Branching e-learning

Topic: Brand Introduction

Responsibilities: Instructional Design, e-Learning Development, Voiceover

Target Audience: Retail employees for Sunglass Hut and Lens Crafters 

Software Used: Articulate Story Line 360 and Camtasia

Year:  2020

This project was brought to me after the need for training was determined by a member of the sales training team and the head of retail account sales. After hearing the learning need, I recommended interactive e-learning because this content needs to be accessible from an LMS and mobile devices without additional support while also engaging the learner in the retail shop. With the provided content, I then organized the information into a logical flow and drafted the storyboard for the e-learning.

The key objectives for this project were to educate the user on the three brand pillars and I also included an activity to practice an elevator pitch based on the information provided and a brief knowledge check at the end to drive the learning objectives home. 

eLearning Development:

At the start of the training, I repurposed an existing marketing video to introduce the brand and evoke a feeling of connection to the brand. Since the marketing video included a few metrics that were not relevant to the training content, I used Camtasia to edit the video into a shorter brand introduction.

 

I then focused on the function, flow, and format of the content in Articulate 360 Storyline. The main menu of the branching e-learning focused on the three brand pillars for the learning to come back to after completing each section. This meant that the learner would be seeing the brand pillars every time they visited the menu. The repetition would help the learner retain the information. Each section presented the content to the learner in click interactions or video. 

 

Using a Yeti microphone, I recorded the voice over for each page. This was necessary in order to offer deeper meaning for slides that had little to no words on them. Next, I reviewed the training to refine the interactions and debug any issues. Finally, the final project was sent to review and exported as a SCORM course. 

The e-learning was praised by the head of retail account sales and the contacts at the retail partner, especially given the short timeline. They were impressed by the engaging content and the way the brand was expressed. They felt the training did a great job of reinforcing the core parts of the brand. The project was uploaded to the third-party LMS using a SCORM package. With more time and resources, I would have liked to work in gamification to encourage the learner to complete the activities.