2 Reasons to Use Storyline 360 for Software Simulations
Software simulations are a great way to teach learners how to use a new app or system. They allow you to record a process on your screen and give learners the opportunity to interact with the content by doing things like clicking on specific areas of the application or entering text or data, just like they would in real life. A lot of thought and preparation goes into creating software simulations—you have to identify which steps to show learners, hide any clutter on your screen, set the recording area size, and work with fake data or a testing environment. Because getting your screen ready for recording can be so time-consuming, it can be a real pain if you end up making a mistake and needing to re-record. Luckily, Storyline 360 gives you everything you need to avoid rework. Let’s take a peek at two of the benefits of using Storyline 360 that make it quick and easy to repurpose and adjust interactive software simulations. 1. Record Once and Reuse as Needed Some screen recording apps make you decide on the output format—a video tutorial or a simulation—before you record. This means once you’ve recorded your screen, if you were to change your mind about how you want to use it, you would have to re-record the entire thing in a new format. With Storyline 360, you can avoid those snags. You can record your entire process and then choose the format afterward. You have the option to insert it as a video or convert it into a series of slides (which include both demo and simulation modes). This means you can reuse your recording in different formats without having to start over—saving you tons of time. 2. Make Quick Edits Picture this: You’re almost done recording your screen when an unwanted pop-up notification appears. You don’t want learners to see that in your screen recording, so what do you do? Depending on the app you’re using, you might have to either start your recording all over again or edit it after the fact in a separate video editing app. Thankfully, that isn’t the case if you’re creating screen recordings with Storyline 360. If you want to make quick edits to a step-by-step slide, simply right-click on it and select the Action Fine-Tuning option from the menu. This will open up a window that lets you edit things like the start and end frames of a step. With this handy feature, you can avoid redoing your recording or opening another app to make edits. Check out this user guide to learn more: Storyline 360: Editing Screen Recordings. Wrap-Up As you can see, thanks to these two powerful features, screen recording in Storyline 360 is super fast and easy. It helps you avoid rework by allowing you to make decisions and adjustments after you record. Such a timesaver! Want to learn more about using this powerful feature? Check out these helpful articles: Follow These 5 Steps to Record Your Screen in Storyline 360 5 Tips for Creating Effective Software Simulations with Storyline 360 Follow This Process to Create Software Simulations and Systems Training Like a Pro Do you have any tips of your own about using Storyline 360 to develop software simulations? Leave them in a comment below! Want to try something you learned here, but don’t have Articulate 360? Start a free 30-day trial, and come back to E-Learning Heroes regularly for more helpful advice on everything related to e-learning.How I Built This Dial-Driven Map Activity in Storyline 360 (With Help from ChatGPT)
Despite our increasingly ‘touchscreen’ and ‘hands-free’ world, dials are still a big part of everyday life. If you need to emulate a dial in your e-learning experience, this feature can make your interaction more realistic, tactile, and relevant for the learner. For the Using Interactive Dials E-Learning Challenge, I created a Storyline 360 example that used dials as a sort of drag-and-drop. Along the way, I tried out some creative techniques that helped this project work in unexpected ways—including using the dial feature to animate an object and an unconventional approach to enable the dial to spin in both directions. Here’s a behind-the-scenes look at how this project works. Project Overview This demo project teaches people some simple map navigation techniques. You can try it out for yourself here and download the Storyline 360 project file here. To complete the activity, you end up interacting with three ‘picture as dial’ controls: To start the course, you need to turn the compass so its edge connects Point A and Point B Then, you have to turn the compass housing to the correct orientation to get your bearing While you’re doing this, the compass needle—which is also a dial locked in a disabled state—will oscillate slightly Creating my dial graphics I created the compass in PowerPoint and exported it as a large, hi-res PNG image. I doubled its height using Pixlr and used Storyline’s Convert to Dial feature to create a custom dial. Using the dial as a drag-and-drop This dial has four states, which are triggered by changes to the associated Compass_Base variable: Changes to the same variable also trigger events within the demo, effectively making this a drag-and-drop activity, but with a fixed axis. Unlike most drag-and-drops, though, it is accessible via the keyboard. Allowing the dial to turn in both directions In its default setting, a dial can only make one complete turn, which is limiting when you are trying to mimic a real-life object that can turn in both directions. To overcome this, the second dial in my demo has a 1440° rotation and its starting position is 687°—about halfway, just left of center—to match the appearance of the compass base. This dial can turn clockwise or counterclockwise for two rotations in each direction before coming to a stop. But that does make it quite tricky to use its position to calculate a bearing, as positions 0, 360, 720, 1080, and 1440 all point north. To compensate for this, I asked ChatGPT to write some custom JavaScript for me: // Function to calculate the heading function calculateHeading(compass) { // Calculate the heading with special handling for multiples of 360 var heading = 360 - (compass % 360); // Adjust heading for cases where it's 360 but should be 0 if (heading === 360) { heading = 0; } return heading; } // Function to adjust heading to 0 whenever it becomes 360 function adjustHeading(heading) { if (heading === 360) { heading = 0; } return heading; } // Get the value of the Storyline variable Compass and calculate Heading var Compass = player.GetVar("Compass"); // Assuming "Compass" is the name of your Storyline variable var Heading = calculateHeading(Compass); // Adjust Heading to 0 whenever it becomes 360 Heading = adjustHeading(Heading); // Set the Storyline variable "Heading" to the adjusted value player.SetVar("Heading", Heading); // Assuming "Heading" is the name of your Storyline variable And this is the result: With this code, I can tell if the compass housing is upside down even if it has been turned more than once. Pointing the compass housing south is a common mistake for novice navigators, but my demo will spot this and provide correction. Using animation to enhance the dial experience The third dial is purely for decoration. During the second part of the activity, I wanted the compass needle to move gently as you were turning the compass housing—just as it does in real life. This dial has a more limited rotation and range: I used ChatGPT again to create some custom JavaScript that makes the compass needle oscillate each time the compass housing is turned: // Function to randomly adjust Compass_Needle between 8 and 15, returning to 11 within 0.50 seconds function adjustCompassNeedle() { var randomValue = Math.floor(Math.random() * 8) + 8; // Generates a random number between 8 and 15 player.SetVar("Compass_Needle", randomValue); setTimeout(function() { player.SetVar("Compass_Needle", 11); // Return Compass_Needle to 11 after 0.50 seconds }, 500); } // Variable to store the previous value of Compass var previousCompassValue; // Function to handle changes in the Compass variable function handleCompassChange() { var currentCompassValue = player.GetVar("Compass"); // Get the current value of the Compass variable // Check if the Compass value has changed if (currentCompassValue !== previousCompassValue) { // Call the function to adjust Compass_Needle adjustCompassNeedle(); // Update the previous value of Compass previousCompassValue = currentCompassValue; } } And here’s a close-up of the result: Wrap-Up As you can see, there are lots of creative ways to use dials to produce all sorts of fascinating interactions! And I hope these insights about my project creation process give you ideas to try in your own work. As you might imagine, there’s quite a bit more going on in this demo beyond just dials—notably some Jump to Time–powered animations and an approach for controlling a Zoom panel with pause/play timeline triggers. So be sure to check out the project Storyline 360 file to see how the whole experience comes together. And please dial me up if you have any more questions! Want to try something you learned here, but don’t have Articulate 360? Start a free 30-day trial. And subscribe to our newsletter to get the latest product updates, e-learning examples, and expert advice directly in your inbox. If you have questions, please share them in the comments.Storyline Step-By-Step Slides: View, Try and Test Mode
As you’ve used Storyline 360, you may have noticed the Record Screen option. It’s perfect for putting together a software tutorial or explainer video quickly. But once you’ve created a recording, did you know that Storyline 360 also has three ways to automatically break that content into easily digestible steps? That’s right—Storyline 360 keeps track of all the different clicks and interactions in your recording. So if you want to transform that video into step-by-step slides, Storyline 360 can do the development work for you. You can then use the results as is or further customize the steps to fit your learners’ needs. In this article, we’ll look at how these different step-by-step modes work and when they’re most helpful for learning. Demonstrate a Process with View Mode If you need to introduce learners to a new tool or process, View Mode is the way to go! With View Mode, your video is split into multiple slides that show each step. The slides automatically animate through your tutorial, like a guided tour. And with the option to add text captions automatically, you can even include on-screen explanations of each step. Since learners are just watching the demonstration, it’s a perfect way to ease them into navigating brand new tools or techniques. Provide Hands-On Practice with Try Mode When you want learners to try out a process in a safe environment, select Try Mode. Storyline 360 automatically adds timed pauses, hotspots, and keyboard shortcuts to make your screen recording interactive. And for more guided help, Storyline 360 can also add small text captions on each screen to provide hints about what to do! Since Try Mode asks learners to do the process themselves, it’s a good fit for when they already have some baseline knowledge—either from past experience or an earlier lesson—and need hands-on practice. And since Try Mode interactions aren’t graded, they’re a stress-free way to learn from mistakes. Assess Learner Skills with Test Mode At first glance, Test Mode looks a lot like Try Mode. But where the latter is all about practice, the former focuses on assessment. In Test Mode, Storyline 360 converts each interactive video slide into a graded question. You can then use the Test Mode options and quiz settings to customize the experience further. For instance, you can set what feedback (if any) to show after a learner responds to the steps, how many attempts they have to get it right, and what counts as a passing score for the overall test. Test Mode is perfect for wrapping up a course and confirming learners can do a process independently. And since the quiz score can be reported to a learning management system (LMS), it’s also a way to mark course completion. Try Out These Modes for Yourself Those short explanations are a great introduction, but do you know the best way to understand these different modes? By getting hands-on experience with them! Want to see these modes in action? Check out this Storyline step-by-step example to see the same content shared in View, Try, and Test Modes. You can also watch the original screen recording they were all created from. Wrap-Up The screen recorder in Storyline 360 makes it easy to provide the help learners need to pick up new or improved software—whether with a video tutorial, a step-by-step breakdown, guided practice, or an interactive assessment. And since there’s no limit to how many times you can use your recording, you can even include more than one mode in your course with minimal additional effort! Interested in discovering more tips for recording your screen with the Articulate 360 apps? Then check out these helpful articles: Follow These 5 Steps to Record Your Screen in Storyline 360 How to Decide Which Articulate 360 App to Use for Screen Recording 5 Tips for Creating Effective Software Simulations with Storyline 360 Want to try something you learned here but don’t have Articulate 360? It takes no time at all to start a free 30-day trial. If you have any questions, share them in the comments below. And be sure to come back to E-Learning Heroes regularly for more helpful advice on everything related to e-learning.The Difference between Screencasts and Software Simulations
If you’re new to creating software training—and even if you’re not!—you might use the terms screencast and software simulation interchangeably. But did you know they’re actually two different things? It can be easy to get these terms confused, so let’s walk through the nuances that differentiate these two methods and explore the use cases for each. Screencasts Screencasts are videos that show a recording of your computer screen. They’re often used to demonstrate the use of an application or software. They include all of your mouse movements and typically have audio narration that gives learners more contextual information about the process they’re seeing—such as the names of various software features or steps. Because screencasts are simply videos, they’re not interactive. When to use a screencast Screencasts are great for creating simple “how-to” videos. This kind of visual walkthrough is beneficial when you’re trying to explain a process that’s too complicated to explain with written text alone. And if the process isn’t something learners will be doing frequently, screencasts can be a helpful performance support resource that learners can easily reference in the future. How to create a screencast If you have Articulate 360, you already have access to not just one but TWO apps that are specifically designed for screencasts: Peek 360 and Replay 360. Learn more about when to use each app in this article: How to Decide Which Articulate 360 App to Use for Screen Recording. Want to see an example? Watch the “How to Add Comments in Review 360” screencast I created with Peek 360 below. This screencast provides a short overview of how to provide feedback on courses in the Review 360 web application. It’s perfect for an audience who may be comfortable with web-based technology and already have familiarity with Review 360. The screencast focuses on a simple process. It’s clear, concise, and to the point. So, how does a software simulation differ? Well, I’m glad you asked. Software Simulations While you also have to record your screen to create a software simulation, the major difference is that instead of simply showing the learners what to do, you give them the opportunity to try it out for themselves. They’re called simulations because you simulate the software’s interface by recording it and turning that recording into an interactive practice environment for learners. They can go through and click on all the buttons—like you did when you recorded it. It’s almost as if they’re using the software themselves. The advantage of doing it this way—versus simply having them use the actual software—is that you can build in on-screen explanations and feedback to guide them as they practice. Software simulations are usually the go-to for creating software training because they provide learners with a risk-free environment to help them learn a new app or process. Another thing that sets simulations apart from screencasts is that you can test your learners’ understanding by creating a simulation that’s graded. For every click in the right spot, learners can earn points. And for clicks in the wrong spots, points can be taken away. It’s a great way to ensure learners have understood how to complete specific processes within an app or software. When to use a software simulation Interactive software simulations are ideal when you want learners to physically practice using the software themselves—including entering data, interacting with drop-down menus, and identifying multiple steps in a more complex process. Software simulations give learners an opportunity to practice using the proper click-path of a specific process or software without fear of impacting the actual production environment or ruining any real-life data. With software simulations, you can put your learners in the driver’s seat so they can deepen their knowledge of a process, gain experience, and build confidence in using an app or piece of software. How to create a software simulation Articulate 360 subscribers can use Storyline 360 to create software simulations quickly and easily. Want to learn how? Here’s a tutorial that’ll help you get started: Creating Software Simulations in Storyline 360. Want to see an example? Explore the software simulation created with Storyline 360 below. In this example, users learn how to get started using the Review 360 web application. This simulation walks through four basic steps that you need to know how to do if you’ll be using Review 360. You’ll notice that because learners actually click through the software themselves, they must pay closer attention to each step in the process. This simulation is perfect for an audience who might not be as familiar with web-based technology or for users who are brand new to navigating Review 360. With simulations, learners can confidently navigate a new application because they’re practicing in the safety of a learning environment. View example More Resources Now you’re well on your way to identifying the nuances between screencasts and software simulations and you should be able to use these terms confidently when tackling your next project! To help you keep everything straight, I’ve outlined the differences in the handy table below. Screencasts Software Simulations Use case Demonstrate a simple, straightforward process. Train learners on a complex process through interactive practice and/or assessment opportunities. Interactive No Yes On-Screen Hints & Feedback No Yes Looking for more best practices around creating screencasts and software simulations? Check out these resources! And let us know in the comments what screencasts and software simulations you’ll be creating next. Follow This Process to Create Software Simulations and Systems Training Like a Pro 3 Methods for Recording Screencasts 4 Tips on Creating Software Tutorials in Rise 360 Tips for Using the Storyline 360 Screen Recorder Like a Pro Follow us on Twitter and come back to E-Learning Heroes regularly for more helpful advice on everything related to e-learning. If you have any questions, please share them in the comments.6 Software Training Examples That Will Make Learners “Screen” With Joy
Employees often come to an organization with a wide range of technical experience. But one thing is certain—software training empowers employees to perform more efficiently and confidently. For intuitive software, a simple screencast can orient your employees to an app’s layout and features. Other times, you might need to give learners a more hands-on learning experience with a simulation that creates a risk-free practice environment. In either case, if you need some inspiration for creating software training, check out our favorite community examples. From screencasts to simulations, you’ll find creative solutions to spark your next project! Rise 360: Project Management Software Training Use labeled graphics, multimedia, and interactive blocks to give learners both an introduction and inspiration for how to use new software like Madison McCartney does in this Rise 360 course. Storyline: E-Learning Heroes 101 Guide learners through the step-by-step process to create an E-Learning Heroes community profile with this helpful simulation from Allison LaMotte. Storyline: Audio Editing Simulation Get learners comfortable using audio editing tools before even downloading any software, thanks to this simulation by Josh Petermann that includes both a view and try mode. Storyline: Learn Triggers Software Simulation Safely introduce new software to learners and let them practice risk-free, like in this handy simulation by Richard Watson. Storyline: Review 360 Software Simulation Replicate the experience of using new software by taking inspiration from this helpful Review 360 software simulation created by the Community Team. Storyline: Video Editing Controls Simulation Give learners a realistic opportunity to practice interacting with video editing software just as Dan Sweigert does in this guided simulation. Wrap-Up Hopefully, these examples spark ideas for how you’ll empower learners with your next software training. Our generous community members share their projects in weekly challenges, downloads, and examples, so check back regularly for new inspiration. What type of software training do you plan on tackling next? Let us know in the comments! To learn more about creating software training, check out these articles: The Difference Between Screencasts and Software Simulations 4 Tips on Creating Software Tutorials in Rise 360 2 Reasons to Use Storyline 360 for Software Simulations Everything You Need to Know About Creating Software Simulations with Storyline How to Decide Which Articulate 360 App to Use for Screen Recording Follow This Process to Create Software Simulations and Systems Training Like a Pro Follow us on Twitter and come back to E-Learning Heroes regularly for more helpful advice on everything related to e-learning. If you have any questions, please share them in the comments.6 Things Video Games Can Teach You About Writing Engaging Scenarios
Scenarios have always been one of my favorite things to write as an instructional designer. I love coming up with different characters, deciding what makes them tick, and figuring out how that should impact what they say or do in the story. And while books, movies, and TV shows have taught me much of what I know about designing scenarios, at the end of the day video games have been an even better teacher. Sure, not every game has fully developed characters or a gripping plot—but the ones that do can be a great source of inspiration for e-learning scenarios. From the way you interact with the experience to the approaches used to write interesting and immersive stories, there’s so much shared DNA between games and learning scenarios. And it makes sense because they both have a similar goal: to find interesting ways to challenge their audience and help them improve their skills. This means I’ve now become that nerd who can’t play a video game without also being inspired to create future e-learning projects. Here are a few of the most helpful scenario-writing insights I’ve pulled from inadvertently turning my hobby into instructional design research. 1. A compelling plot trumps high-end graphics When you think about creating exciting scenarios, you might worry about not having the skills or resources to make cutting-edge visuals. Will it fall flat if the characters and setting don’t look photorealistic? Do you need to have a huge budget to make top-notch, custom graphics? Thankfully, video games have a resounding answer for you: no! When it comes to scenario-based games, it’s been proven time and time again that the story you tell often matters more to players than your graphics. One fantastic example of this is the game Lifeline. It’s a gripping, sometimes stressful, experience told entirely through text messages between the player and an astronaut lost in space. And as it plays out, the fact that you can’t see anything but text actually adds tension to the story. Another example of compelling storytelling paired with basic graphics is Reigns—a royalty simulator that uses simple cards to give you choices on how you want to rule. It’s incredible how quickly you can get immersed in the game even when there aren’t many visuals. Now, this isn’t to say your scenario’s aesthetics are meaningless. It’s more that if you have a limited amount of time and resources, it’s best to focus on crafting the story and keep the look and feel simple. 2. It's less fun when the right decision is obvious A common mistake I see in many learning scenarios is that it’s incredibly easy to guess what the best conversation or decision option is. Maybe it’s longer than the other choices, or the wording is strangely formal. Or perhaps the weaker options are so terrible that anyone would know they were a bad idea. When it doesn’t take much thinking to identify the correct choice, it quickly becomes boring. Instead, it’s better to give your audience challenging yet realistic decisions to ponder. Things that make them think hard about what the best option could be. And games have been doing this incredibly well for years. Take The Walking Dead series from Telltale Games. Set in a grim zombie apocalypse, this series excels at forcing players to make tough decisions where nearly every option has both strengths and drawbacks. And that difficulty gives those choices weight, drawing players into the story to evaluate their options and see what happens as a result. By using this approach in your scenarios, you can take full advantage of a significant strength of this format: making people think deeply about challenging situations. 3. Make sure your learners have enough information to succeed On the other side of the pendulum, you don’t want to make a scenario frustratingly hard either. I’ve seen training scenarios where learners aren’t given enough information to make informed decisions. For instance, sometimes they’re expected to act on content or character details that haven’t been shared with them. And when the only way to get the right answer is a lucky guess, learners tend to feel annoyed or tune out. This also happens quite frequently in video games. I can’t tell you how often I’ve had to make my game character stumble around every inch of a room to try and figure out what I might be able to interact with. Or how many times I’ve gotten so stuck in a game that I broke down and looked up a walkthrough to get spoilers on what to do next. These issues often result from learning professionals or game developers not realizing that what’s obvious for them as creators isn’t nearly as apparent to a player entering this world for the first time. This is why you’ll want to keep track of what information you’ve shared with learners (and when) as you plan out your scenario. Another good way to catch these issues is to have people who didn’t create the scenario test it out, as they can point out where things might still be unclear. 4. Think about the subtle ways you can give learners feedback Most people are familiar with the basic methods older games used to communicate how well (or terribly) you were doing: points and lives. And while these approaches are still used in many games today, story-based games often use more subtle and realistic signals instead. And think about it, what feels more woven into a scenario: an on-screen notification that you just gained 100 points or the character you’re talking to smiling at what you just said? One of the best video game genres to see this kind of story-based feedback is one you might not think of initially: dating simulations. Since the gameplay revolves around interpersonal communication, they’re a wealth of ideas for subtly signaling progress. Take the dating sim parody Hatoful Boyfriend. You can tell so much about how your conversation is going based on the written tone of the characters’ responses. And in Scarlet Hollow, a hybrid horror game and dating sim, characters often use body language to signal how they feel about your conversation choices. And that game also gives you access to different conversation options depending on whether you’re connecting with a character or irritating them. Subtle feedback like this is more similar to real-life situations, making for a more realistic experience for your learners. 5. Make dialogue sound conversational One thing that can quickly take conversations in a scenario from useful to unintentionally hilarious is awkward wording. When it’s noticeably different from how people actually talk, it can easily pull people out of a story. And when those speech patterns are also stilted and formal—a common issue in training scenarios—that further removes the experience from the real world. Video games have fantastic examples of just how bad this can get. Many older games are infamous for clunky writing, whether due to bad translations or too little thought put into the dialogue. For instance, I spent a good portion of my teenage years snickering every time someone opened their mouth in the Resident Evil series. But over the years, improvements in game writing (and voice acting) have shown how getting these things right can elevate the experience. Take this comparison of the original Resident Evil game dialogue versus a more recent remake. Sure, the updated writing still isn’t perfect, but it’s substantially better than the original and doesn’t inadvertently turn a horror game into a joke. So what’s the best way to avoid clunky 90’s video game dialogue in your scenarios? Read your script out loud as you’re drafting it. If it sounds weird as you say it, that’s a good sign that it could use reworking. 6. Don’t make it more fun to make bad choices than good ones One of my early gaming memories is playing SimCity on the computers at my middle school. While the official goal in the game was to create an ever-expanding metropolis, I instead took delight in taking that city and inflicting every disaster I could on it. What can I say—when a game gives you a monster attack option, how can you not use it?! Absurd destruction wasn’t remotely the point of the game, but I can’t deny it was fun. Sometimes even more fun than the actual game. This is important to keep in mind as you consider the different paths in your scenarios. It can be amusing as you’re writing to make the less desirable choices funny or over the top. Maybe your worst dialogue options are the snarky things people always wish they could say to rude customers. Or perhaps you hide Easter eggs in the experience that unlock silly bonus endings. Now, these choices aren’t in and of themselves wrong. But if you end up making it more enjoyable to do all the wrong things rather than use your scenario for practice, you can’t be surprised if your learners choose amusement over work. Fun is a crucial part of what makes game-like experiences like scenarios so engaging. Just make sure that the majority of the fun serves to reinforce the project’s learning goals. Wrap-Up So there you have it. Hidden in an admittedly frightful number of hours spent on solving puzzles to escape from a sinking cruise liner, exploring haunted islands, and being a horrible goose was also a goldmine of ideas for writing learning scenarios. From the most effective places to focus limited resources, how much information to give learners to keep things enjoyable but challenging, and where you should focus the fun factor to reinforce learning, video games are full of all sorts of insights we can apply to creating our own learning scenarios. So you know what that means: you now have solid justification to splurge on a few games in the name of work research! Have you picked up your own scenario-writing insights from gaming? Be sure to add them to the comments. And if you want to know even more about making compelling e-learning scenarios, check out these articles: 7 Tips for Writing Effective E-Learning Scenarios Build 3-Step Scenarios Like a Pro with Storyline 360 How to Easily Create Branching Scenarios in Rise 360 Follow us on Twitter and come back to E-Learning Heroes regularly for more helpful advice on everything related to e-learning.3 Things to Consider Before You Add Interactivity
A while back I wrote an article on five ideas for turning boring bulleted lists into engaging interactions. Fundamentally, those ideas were about transforming static content into something more engaging for learners. But making content interactive doesn’t always improve the learning experience—or even guarantee it’s more engaging. Adding interactivity in the wrong situations just puts more clicks between learners and the information they need to do their jobs. So, if you’re not sure when to turn content into something complex like a full-blown branched scenario and when to keep it streamlined and simple, here’s some food for thought. What’s the Training Goal? Generally speaking, there are two types of training goals that instructional designers see. Let’s take a look at them and see how they impact course design. Sharing information Here, the goal of training is to convey critical information—like policies or procedures—and for learners to show they can correctly recall them. When the goal is strictly to share information, try to keep it simple. Make finding those facts in your course as straightforward as possible, and even consider if you need a course at all. In some cases, an online glossary, an interactive job aid, or some other helpful performance support tool could solve your training challenge more effectively. Building or acquiring skills In this case, the goal is to acquire or improve skills. While this training may also involve sharing information, there’s much more emphasis on how learners should apply it while performing their jobs. Building a skill often takes time, guidance, and practice. And including interactions can give learners the support they need along the way. Consider experiences that help them practice application or break down complex skills into smaller ones that are easier to master. For instance, learning how to drive a forklift for the first time involves understanding how several different controls on it work. Rather than creating an interaction that has someone try to learn them all at once, you can make this complex skill more approachable by creating several smaller interactions: one for each control. Interactions like scenarios and simulations can give learners a safe environment to try out how they’d use their new skills on the job. Going back to the example, once your learners had those simple skills mastered, they could take things up to the next level and try a scenario where they use multiple controls together. And since it’s just a scenario, they can safely make mistakes until they get it right. Is the Interaction Relevant? I once met with a client who wanted to build a training program for new salespeople. Their vision for it was an interactive history of the company. Learners would start by selecting an avatar and then they’d curate key pieces of company information to get familiar with the organization’s rich past. I’ll admit: it was a very cool concept. But it was also an hour’s worth of content that wasn’t particularly helpful or relevant to new salespeople. Ultimately I had to let the client know that idea wouldn’t help their new salespeople do their job: sell products. When it comes to training content, relevance is key. When the information you’re sharing is easy to digest and helps folks perform their jobs, you won’t need to add lots of bells and whistles (or clicks) to get their attention. That said, learners will appreciate a more complex interaction if it’s the best way to help them grasp or refine a skill they care about. Where and How Will It Be Used? Another important aspect of context is use. Learners accessing training on the go may not have half an hour to invest in a how-to course. Take an internet installation technician, for example. When you’re training them ahead of time to set up a fancy new modem, that’s the perfect time for an interactive simulation. But when that same technician is out on the job with a customer peering over their shoulder, asking them to sit through a thirty-minute interactive simulation to troubleshoot a faulty setup isn’t very helpful, is it? More Learning By considering these three questions before you add interactivity to your e-learning, you’ll avoid sinking valuable development time into interactions that aren’t necessary. It’ll also help you refine the interactions that you do include, giving learners experiences they'll find to the point and useful. For more on this topic, be sure to check out these articles from the E-Learning Heroes archives: What Does Interactive E-Learning Look Like? 5 Ideas for Turning Boring Bullets into Engaging Interactions 10 Reasons Why It’s Easy to Create Interactions with Storyline 360 When do you add interactivity to your courses? When do you keep it simple? Jump into the conversation with a comment below, or add your voice to the mix in our Building Better Courses forum. Subscribe to our newsletter to get the latest e-learning inspiration and insights directly in your inbox. You can also find us on LinkedIn and X (formerly Twitter). And if you have questions, please share them in the comments.5 Tips for Creating Effective Software Simulations with Storyline 360
When it comes to software training, many people’s minds go straight to video tutorials. And while video tutorials can be good for picking up the basics, when it comes to learning more complex skills, software simulations like this one are often a better option because they allow learners to literally get in there and practice using the software without impacting the actual production environment or real-life data. But how do you make an effective, professional-looking software simulation? Keep reading to find out. 1. Choose the Right Recording Size If you want your screen recording to take up the same space as your other slides and remain nice and crisp even when your course scales to fill the browser, set your recording area to be exactly twice the size of your story slide. For example, if your slides are 720 x 540 pixels, set your recording size to 1440 x 1080. To adjust the size of your recording area, drag the sizing handles on the dashed outline or use the drop-down list on the control bar to choose preset dimensions. Not sure what your slide dimensions are? Click on the Design tab and click on Slide Size to find out: 2. Use Interactivity Wisely Storyline 360 offers a variety of ways you can turn a tutorial video into an interactive learning experience. The easiest way to do this is by choosing either the Try or the Test Mode option after you record your screen: But what about when you just need to add interactivity at a few points? A lesser-known trick for those situations is to insert your slides in View mode and add interactivity using Hotspots. That way you can add interactivity only when it makes sense. 3. Add Contextual Information Contextual information helps learners make sense of what they’re learning. It gives them insight into why and when they might need to use the skills they’re learning. While the Storyline 360 recorder will automatically capture the names of the buttons you click on and add them to the captions, only you can add that extra contextual information that helps your learner understand the “why” behind it all. What type of information should you add? Here are some examples: An introduction slide or caption that explains the process they are about to learn (like this example does) and provides the real-life trigger or context for when this process would need to be completed on the job. Explanations throughout the simulation that help learners understand why and when they’ll use each feature you’re pointing out. However, be sure to keep this information short and to the point. You don’t want to end up with huge captions filled with long paragraphs or bullet lists of text. A summary slide or caption letting learners know the process is complete and summarizes what they’ve done. Instructions on how to move forward. You don’t want your learners feeling confused and unsure about how to continue to the next part of your course. 4. Make Your Captions Stand Out The color of captions matters. Choose something that stands out from the background but doesn’t clash, so it’s both easy to pick out and cohesive with your design. Take a look at the two examples below: Low Contrast High Contrast Do you see how much easier it is to see the blue caption on the right-hand side than it is to see the gray one on the left? That’s because it contrasts with the background of the slides and the app’s interface. And because it doesn’t match but coordinates with the color of the buttons, it makes the captions look like they belong while ensuring they’re easy to spot. In Storyline 360, it’s super easy to update the color of all of your captions at once by updating your Theme Colors. 5. Hide the Clutter If you’re recording a web app, it’s best to hide things like your bookmark bar and your browser extensions before you record so they don’t clutter up the screen. But if you forget—don’t worry! You don’t necessarily need to rerecord. Often, you can simply place a solid color rectangle over whatever it is you want to hide, like in the before and after screenshots below: Before After Simply use the eyedropper to grab the background color so it matches perfectly, and no one will be the wiser: You can also use this trick to hide private information, pop-ups, or anything else that appears that you don’t want learners to see. That way your simulation looks polished and your learners can focus on the important stuff. Wrap-Up And there you have it, folx! If you follow these five tips you’ll be well on your way to creating effective, interactive software simulations for your learners. Looking for more tips on creating software training? Check out the helpful articles in this series: Everything You Need to Know About Creating Software Simulations with Storyline. Want to try creating your own software simulation in Storyline 360, but don’t have Articulate 360? Start a free 30-day trial, and come back to E-Learning Heroes regularly for more helpful advice on everything related to e-learning. If you have any questions, please share them in the comments.Follow This Process to Create Software Simulations and Systems Training Like a Pro
If you’ve ever recorded a software simulation for soft skills or systems training courses, you know there’s a lot to consider. If you want a polished result, you can’t just launch your screen recording tool of choice and capture the sequence. A professional product requires you to be deliberate. So what’s involved? Quite a few things! You need to select the best app, do a task analysis, review product documentation, record your simulation, edit the video, and more. The easiest way to show you is with an example scenario. You work as a training designer for a medium-size company called Widgets Inc. One of the directors, Fatima, needs you to deliver systems training on the company’s customer database, WidgetData, for the customer service representatives. Let’s assume you’ve already selected Storyline 360, so we don’t have to worry about the app-selection process. So let’s focus on the additional steps, as follows: Identify Tasks Perform Task Analysis Document the Processes Prepare Your Demo Data Prepare Your Recording Area Record Your Simulation Edit Your Recording Step 1: Identify Tasks You’ll first need to identify the tasks to cover. Since most software systems are multifunctional, you need to narrow down the specific processes to simulate in your course. Start by interviewing the stakeholders, those people responsible for the processes, and the target audience (if it’s different than either of those two groups) to find out what they consider vital tasks to be covered in training. Once you’ve identified those processes, check to see if the software vendor or your internal teams (think the system owner, IT, etc.) have video or written tutorials you can reference or repurpose. Back to our example! Ask Fatima about the tasks she wants to cover in the systems training. Her response is that she wants learners to know how to do the following in WidgetData: Add a new customer Search the database Edit a customer profile Delete a customer You also find out that the system was built in-house, so there’s almost no existing documentation and there are definitely no video tutorials. With that in mind, you next need to identify the step-by-step sequences for each of those tasks in WidgetData. It’s time to do a task analysis! Step 2: Perform Task Analysis In some cases, you might already know the step-by-step sequence for the processes you need to cover in the training. When that’s not the case, work closely with a subject matter expert (SME) who does. A few tips to remember when walking through processes with SMEs: Respect their time. Prepare a list of processes you’d like the SME to demo for you. If you can, send the list ahead of time. Record the meeting. Use the recorder built into your e-learning authoring app. Better yet, meet virtually and record the session. A virtual meeting has the benefit of capturing not only the step-by-step process but any additional information you discover while chatting with the SME. The recording is what you’ll rewatch later to analyze each step. Ask questions. Put yourself in the mindset of someone who’s never encountered the tool before. There are no stupid questions. As the training designer, you need to uncover as much information as you can to understand the “why” behind a process so you can pass that key information along to the learners. Build some scenarios around what’s being demoed to represent the real-life situations learners will encounter. When training has relevance for learners, they’re more engaged in finishing it. At Widgets Inc. Fatima puts you in touch with Derrick, one of the company’s top customer service reps, to act as your WidgetData expert. You invite Derrick to walk you through each of the processes in the system while you record the screen. As he talks you through every click and keystroke, you ask questions like: What happens if you forget to input this information? What are the most important things to remember related to this process? What would be the worst-case scenario if someone did this step or process incorrectly? Asking these types of questions will help you gather critical contextual information about the processes. Step 3: Document the Processes Once you’ve identified the step-by-step sequence for each of the processes you’ll cover in the training, create a document that clearly lists each process. For our example, we’ll use a table format, but you can use whatever you’re comfortable with. It’s also helpful to add information you uncovered during your task analysis so that you can reference it during your demo recording. At Widgets Inc., you’re using the recorded video version of your meeting with Derrick to document each step of the processes you’ll need to cover in your WidgetData systems training. Here’s what you documented for the first task: Name of Task Trigger for Task Steps Additional Info Add a new customer. A customer calls who doesn’t have a profile. Navigate to WidgetData home page. Click the Customers tab Select Create New Customer from the drop-down menu. Enter customer information in required fields. Click the Create button. Enter information in all of the required fields or you’ll get an error message when you click Create. After you’ve created a new customer, a pop-up confirmation message displays letting you know the account is created. Step 4: Prepare Your Demo Data You’re almost ready to start recording your systems training—but before you do, make sure you have all the data and information to complete your recording. Here are a few things you might need before you start recording: Get access to a “sandbox” environment. A test version (“sandbox”) of the computer system software will enable you to complete your processes without impacting real data in the system. Create an account or profile in the sandbox. You’ll want an account that gives you system access similar to that of your learners. Add some sample data. You’ll need some dummy data that you can quickly input into the system for processes as needed. In our Widgets Inc. example, Courtney in IT has given you access to a sandbox version of the WidgetData system as well as a fake account with the same admin rights as a Widgets Inc.’s customer service rep. Your interface looks exactly like the customer service rep’s, with the same available options. In this sandbox Courtney says you can create, edit, and remove customers without impacting any real data. Step 5: Prepare Your Recording Area Before you record, you’ll need to prepare your virtual environment. If you’re using a fresh sandbox, don’t add additional icons or customizations unless you need to better mirror your learner’s environment. If you’re using your own system, remove extra icons, bookmarks, and personal data and images. It should be free of distractions. Along those lines, make sure before you start recording that all external system notifications are disabled (unless you need to record them for the demo). Additionally, you should: Launch the applications and systems you’ll use in your recording before you start so that they’re ready to go when you need them. Have all the data you need close at hand on the system where you’re recording. Have your step-by-step document available as a hard copy or on a separate system from the one you’re recording. Next, access the sandbox that Courtney provided and make sure all extraneous applications are closed. Turn system notifications off to prevent pop-ups from interrupting your recording and launch WidgetData so you don’t waste any time waiting for the application to launch. Finally, check that your process document is close at hand so you can follow it step by step as you record. Step 6: Record Your Simulation With your prep work done, you’re ready to record your simulation! The steps will vary depending on the recording app you’re using, but you’ll start by selecting the size of the recording area. Then you’ll hit the Record button and click through the process step by step. Pro tip: Do a test recording to make sure the video quality is acceptable (just a few seconds; it doesn’t have to be the whole process). You don’t want to have to re-record a lengthy process due to a technical issue with your setup. Depending on your project, the type of simulation you record will vary. It might be interactive, where the learner clicks through the simulation themselves. Or it might simply be a demo with captions along the way that describe what’s happening. It could even be a graded quiz game, where learners click through the process themselves and lose or gain points depending on where they click. Suffice to say, you have tons of options, depending on your project, your audience, and what you hope to achieve. For Widgets Inc. you’re using Storyline 360 to record your processes in WidgetData. Once you’re finished, you can reuse that recording in any format you want, either as a single movie or as step-by-step slides. Step 7: Edit Your Recording No matter which recording app you use, you always have to do some amount of post-recording editing. As soon as you've finished recording a task or process, preview it from start to finish and see how it looks. Make sure you capture everything and that it flows logically. Then, one slide at a time, make the necessary adjustments to the caption text, hot spots, mouse clicks, data entry fields, and other objects. If you’re using captions, here are a few tips: Use consistent terminology and language across all captions. If you use an abbreviation or acronym, even if it’s common knowledge to your audience, consider including the full term the first time it’s used. Be direct and concise; don’t use words you don’t need. Start instructions with a verb, except for captions providing general knowledge or information, like defining a term. Don’t hide important information with on-screen captions. Don’t include wordy paragraphs in your captions. Omit anything unnecessary and break up longer chunks of text over several captions or slides. In addition to instructional and informative captions, you might need an introduction and summary caption for each task. If you have tips or additional information you noted during the documentation process, consider including them throughout the simulations as appropriate to provide added value for your learners. For example, the introduction slide for each WidgetData task explains the context and trigger for completing that process in the system. The summary slide describes what happens at the end of the process and provides follow-up information. Wrapping Up That’s how you create software simulations like a pro, from the initial request to the post-recording edits. Remember, planning is key. As you can see, if you want the best possible simulation, there are a lot of steps before you actually hit “Record.” For more information about task analysis, check out our recently refreshed How to Do Task Analysis Like a Pro. For ideas on working with SMEs, check out this series on Everything You Need to Know About Working with SMEs as well as these awesome downloads from Sarah Hodge. If you’re looking to do even more with Rise 360, be sure to peruse this fantastic guide on creating software tutorials. Follow us on Twitter and come back to E-Learning Heroes regularly for more helpful advice on everything related to e-learning. If you have any questions, please share them in the comments.Creating Software Sims in Storyline 360: Setting Your Recording Size & Area
Do you ever have to train learners on how to use an application or website? If so, you may want to consider using the screen recording tool in Storyline 360 to create some software simulations. Software sims are a great way to teach learners how to use an application, system, or website without affecting the real environment or live data. In this first part of a multi-part series all about software simulations, we’re going to take a closer look at the optimal size to set your recording area, and how you can keep it looking as neat and professional as possible. Set Proper Recording Size Setting your recording size to the proper size will ensure your software simulation looks crisp and clean and appears as high resolution, avoiding fuzziness and distortion of your background. By default, Storyline 360 slides are sized at 720x540 (that’s 720 pixels wide by 540 pixels high), which has an aspect ratio of 4:3. When you launch the screen recording tool in Storyline 360, the default recording size is 720x540, (or whatever size you've set your story to be) as indicated in the image below. The default recording size in Storyline 360 is 720x540, or the same size as your slides. However, to make sure your recording stays crisp and high resolution no matter what screen size you view your course on, it’s best to record at a larger resolution than 720x540—1200x900 or 1400x1050, for example—while maintaining the 4:3 aspect ratio. In fact, as a best practice, it’s a good idea to record your software simulation with as big a recording area as your monitor will allow, while still keeping the same aspect ratio as the slides in your .STORY project. The reason it’s important to make sure your recording area is set to the same aspect ratio as your slide size is because if it’s not, you’ll have empty space on each side of your recording, which looks messy and unprofessional. Notice the white bars along the top and bottom of the recording; this is caused by setting the recording area to a different aspect ratio than the slide size. Another good reason to record at a larger resolution than 720x540 is that you might find it difficult to fit an entire software application or website into an area that small. In fact, certain applications can’t even be resized that small. The key takeaway? Set your recording area to be as big as your monitor will allow, while always maintaining the same aspect ratio as your slides. Keep It Clean When you set up your recording area, try to get everything to look as neat and tidy as possible. This includes closing any personal bookmarks and tabs, closing any expanding menus, and hiding personal or irrelevant information. Before: Notice how messy it looks with all the tabs open and personal bookmarks displayed. After: The recording area looks much tidier with all the tabs and bookmarks hidden from view. You’ll also want to close any systems with pop-ups or alerts to prevent something from appearing during your recording that you’ll have to edit out afterward. In my example above, I’m logged into the system using my own account, and my name and avatar are displayed. Depending on the topic at hand, I might go so far as to create another account with a generic avatar and name to make the content less personalized. It all depends on the specific requirements of your project. Crop Out Unneeded Areas When you set your recording area, you should also do your best to crop out any parts of the screen that the learners don’t need to see. For example, let’s say you’re creating a software simulation that shows how to use an application that runs inside a web browser. Do your learners need to see the URL bar and the scrollbar along the right-hand side? Consider cropping them out of your recording altogether to give your recording a sharper look; doing so also lets the learner focus solely on the parts of the screen that are relevant. After: Look how neat and tidy this recording area looks with the URL bar and scrollbar cropped out of the recording. These are my three top tips for setting a recording size and area that will help you create a high-quality, professional-looking software simulation. To read more articles, tips, and tricks related to creating software sims, check out this series: Everything You Need to Know About Creating Software Simulations with Storyline. Do you have any other tips of your own for setting the recording area and size? Let me know in the comments! Want to try something you learned here, but don’t have Articulate 360? Start a free 30-day trial, and come back to E-Learning Heroes regularly for more helpful advice on everything related to e-learning. If you have any questions, please share them in the comments.
