Locking It Down Scenarios yes or no?

Hi Zara,

You should lock the slides that you don't want your learners to click the next button in the player controls. In other words, any slide you have set up for the learner click a button on that slide,  you will want to lock it. You want them to click on the slide, rather than moving past the branching you have set up. Then, the slide(s) that are not set up with any hyperlinking, you can use the branching feature to make sure the learner goes to the correct "previous" and "next" slides.

Hope this helps!

Christina

I agree with Christina. Removing the standard forward and back buttons makes the user pay attention to the navigation you've created; otherwise, they might simply bypass the exercise. And who wants to keep clicking "next" anyway?

I include instruction test that tells the learner "Your regular forward and back buttons will be disabled during this exercise."

Finally, I hide all the slides after the main screen...that ensures that your exercise will only appear as one page in the module.

Hi Zara,

Thanks for posting here and for sharing the overview of your course design.

Most times, users don't like any form of locked navigation, so you might want to really define when and how it's used. For the type of scenario you're showing, I'd lock it down because the interactions are taking place on the slides.

For scenarios created as "Learn More" or "Review this Scenario" interactions, I think leaving navigation open is more appropriate.

Zara, it really depends.  I have gotten in the habit of hiding certain slides in a scenario so the learner doesn't "feel" as if you have locked them out of certain areas.

I agree with Mike's process.

Robert, can you explain how you hide the slides? (I'm an Adobe user who is now using Articulate in a new position -- sorry for the greenness.)

First off, your course looks amazing!

Second, what I do sometimes (and I use "no sidebar" mode, so this probably only applies when there is no navigation) is instead of "locking" the navigation I set it up so that "Previous" goes to the choice they came from, and next goes nowhere (Or more specifically, next goes to the slide they are on) that way they are never "locked" and can always go back to look at something earlier in the course.

I don't know if that would apply to you.

Thanks Kayla. I like your idea. Allowing the user to go back only.

Thank you also to everyone else.

To be honest I really still can't decide but I think that I will do a combo. Leave the scenario bits open and full screen and the questions locked. I guess really it comes down to your audience and what their preference is like David said most users don't like to be locked down. And then again there is the Management input and direction that ultimately will make the final nod.

The other thing I like about making "next" loop to the slide they are one, is that if there is any audio on the slide it is repeated, so if they missed the instructions they can listen again.

My team has a basics course that all of our trainees watch as pre-training to live classroom training. It's pretty lengthy and takes over an hour to complete.

Some of the team prefers that all slides should be locked, to ensure trainees watch the entire thing. Are there any posts or suggestions from Articulate staff that propose the benefits of not locking a slide to improve user experience? I'd like to unlock the navigation for the trainees, but want to back up my suggestion with some expert opinions. Thanks!

I am not staff, however....IMVHO - when people "lock down" courses, it is usually through "fear" that the consumer/learner will not look at the slide.

This fear is usualy brought about by the fact that they do not actually know whether the content is useful or not, and think "...If they do not look at it - they will not learn this important subject". They think that looking at the slides is a measure of success, whereas invariably, measurable behavioural change is the measure of success, and they have not bothered to set this all up in advance of thinking about/creating the training.

In your scenario Meg, do not worry about the length of the training, but you need to explain to them, before they start, and during, WHY they need to consume - and the Benefit and Value of consumption.

What will happen in the classroom if they do not complete the course? That is your "stick", not lockdown.

Bruce

Totally agree with Bruce.  THere needs to be an understanding of the end result and the purpose.  Is the concern that the user  just complete the course or is there a genuine need for some behavioral or strategic change?  If a change is expected, then exploration and freedom are always beneficial.

Meg,

The latest teaching on Adult Theory and Presentation suggests that the user is an adult and wants to control his or her experience.

While some company cultures may not warrant that freedom, it is what is currently being taught: Freedom to create your own user experience. 

Hope that helps you!

Dan

Amen to that!

Bruce

For Articulate Studio, go to slide properties, then right click on the slide title under where it says Navigation title, and choose hide in navigation panel.

Zara- I imagine you've gotten enough feedback at this point. My own brief 2 cents is that as a general rule I only lock down slides that that must be locked for slide/branching/hyperlinking purposes. And then it's just because I've given them control in another way.

Besides that, I just wanted to say that your course looks fantastic! 

I agree with Natalia, I have the hyperlinked slides appear as Slide Only, so users are encouraged to click on the screen and it doesn't feel like I've 'locked' the player controls.

P.S. course looks awesome!!