray

Ray Cole

Hi Philippe,

Yes, if your clickable objects are discreet, separated objects then you can use the objects themselves, just as you suggest. But the method I described works when you want to have multiple clickable objects in a single photograph (where the various objects are not cut out or separated). The principle is the same, though, either way.

Cheers!

    -Ray

Philippe JEANTY

Got into a problem ... the vast majority of my objects are pictures with a black background that I remove with Formal > Recolor > St Transparent color

So using the object and placing a line edge around makes a line around the "real" rectangular border of the object not around the object that is visible (that would have been cool !). So no point in using the object: I go back to the rectangle you recommended i will be less demanding on the application.

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