Problem and Solution:

 Organisation for Women - OFW (a fictitious client in this case) noticed that their HR department was not effectively dealing with victims of sexual harassment at the workplace. These conversations are often tricky and mishandling a complaint can result in losing an employee's faith, more significant employee turnover, and an uncomfortable office environment. 

After I perform a needs analysis, I felt that a training should take place for onboarding support H.R. officers to effectively and mindfully carry out these conversations. 

I decided that they use a scenario-based eLearning solution to engage their support officers in meaningful and impactful training. This course would make them practice the art of leading these difficult conversations by selecting their choices in a risk-free environment.

I decided adding a gamification element - in this case, the increasing number of stars and a certificate of achievement to provide extrinsic motivation to the learners. Subequently, the consequences of wrong choices should mirror real-life situations; the victim walks out of the office, starts hunting for another job, or worst; resigns.

I named the characters to create a more personalised experience as close to real life feel as possible.

Throughout the experience, a mentor character, named Marilyn helps the learner choose the correct strategies to steer the conversation in the right direction.

The goal is to improve the support officers to bridge the trust gap at each of the five stages and ensure that the victim meets the Lead Support officer and/or files an official complaint to allow them to proceed with the investigation.

The Process - ADDIE MODEL

Using the ADDIE model. I completed each phase of analysis, design, and development. I  consulted an HR officer as my SME. We discussed the possible outcomes of an unsuccessful conversation and decided on the critical strategies for a successful one. We looked at an anonymous survey that an organisation had conducted in the past to gauge the impact of inexperienced or unmindful handling of complaints of sexual harassment. I collaborated with my SME through Google Docs.

I designed the following in the various phases of my project:

1. An analysis canvas in Google Docs

2. A Design document in Google Docs

3. An action map using Mindmeister. 

4. A text-based storyboard 

5. Visuals for the project by iterating in Adobe XD

6. A prototype in Articulate Storyline 360 

7. The final course in Articulate Storyline 360 

8. A certificate in Adobe Illustrator

9. Implementation of Javascript for a downloadable Certificate

The Analysis Canvas

 My analysis canvas helped me to describe the prompt, the need for the course, the learner personas, and the environment of the course. Carefully analyzing each and constructing the description of each, I completed the analysis canvas and got it approved.

The Design Document

The next stage was to develop the design document. I spelled out my toolbox, my course level objectives, and my unit objectives on my design document. 

Action Mapping

As a  part of the Design phase of the ADDIE model, I created an action map using Mindmeister. The action map shows the three possible outcomes of the choices at each of the five stages of trust development. I designed one outcome to be correct while two were incorrect.

Storyboarding

Once the action map was complete, I designed the storyboard as a part of the design phase of the ADDIE model. I framed the scenario to depict the first day at work of a Support officer 

I created a text-based storyboard in Google docs to show complete transitions and responses of the victim and mentor at each of the five stages. I also included the stars' gaining or losing at each stage. I included the mentor’s words for guidance for each of the stages. I included programming notes and visual notes in my storyboard.

I consulted my SME to ensure that the choices are grounded in reality and the outcomes are naturalistic to the situation.

I created certain choices leading to extreme consequences making the victim want to resign or switch immediately.

Getting all choices correct would show the character willing to file the complaint officially and eventually as happy and wanting to stay at the organisation.

Visual Mockups

The next stage in my design process was to create visual Mockups. I used Adobe XD to iterate on my design until I was satisfied with the polished and professional look of my slides and assets.

I also created a custom colour palette for my course in XD to decide the colour scheme of my slides based on the background colour of my cover slide.

I created my buttons to match with the theme of my project.

Interactive Prototype:

I created the prototype on storyline 360. ​​Though the visual mockups gave me a  clear idea for my course design, creating the interactive prototype help me gain feedback from the community.

I created several layers on my initial slides in the prototype up until the first scenario-based question. I added triggers, animations, sound, and a star system. Once satisfied with my work, I shared it with my mentors and peers in the learning and development community and iterated based on feedback using Storyline’s 360 Review feature. 

The interactive prototype received overwhelming appreciation, but I also got a lot of suggestions to make the experience more effective and user friendly for the learner. 

Full development:

Once my prototype was fully functional, I developed the rest of the scenario-based slides and iterated on them, integrating feedback from the community until I was fully satisfied with all animations, sounds, visuals, and triggers.

I used Adobe Illustrator to create my certificate based on my colour palette. I created placeholders for name and date, changed the dimensions, and then implemented Javascript to make this a downloadable certificate in the course. 

This is the part where I pushed myself the most as the process was far more complex than I had imagined. But, this is also where I taught myself many more skills in instructional design.

Results and Takeaways:

I was overwhelmed by the feedback I received from my network. Viewers commended the solid example of eLearning created in storyline, they appreciated the mentor's feedback and guidance for its promptness and praised the gamification through earning stars for its effectiveness. Some appreciated the integration of a downloadable certificate.