instructional design

Articulate Storyline Player Features

A few days ago, I realized there are functions on the Storyline player I’m probably not using as much as I should. These features can help you share further information, beyond what is appearing on your training slide.

You may notice (in your software and in the screenshot below) you can adjust where the player features appear across the published project. With this set up, the menu, glossary, and notes section will appear in a bar on the left side of the screen. The title will be in the upper left and resources will be in the upper right corners of the screen. Now, let’s think about how you can use each feature to meet your learners’ needs or grow their knowledge.

Menu: Since the menu may be the most robust of the player features and can impact how the learner navigates the training, I’ll highlight that in another blog post. Check back soon!

Glossary: Does your training introduce new terminology, phrases, or use a lot of industry or organizational specific acronyms? Why not use this easy to build glossary as a reference for your learner?

Notes: If you’re using the notes area in slide view to add scripts, voiceovers, or other details that information will appear in the player’s notes tab. Personally, I would only use the notes tab if I were adding the slide’s script. While I would also prefer to use captioning, adding the script in the notes section and then using this tab is an easy way to accommodate someone who might like to read along with the lesson.

Resources: Here, you can add attachments to the lesson. Even though I have addressed other ways to include policies, documents, or infographics this is another space where you could share that information.

I have often said the variety of design solutions easily crafted is what makes Articulate a wonderful software choice for many designers and projects. As with any lesson, part of the challenge is knowing what works best to suit your learner or best presents the new information. Do you have a favorite or often used area of the player? If there is a clever way you have used the menu, glossary, notes, and resources be sure to leave a comment!

Free Printable Resource: Meeting Notes

I started a new job last week, and as you would expect, there have been countless (virtual) meetings with lots of new information- the team and its processes, learning culture, company strategies, among other topics. Early in this process, I would grab my notebook and scratch out a few “text boxes” to keep track of the meeting’s discussions.

After a few days I realized I could simply design a document and print a few copies for each day, and I thought this might be a useful tool to share. Whether your meeting is needs analysis, project update, and an evaluation I hope you find this form useful. Further, I hope this serves as a reminder that training and design do not have to be complicated. You could easily add a company or department logo or other branding to polish this sort of form to suit your needs.

Stay tuned! I may offer more printable resources in the future as I continue to develop my portfolio.

Meeting-Notes

Organizing Your Storyline Triggers and Logic (Part 2)

In an earlier post I shared my ideas for organizing triggers and logic, which was simply sketching out how the slide or scene should function, and during that post I mentioned I would actually design a slide/scene based on the document.

As background information for this design, I began my career working in Human Resources, and I still maintain related certifications. While working for a Human Resources Department, I transitioned from a recruiting/hiring function to a training/organization development function.

Here it is: the presentation sketched out on paper, now functioning in Articulate. I hope these two posts and the two slides you’ll see here are truly a reminder that there is no need to over-complicate your processes. You can tackle complex training, design, and Articulate Storyline challenges with easy, simplified solutions.

Click here

Organizing Your Storyline Triggers and Logic (Part 1)

It is the biggest piece of advice I would offer a new Storyline user- as soon as it is feasible learn to create states, controlling the object’s state with triggers, variables, and other slide logic. Once you do this, you greatly expand your design capabilities.

Even as an experienced used, it can be difficult to keep up with a slide or design that requires multiple triggers and variables to manipulate slide objects, layers, and other features. How can you easily keep track?

My solution is a piece of scratch paper where you can simply reason out what you’ll need to create for the slide’s function. In my opinion, it is much easier to take a few moments to scribble out any ideas on a piece of paper than try to keep up as you begin building your project. It might be a good idea to include this as a step in your storyboarding. (I’ll offer more thoughts on storyboarding in a future post.) You can also use this paper “draft” to keep track of what has been created and is functioning as you build your Storyline file. Further, including the paper draft in any hard files relating to the project mean you also have a document detailing what is created should you ever have to re-visit the lesson.

I’ve included two pictures showing my paper drafts. As you can see I’ve list the buttons, states, triggers, and other reasoning I would need to implement when creating this slide. Stay tuned, and I will build a slide based on off one of these examples.

BONUS- As you may notice in the second picture, my slide object have names (although they are abbreviated on my paper draft). It can be a tedious step in your design, but naming slide objects (Question1, Feedback1, Question2, Feedbdack2, etc) can save time when you’re building slide triggers, variables, and logic.

Come back soon- I’ll have a functioning slide example based on this paper draft!

Remember, it can be helpful to name the slide objects you’re working with (Question1, Feedback1, Question2, Feedback2, and so on.)

Cleaning Up Your Articulate Storyline Project

With summer and its rising temperatures approaching, one thing is certain in our home- the dogs will shed more than usual, discarding their winter coats. This means I spend a bit more time sweeping and cleaning than usual. (Based on the amount of dog fur I toss into the yard, birds that nest in our neighborhood must have well lined nests.)

Just as I like my home being neat and clean, I like for my Articulate Projects to be neat and clean as well. Both make me feel more at ease and make it easier for me to relax.

Here are a few simple tips to keep your Articulate projects tidy:

If you have any unassigned triggers, either update that logic or remove the unnecessary trigger.

You’ll want to remove any unassigned triggers, variables, and states to prevent issues when your file is published. Here I removed an object, which makes the previous motion path moot.

Also, check for any zero use variables. If the variable should be used, make the necessary update. If the variable is not needed it can be removed.
Remove any unnecessary state on a slide object.
If an unnecessary object on the slide is hidden on the timeline, remove it.

If there is an unnecessary object on your timeline that you have hidden, it is best to remove/delete the object entirely.

Cleaning up these items not only keeps your project neat; making it habit to look for these items gives you a chance to check your work- always a good thing! Equally important, removing the unused triggers, variables, states, and objects can prevent issues when you go to publish your file.

Do you have a trick or tip to help keep your Storyline files (or other training projects) clean? Be sure to share that in the comments area!

The Highlight Reel

When you’re an Instructional Designer or Trainer and in the job market, employers and recruiters often ask to see a sample of your work. It is also a common topic when simply discussing design ideas with colleagues.

Instead of directing anyone to multiple blog posts, I thought I’d link to some of my favorite prior posts in one spot. It will make it easier for me to share my work samples and will (hopefully) make it easier for potential employers to see what I can do!

FAQ Scroll Panel This example includes multiple buttons in a scrolling panel to address frequently asked questions.

Invitation Previously an email and text based message, a simple slide show creates an engaging invitation to attend instructor led training.

Select Avatar Wouldn’t it be neat if your learner/user could select an avatar to represent himself/herself/themself during the training lesson? This example includes two slides to do that, but the variable and logic used could be repeated, continued throughout a course.

Video Background Why limit your slide background to just an image? This example travel policy uses a video background.

Policy Scroll Panel It can be difficult to present text heavy information in an engaging format. Use a scrolling panel to collect learners’ policy acknowledgement so your training can focus on the behavior or action needed for policy compliance.

Problem Solving All twenty-seven squares in the problem solving grid have states, triggers, and logic to help the learner practice problem solving skills while planning a birthday party.

Show me, don’t tell me

There have been a few highlights of quarantine and social distancing, one being frequent walks through our neighborhood. During my treks, I like to listen to a podcast. I have recently spent time catching up with Marty Smith’s America, and the episode I listened to this morning offered commentary ranking the greatest songs by county music legend George Strait. As the discussion progressed Marty referenced his experiences writing and editing a book and offered a gem of wisdom for those of us in creative professions or roles. Show me, don’t tell me.

My publisher continually beat on me: “show me, don’t tell me.” Put me there, immerse me in the details you are offering me. Show me, don’t tell me.”
Marty Smith (Marty Smith’s America “King of Country”, 24:44)

You may wonder, “what does Marty’s experience as a sports reporter have to do with my work designing and developing training?”

I’ll use a common training topic as an example. As a portion of OSHA compliance, many workplaces offer training on ergonomics. You could simply tell your staff their computer stations and workspaces should be adjusted to prevent injury. Unfortunately, this message is vague and meaningless without more detail, especially if your audience has never heard about ergonomics before. It will be more effective to show them what this work station looks like:

In an instructor-led environment, let each person practice the new skill as the presenter or subject matter expert provides guidance and feedback.

With the study of ergonomics, each person could adjust a computer, desk, and chair in a workspace to make it suitable for him or her. (Remember, when you’re studying ergonomics what each person needs may vary.)
In printed communication, consider a detailed and well-designed infographic. Be sure to check any sites relating to compliance for ideas on print and visual resources (just be sure to cite your source).

With this specific subject, I would check the OSHA site and would also consult my organizations Workers’ Compensation or Risk Management staff. You could also reference professional organizations such as the American Chiropractic Association or American Orthopedic Association.
In computer based training, you could design an interactive image, where a user needs to click on each area of the screen to learn more.

The OSHA website has a great example on ergonomic computer work stations here (look for the image of a young woman, with her hair styled to a ponytail, located on the right side of the screen). A similar interaction could be easily produced using Articulate Storyline, or almost any other training software. I would take this a step farther by also including another image, quiz slide, or other interaction where the learner would have to identify areas of a workstation set up inappropriately that may need to be re-adjusted (ie- the user identifies what is wrong with the picture).

It is a fine line when you’re creating training- how do you provide enough information without burdening the learner? The detail and information you provide can take your topic or idea from directive to true training and instruction. You can start by simply remembering Marty’s publisher’s five word statement- show me, don’t tell me

Publish an entire production, a single scene, or a single slide

It is a necessary step in your course review process- reviewing slides’ functionality and appearance in a published state. This is your opportunity to ensure triggers and variables are working correctly. You can see how objects, texts, and images look on the screen. Even though it can sometimes seem like a tedious time-drain, I think it is much easier to review a lesson that is drafted than correct an lesson that has already forwarded to your LMS or launched!

But what if you only want to look at one scene or one slide instead of the entire lesson? If you publish the full project you’ll either have to review EVERY slide, including the one’s you’re not interested in reviewing yet. If your next buttons or progress process is “locked”, you will need to develop some sort of way to fast-forward through the lesson

Thankfully, the publish options at Storyline give you a choice on how much you’ll publish. Once you’ve clicked the PUBLISH ribbon and the pop-up appears, look for the publish line in the PROPERTIES section.

You can adjust the PUBLISH PROPERTIES after clicking the Publish button from the Articulate Storyline Home ribbon. (It is located on the far right side of the ribbon/screen.)

After you have open the PUBLISH PROPERTIES, you’ll see another pop-up appear. Here, you will select the portion of the Storyline file you would like to publish: the entire project, a designated scene, or a single slide.

Not only can this publish option save time during your review processes, it can also come in handy when you only want to publish a small section of a larger Storyline file. As example, each demonstration I feature at my blog is a scene from a larger Storyline file. (Since most of these examples are relatively short, I’ve learned it is easier to develop it in one file versus keep up with multiple files.)

It is a simple function but one I did not know about until recently. This reminds me that Storyline is rather robust, and there is always more to learn, especially regarding the features I do not use often enough. If there’s a Storyline trick or e-learning shortcut you’ve recently discovered, be sure to share it in the comments section!

Creating Emphasis on a Slide

We’ve been watching a lot more TV during our Coronavirus social distancing. We have series we watch regularly, but it seems like the TV is always on, even when we’re not watching, just to provide background noise.

A few days ago, I noticed a commercial from a restaurant advertising the multiple ways you can still order while maintaining a safe distancing and observing state and local governments’ regulations. During the advertisement, three icons appear, and while the voiceover offers more information, a circle appears and spins around the particular icon being discussed. I immediately realized that would be a great way to draw emphasis in Storyline or PowerPoint.

There are many possibilities with this design idea, but for my simple example I created three steps in a numbered list. A broken circle appears around each number, and when the slide and its commentary moves to the next point the broken circle disappears and the number becomes washed out. (This color change is accomplished using an object state and trigger.) Next time you need a simple but effective emphasis on a slide, give a variety of this design a try!

Click here to see my example!