Acing Your Interview
This project was my submission to Tim Slade’s March 2024 eLearning Challenge. Tim is the founder of the The eLearning Designer's Academy, a community for instructional designers to connect and learn from each other.
Each month, Tim creates an eLearning challenge that gives members the opportunity to practice their skills and solve real-world problems based on a hypothetical company. The challenge comes with a challenge prompt, learning objectives, and a style guide to follow.
I chose to participate in this challenge because it provided me with an excellent opportunity to design outside of my comfort zone and gain experience using constraints.
The Problem
Students at Oakmoss College are having difficulty securing summer internships - with over 20% of internship candidates being denied placement. When the Director of the Career Center at Oakmoss College contacted the internship supervisors to determine the cause of this, they learned that most supervisors felt the students were extremely unprepared for interviews. This included inappropriate attire, unstructured responses and an overall lack of confidence.
The Solution
The Career Center asked instructional designers to create an interactive eLearning course to introduce students at Oakmoss College to basic interview etiquette, including how to dress, give a confident greeting and provide structured responses using the STAR method (Situation, Task, Action, and Result).
Throughout the eLearning course, the learner must complete two modules which cover information regarding interview preparation. Throughout these modules, there are activities to increase retention of knowledge. In the final module, the learner goes through a scenario where they are given opportunities to use the knowledge learned. This scenario follows a college student as they prepare for and participate in their internship interview. This module prompts the learner to apply what they’ve learned to a real world situation.
My Process
With this being my second ID project, I decided to follow a more agile model to guide my process. I used some elements of the SAM (Successive Approximation Model). This model is similar to ADDIE, however, it is more agile and cyclical. Essentially, the goal is to create a full, low-fidelity models that can be quickly evaluated and modified. I discovered that this method works really well for my style of creating - I like to have a full picture of the project to work with before fully committing to completing a step.
The first phase of the SAM model is known as the Preparation Phase. The challenge provided me with most of the information required here, so I created an action map to organize my thoughts and consider how I wanted to organize my course, ensuring I was covering required learning objectives.
After this, I created a rough outline in a word document - ideas that I would later gather content for and expand on. Once I was confident in my rough plan, I began writing the text-based storyboard.
Text-based Storyboard
Creating the text based storyboard helped me to visualize the structure of the course. During the first round, I focused solely on the content that I wanted to cover, and in what order.
I created a template that would allow me to plan for each slide in the course. Each template included a section for on screen text (OST), graphics and buttons, and technical notes. I iterated and added information to the storyboard, refining the information until I felt confident about the basic structure of the course.
Design Assets
I used Figma, a collaborative interface design tool, to help generate layout ideas for the course. Working in Figma at this stage is great for my workflow efficiency because it allows me to view and access all the assets on one screen.
I can play around with different combinations and ideas quickly. When I am in the creative portion of my process, it is necessary for me to work quickly, so Figma’s interface is extremely helpful for this.
I created several mock ups and refined them until I was satisfied with the final design.
I ensured that the design was adherent to the main principles of Visual Design - contrast, repetition, alignment and proximity. I used elements from the client’s style guide throughout the course, including colour scheme, photographs, logos, and elements. There is a lot of information covered throughout the first two modules, so I focused on displaying this in creative ways, such as tabbed interactions and click to reveal elements.
Module Menu
Visual Layouts in Figma
Interview Scenario
Visual Mock-Ups
Once I decided on the visual style of my course, I began developing visual mock-ups within PowerPoint.
I enjoyed working in PowerPoint because it has many similar elements to Storyline, and was very easy to quickly create and develop the visual mock ups. PowerPoint also has an incredible library of assets that I was able to use throughout the project. I was able to customize characters and keep a consistent visual style throughout. Initially, I was planning to create my own characters, but due to time constraints of the challenge I decided to prioritize showcasing my development skills. However, this allowed me to gain experience manipulating graphics and finding a way to keep a consistent visual style when using elements from various sources. In addition to PowerPoint’s library, I also utilized my Canva Pro account to obtain graphics for the course.
There is a lot of information covered throughout the first two modules, so I focused on displaying this in creative ways, such as tabbed interactions and click to reveal elements. I kept a balance between providing a variety of elements to keep the information engaging while keeping a cohesive feel throughout. Using consistent elements such as buttons, fonts, and backgrounds helped me to accomplish this.
Preview of PowerPoint slides
Tabbed interaction to organize information
Development
During the development stage, I used Storyline 360 as my authoring tool. Since I had already planned out the visual layouts in PowerPoint, transfering the images and text was easy. This phase is my favourite because it’s when everything starts to come alive with animations!
In this project, I ventured into utilizing variables to regulate the learner's course navigation. I used true/false variables to ensure that learners are not able to access certain sections until they complete specific prerequisites. I'm excited about exploring additional applications of variables in my upcoming projects.
I spent considerable time carefully planning the timing of animations of elements, aiming for a smooth flow that wouldn't overwhelm learners. This effort enhances the user experience by making the learning environment dynamic. With intuitive and responsive elements, the learning journey becomes much smoother.
Locked modules
Continue button will not appear until all modules are completed.
Takeaways
I chose not to include narration in this project to let learners control the pace of their learning. Given that the target audience consists of college students, who are typically proficient readers and adept and processing information quickly, omitting narration allows them to absorb the information efficiently and reduces frustration from being forced to follow a set pace.
Since this was my second complete eLearning project, I found myself significantly more organized and prepared throughout the entire process. It was much easier to create the storyboard and envision the final project in the beginning stages. With a structured approach from the start, I completed the project much more efficiently. I'm eager to further improve my efficiency and explore new techniques as I continue to learn and grow in this field.
