Creating effective, engaging corporate training materials is no small challenge for instructional design teams. Not only must one dangle attractive, relevant “what’s in it for me” bait in front of learners, but the finished course must satisfy the diverse and sometimes conflicting appetites of multiple stakeholders.
Most e-learning development teams struggle with the traditional storyboard approach to developing content. Undoubtedly, the storyboard is an economical way to identify and present online course elements of narration, supporting audio, onscreen text or video, illustrative graphics, learner interactions, and proposed animation. Storyboards are great for development team members who have the imagination to combine these diverse elements into a cohesive mental image. The problem is that most clients aren’t able to synthesize a clear vision of what the final course will look like. While they may actually approve a storyboard, they are often disappointed or unpleasantly surprised when they review the programmed first draft.
The “content narrative” approach to course development doesn’t bypass the storyboard altogether, but it does shift the focus of the design process from the storyboard to team collaboration. Benefits of the content narrative approach include:
- Encouraging the creative team to develop a sense of ownership in the project
- Validating the logical flow of information early on
- Dramatically improving the visual and functional elements of the course (thereby increasing learner engagement)
- Reducing misinformation and misleading nuances
- Avoiding pointless rework
Here is one recipe for creating engaging online learning using the content narrative approach:
Step 1. Capture all content as narration using your regular storyboard template. At this point, the designer shouldn’t worry about specifying course elements. Simply focus on presenting all the information learners need to acquire, screen by screen, in a logical flow. Tip: Since screen numbers often change, it is helpful to identify them by title as opposed to by number
Step 2. Review content with the client. Don’t ask clients to visualize treatment options. Emphasize the material to be covered and secure buy-in for the information, teaching points, learning outcomes and content flow.
Step 3. After the client has approved content, meet with the multimedia development team to review the content narrative and invite suggestions for treatment ideas. This is essential for generating enthusiasm for and ownership of the project. All too often, instructional designers dictate treatment to the development team without exploring other—often more exciting and effective—options. Inviting developers to explore the content deeply enough to understand the learning objectives for each screen can unlock enormous creativity.
Most instructional designers don’t really know how to push the envelope of rapid development tools such as Articulate Storyline or Adobe Captivate. But multimedia developers do! You can significantly elevate the quality, effectiveness and elegance of online training through early collaboration with all team members. For example, in creating a safety training course, one developer suggested an interesting twist to a standard drag-and-drop interaction that allowed learners to apply knowledge in a very realistic scenario.
Early collaboration requires multimedia developers to become thoroughly familiar with the content and learning objectives. This deeper involvement often prevents unintentional miscues or improper nuances from creeping into interactions and summaries.
From the client’s perspective, emphasis on content rather than treatment sets up more realistic expectations and builds trust in the process. Client reviewers who are confident in the foundation of the content are more receptive to creative treatment ideas. The whole development effort becomes smoother, faster and encompasses significantly less rework and frustration. On the flip side, when clients do request revisions, developers are generally less resistant to those requests because they are familiar enough with the content to understand why the client wants to make a change.
The next time you’re tempted to fall back on a tired old development process, rev up those creative juices with a content narrative approach instead. Collaborate early to increase the engagement of your development team and the trust of your clients. You might be surprised at the results: a higher quality learning asset that hooks learners with its relevance and effectiveness.
Laura Speek is the director of learning solutions at Empowering Performance Inc.
