Sometimes, in all the talk aboutinteractivity and specific interactions in eLearning, we can overlook thebigger problem of creating an engaging overall package for our programs. Your biggerapproach—a good treatment for your work—is often what moves a program fromePresentation to eLearning.
Bullet-ridden, content-basedprograms rarely get past the cognitive domain and are usually a long way from doingmuch to influence workplace performance. Getting the treatment right isn’tabout technology, money, or skill with any tool. No authoring tool willmagically create relevant, engaging learning experiences on its own—and makingit pretty doesn’t make it more effective. Crafting a good treatment is a greatchance to apply your creativity and is often the thing seasoned designers likebest about their work.
Find a treatment
I’ve spent my whole career in stategovernment service, a vast, sweeping land of compliance and policy training.The content is terribly dry, with source material written in legalese andbureaucratese, often abstracted from context. Finding an interesting approachthat will help learners learn is admittedly daunting, but I find itchallenging, rewarding, and fun (don’t tell). Other designers say the same. Asmuch no-fun as it is to sit through screen after bulleted screen? It’s just asmuch no-fun for people who build those. Here are a couple of examples oftreatments for dry content.
Examples
The first, from Kevin Thorn ofNuggethead Studioz (www.nuggethead.net),arose from a client request to develop training on HIV awareness and the futureof living with HIV. Thorn went with a series of scenarios wrapped inside agraphic novel framework (Figure 1).
Figure 1: Kevin Thorn’s “PWPin Action” (source: Kevin Thorn, Nuggethead Studioz, www.nuggethead.net; program available at https://www.hivpwp.org/pwp-action-0)
The second example (Figure 2) isfrom Trina Rimmer of Rimmer Creative Group (https://trinarimmer.com/), on the subject of … laundry,featuring protagonist Biff:
Figure 2: Trina Rimmer’s “How to do Laundry” (source: Trina Rimmer, Rimmer Creative Group, https://trinarimmer.com/)
There isnothing terribly technically sophisticated or expensive about these examples; givengood resources for art, you could easily build both in any tool, including PowerPoint.The products come from good designers sitting down and figuring out an approachthat is more than just straightforward presentation of content.
How?
Forstarters: Put your hands in the air and step away from the computer.
As Italked about in July’s column, the temptation to move into developmentbefore establishing a good design often brings us bad end products. Think aboutwhat would make the content relevant and useful to learners. Think about realworkplace application: a problem a worker might encounter, a difficultconversation that needs to be had, a decision she’ll have to make, or a mistakethat could get him fired.
One thingyou’ll notice about most interesting treatments: They usually include somenarrative elements. There’s a storyline like a hero on a quest, or a puzzledcharacter figuring out a solution, or, ahem, an angry bird targeting some badgreen pigs.
So talk tothe people who have the stories, like end users and customers and SMEs. Listenfor key repeated words, like “puzzle” or “jungle” or “maze” or “bottleneck,”that conjure up possibilities for visuals.
Try free-writing:Take a blank sheet of paper and set a timer for three minutes. Startwriting, and keep writing, about the topic until the time is up. Look your workover for themes or metaphors, as you may find ideas for a treatment there. Sometimes it’s helpful to talk to people who have noconnection to the content at all: Their perception of “ladder safety” couldgive you the little jolt you need.
Don’t blame your content
So don’t blame your content. It’syour JOB to figure out how to make it interesting and engaging, and it’s whatcan help keep you interested and energized in your work. Some more advice: GoGoogle your topic and see what others have done with it. There are 7,494,643online “sexual harassment” courses. Three of them are good. If those three designerscould figure out a better approach, you can, too.
Want more?
I wrote about this in Better Than Bullet Points: Creating EngagingeLearning with PowerPoint, now available in its second edition (Wiley,2013). Some material here has been adapted from it.
For ideas on finding a story, see also CliffAtkinson’s Beyond Bullet Points(Microsoft Press, 2005) and Nancy Duarte’s Resonate(Wiley, 2010).
