How I Designed This Immersive Scenario on Prioritizing Tasks
Recently my fellow instructional designers Sarah Hodge and Madison McCartney and I teamed up to prove that there’s always more than one way to present course content. Each of us created a mini-course on prioritizing tasks, using the Eisenhower Decision Matrix as our starting point. In this article, I’m going to walk you through how I got from this: … to this: View interactive version | Download template Without further ado, let’s get into it! Setting the Scene Since I created this project as an example, there’s no real target audience, much less learning objectives. But to make it feel realistic I set some basic parameters to guide my design thinking. Here’s what I came up with: Audience: Novice e-learning project managers Learning objective: Be able to identify tasks, classify them as important and/or urgent, and prioritize them accordingly Coming Up with the Concept Over the years, I’ve seen a lot of great e-learning examples in the E-Learning Heroes community, but a few really stand out to me. One in particular is this time management game by Phil Eagles. I love the way he took a series of simple multiple choice questions and made them into a scenario that feels real and meaningful. And since time management is so closely related to task prioritization, it’s the first thing I thought of when I started brainstorming ideas for my project. I wanted to create something similar—but put my own spin on it. Because I wanted to create a totally custom and immersive scenario, Storyline 360 was the perfect choice for this project. I decided to simulate a desk and let learners identify tasks and prioritize items for themselves. The idea behind this was to emulate real life—where learners have to identify tasks and decide which ones to do first—while also following one of the key principles of adult learning by giving them control over their learning experience. Refining the Scenario Once I had a general idea of what I wanted to do, it was time to iron out the scenario details. I wanted to give learners enough opportunities to practice prioritizing tasks without it feeling repetitive. I included a few different types of tasks—since that’s what it’s like in real life. In the end, I settled on a total of six tasks, including a few emails, a couple of text messages, and a Post-it. As I started to build out my scenario, I ran into some challenges. One of the main issues was that my slide was getting overcrowded. To overcome this challenge and help learners focus on one thing at a time, I divided the process of task prioritization into two parts: Step 1: identify and analyze the tasks to determine how urgent/important they are Step 2: prioritize the tasks based on their level of urgency/importance For step one, I used a series of toggles so the learner can decide if each task is urgent and/or important. Based on their answer, I provide custom feedback. This is how that turned out: For step two, I made a simple drag-and-drop interaction so the learner can decide where each task belongs on their to-do list based on its level of urgency and importance. Here’s what that ended up looking like: Because this project was intended for adults who may have previous experience with the Eisenhower Decision Matrix, I made the explanation walk-through optional, as shown in the screenshot below: Is this how I initially envisioned my project? Absolutely not. To be honest, I don’t think I really had a clear mental picture of what it would look like. Some people can map out their entire project before they even open up the authoring app, while others do better jumping straight into building and get inspired along the way. Both methods are totally fine as long as you always keep your learners’ needs at the center of your design. Designing the Graphics As someone with no formal graphic design training, I can be challenged to come up with ideas for the look and feel of my courses. To find inspiration, I usually start by checking out the examples and templates on E-Learning Heroes as well as the Content Library 360 templates. Even if I don’t find exactly what I need, I usually come across something I can use as a starting point. Personally, I find that starting with a template is less intimidating than starting from a blank slide. And even if the final result ends up looking completely different than the original template, having something to start with helps me channel my ideas and inch closer to a place I feel good about. So, once I knew that I wanted to create an immersive scenario, I headed straight to E-Learning Heroes to look for templates I could use as a springboard for my design. A quick search for “desk” led me to this template, which I thought was perfect: Download Template After opening the template, I made some adjustments and played around with different color options. Here’s what my first version looked like: There’s nothing wrong with the way this looks, but—as I mentioned earlier in this article—it was at this point I realized there wasn’t enough room on the slide to allow learners to both identify and prioritize tasks in one spot. Splitting the activity up into two parts gave me more screen real estate to work with. Around this time, I also decided I wasn’t sure about the mint green wall and wanted to give white a try . . . . . . but I wasn’t totally sold on that either. I also felt lukewarm about the way the desk looked and decided to incorporate some texture. This is what the next version looked like: Wondering how I created the wood texture? I did a Google search for “flat design wood,” inserted one of the images I found onto my slide master, and then used the curve tool and shapes in Storyline 360 to achieve a similar effect. This is what it looks like behind the scenes: I was pretty happy with the way this looked, but when I started adding other objects to the screen, I realized they didn’t stand out enough against the dark blue background. That’s when I settled on the design you see in the final version: I went through a similar process for the other slides in my project, so I thought I’d share the different versions with you as well. . . . and here’s the final version. You’ll notice that in the final version I pulled in the computer screen from the previous slide to tie it together a bit more. I also changed the size of the boxes to make it all fit on the screen. As I was working on my core content slides, I also started to pull together my title slide. Since my other two slides used a flat design style, I wanted to stick with something similar. I found this simple slide template in Content Library 360 and used it as a starting point: I didn’t want to include characters, so I deleted those and changed the color of the background to match the dark blue I was using at the time. After taking out the characters and changing the color, I felt like the slide was too minimal. It was missing something, so I sat and thought about how I could incorporate more visual interest. That’s when I had an idea: what if the title slide was a view of the desk from above? And since we’re talking about prioritizing tasks—and many people write their to-do lists in a notebook—I thought that might make sense and look nice. So I went back to E-Learning Heroes for some inspiration and ended up finding this spiral notebook template: Download I imported it into Storyline 360 and made a few adjustments to make it all come together. Here’s what it ended up looking like: As you can see, graphic design isn’t always a straightforward process. It doesn’t necessarily go from zero to perfect in one fell swoop. In many cases it’s an iterative process involving incremental changes until you’re happy with what you’ve got. So the next time you’re feeling stuck and unsure about your design, try doing what I did and search E-Learning Heroes or Content Library 360 for a template you can use as a starting point. Then, make small changes here and there. Eventually you’ll get to a place where you feel good about your design. More Resources Hopefully you’ve found this inside look at my design process interesting and insightful! Remember, it’s okay if your first draft isn’t perfect. Design (whether it’s instructional or graphic) is a process, and it often takes trial and error to get it to where it needs to be. And there’s absolutely nothing wrong with that! If you enjoyed this article and are looking for more insight into what goes on in the minds of instructional designers as they’re creating courses, be sure to check out these articles: How I Designed This Personalized Decision Matrix How I Designed This Interactive Dial Matrix A Behind-the-Scenes Look at How I Designed This Gamified Quiz Want to try building your own immersive scenario 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.5 Graphic Design Mistakes Newbies Make and How to Avoid Them
If you’re new to the e-learning field, you might soon realize that people often assume you have some kind of magical power on the ready: they not only expect you to design the content, they also expect you to make that content look great. And if you don’t have any graphic design knowledge, you might feel pretty intimidated right about now. The good news is that this article will help you avoid making a few rookie design mistakes and get you on the road to success. Mistake #1: Designing a Unique Layout for Every Slide One of the most common graphic design mistakes that newbies make is creating a new slide layout for every slide. But using too many different slide layouts can make your course feel disjointed. For example, take this set of slides: Each of them is completely different, so it doesn’t feel like they’re part of the same course. Reusing a few basic layouts—with similar shapes, colors, and compositions—throughout your course gives it a more cohesive feel, like in the Content Library slides below. Another benefit of reusing the same slide layouts is that it helps learners instantly identify the type of slide they’re looking at—for example, a title slide or a quiz slide—making it easier for them to know what to do next. When you’re designing your course, start by creating a layout for each of the basic slide types you find in most e-learning courses and go from there. Mistake #2: Using Too Many Different or Flashy Colors If you’re required to use your company’s graphic guidelines, then you might not have much choice in the colors you use for your courses. But if you have a little more freedom to choose your own colors, you might find yourself wanting to include lots of different colors to add a little flair and personality to your course. However, it’s important to resist the urge to use all the colors of the rainbow in the same e-learning course. Why? Overusing colors can overwhelm learners and make it hard for them to know what to pay attention to. Take this slide, for example: There are so many bright colors mixed together here that it’s hard to know what to focus on. But that doesn’t mean you can’t use bright colors at all, just that you should use them in moderation and in a purposeful way. Take the slide below, for example: I used the same yellow as in the previous example, but this time I used it on a white background along with some muted gray tones that are less visually aggressive. And the use of yellow here immediately attracts your eyes to the numbers, making them the clear focal point of the slide. When you’re starting out, try to keep your color palette to a minimum. Start out with three colors, for example, one dominant and two neutral. When you start to get a little more comfortable with graphic design, you can start using more colors, while still keeping in mind that the colors should complement each other and not overwhelm the learner. If you’re looking for color palette ideas, be sure to check out Adobe Color and Design Seeds. And if you’re keen for more tips on choosing color palettes, try reading these helpful articles: 5 Ways to Choose Color Palettes for E-Learning Popular Color Schemes for E-Learning Design The Color Effect: How Your Palette Affects Learners Mistake #3: Going Font Crazy When people are just starting out in e-learning, they usually do one of two things. They either leave the default font settings as is, or they go crazy and use tons of different fonts. While projects with default fonts may be missing that little something extra, they usually look better than those with too many used haphazardly. Here’s an example of a slide with too many different fonts: In the above example, there are four different fonts. Not only are some of them hard to read, they just don’t go together and so they detract from the message. Much like colors, when it comes to fonts, less is more. Let’s look at this same slide with only two different fonts: I typically choose two fonts for my courses: one for the headings and one for the body. If you’d like, you can also mix in a third font for things like quotes or key words that you want to really stand out. However, I would avoid using more than three fonts in the same course. If you want to emphasize a key message, try putting the text in bold or changing the color instead of using a different font. Here are some other resources about typography I recommend checking out: 5 Important Rules of Typography for E-Learning Designers E-Learning Typography & Finding the Perfect Font My 4 Favorite Free Fonts for E-Learning Mistake #4: Not Leaving Enough White Space If you’re not familiar with the term “white space,” it refers to any empty areas between objects on your slides—whether it’s actually white or another color. When there’s a lot of course content, it can be tempting to pack as much as you can into each slide. I see this a lot, especially with new e-learning designers. Have you ever seen a slide like the one below? That’s a lot of information to take in at once! When slides are too dense, it can be hard for learners to pick out the key messages. A good rule of thumb is to present one idea per slide. Don’t be afraid to leave white space. Au contraire, embrace it. Let’s take a gander at what it would look like if I broke the above slide down into several “airier” slides. Ahhh … much better! When you leave enough white space it’s easy to pick out the important information. Remember: it’s better to create more slides with less information than vice versa. Check out this article for more tips on keeping the content on each slide to a minimum: 5 Ways to Avoid Overloading Your Slides. Mistake #5: Mixing and Matching Images That Don’t Go Together A lot of newbies choose images that accurately represent the content, but don’t necessarily match the other images in the project. I get it! After all, the content itself is the most important part of the course, isn’t it? Well, yes and no. It’s important to choose images that add value, but it’s also critical that those images work well together. If they don’t, you could end up with a course that doesn’t look very professional. Take this slide, for example: The mix of photos, icons, and illustrations makes the slide look disjointed. And while people say not to judge a book by its cover, the reality is that we all do. If you want your learners to take your course seriously, the graphics need to be on point. Look how much better that same slide looks when I use all photos. To make sure your images look like they go together, don’t mix and match image styles. While it’s possible to get a good result when mixing photographs and illustrations, doing so is a complex feat that’s best left to the experts. If some of your photos are black and white, add a black-and-white filter to all your photos. Don’t mix flat design illustrations with more realistic illustrations. The key here is to make it look like all the images were created especially for your course, even if that’s not the case. More Resources Now that you know the top five newbie mistakes and how to avoid them, you’re ready to get started! But if you feel like you could do with some more graphic design guidance, check out these great resources: E-books: Essential Guide to Visual Design How to Use Typography to Improve Your E-Learning Articles: Visual Design How-Tos for E-Learning Developers Who Else Wants Great Graphic Design Resources? Like this article? 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). New to e-learning? Sign up for our E-Learning 101 email course, a series of expertly-curated articles that'll get you up to speed with course development.
