In our book, the design of an interactive training, performance support, or technical data product can make or break the deal with your users. You may not realize you’ve made this deal, but you have: today’s computer-savvy audiences expect not only to be informed but to be entertained at the same time. How will you engage them in the experience of learning (and wanting) to perform better in their work?
On the practical side, you may note that in our process the detailed project planning overlaps with the design phase. The reason is that this is where we truly define what will be built, so it sets the scope (if cost is fixed) or sets the cost (if scope is fixed).
Establish Communication Strategy
During the requirements phase, analysts and SMEs do the bulk of the legwork, with input from designers and developers. So when we hit the design phase, there has been some history established and the designers can pick up the thread of a concept leading to a full solution that has customer and stakeholder buy-in.
This process could be called Solution Engineering, because this is where all the implications of earlier concepts and solution ideas are reconciled. Every detail of the interface is sequenced so the designers know what users will be expecting. Storyboards are created using samples of actual content. Wireframes from the concept phase may be developed into Interactive Wireframes that illustrate the flow through the application. This is another SME interface point that is worked through the Analysts because of the importance of correctly representing all interactions with end users.
Create an Experience
Now you have a story to tell. If you are going digital, your story can come out because interactive publishing is theater! For example, in the context of training our goal is to encourage active learning; to enable learners to experiment, make discoveries, and most importantly learn to take actions that improve job performance. We endeavor to present authentic, work-relevant situations that learners will relate to and care about; however we must also appeal to multiple learning styles and in some cases enable them to take risks in a simulated environment. By immersing a learner in a challenging scenario, we can provide a storyline that captures their imagination and invites them to explore.
But even if we are constrained by the content or publication circumstances, our design team can still develop a compelling visual theme with a consistent user interface and engaging multimedia components for your digital data. In one successful project, we created the visuals for an insurance company department annual report. The next year, we proposed an interactive, online version and their constituents were browsing the report and chatting at the water cooler with personalized avatars in a simulated high-rise office building!
