Just before our December holiday break, a FedEx pack landed on my desk here at The eLearning Guild. The return address identified it as coming from a particularly smart and creative e-Learning technology provider. I eagerly sliced open the bag, and a couple of shiny new BlackBerry mobile devices tumbled out. The sleek, stylish devices landed face-up on my faux wood grain desk, surrounded by coffee stains and crumpled Post-it™ notes, and looking a bit out of place.
Our friend had sent these devices loaded with new e-Learning technology and content for us to investigate. Imagine! Here were two BlackBerrys, fully loaded with state-of-the-art, smart-phone enabled, Learning 2.0 e-Learning applications. I could hardly contain myself. After all, BlackBerry is the object that even the National Security Agency (NSA) could not pry out of President Obama’s hands. It must be good.
My colleague, Brent Schlenker, and I were eager to play and learn (this is one of the great pleasures of working at The eLearning Guild). I grabbed one and tossed the other to Brent, who was grinning as he caught it with one hand. We quickly shuffled into a budget meeting. The BlackBerry just felt right as it slipped into the palm of my hand. It had already become an extension of my body. A Blackberry is just a little thing, but it is fully connected to the world and contains more computing power than the mainframe my father used.
I carefully inspected the device, played with the buttons and ran my fingertip along the curvature of its edge. I poked and pushed the various thingies on the Blackberry. Nothing happened. Finally, with a twinge of defeat, I glanced up at Brent. He was doing his best to look attentive as he waited for the meeting, but under the table he was also trying to get his Blackberry to start. It wasn’t working for him either.
We looked at each other and then whipped out our iPhones, and raced to the World Wide Web. Googling “BlackBerry” just as the meeting was starting we quickly found tutorials on “Powering-up a BlackBerry.”
Of course, with the aid of a practical and useful e-Learning demonstration, I eventually mastered the skills needed in order to use the BlackBerry and the applications that our friend had included. Had I previously known about the Research In Motion version of usability logic, switching on a BlackBerry would be intuitive. However, I am not currently a BlackBerry user. If you had to design instruction that would get new BlackBerry users “up to speed,” how would you do it?
How-to instruction
The smarter devices become, the more the design of their functionality will attempt to “brand” customers to a particular manufacturer. It seems that “usability” is less about usability, and more about the creation of a reliable revenue stream from a channel or from well-trained consumers.
We live with an ever-increasing multiplicity of technology devices that are miraculous, addicting, and imprisoning all at the same time. In the pleasant days of yesteryear, we only needed to worry about hooking up home theater systems and Apple 2E personal computers. Now a Denial of Service attack on our Web, the inability to pick up e-mail, or the simple-yet-impenetrable functionality of any “smart device” can bring the world to its knees.
“How-to” instruction is an important training modality; in fact, “learning how to do things” is the cornerstone of being human. Our lives are spent learning how to do things, and this doesn’t stop simply because we “learn” in the workplace or even when we slip the “e-” in front of learning.
Most often, we learn how to do something when someone with personal knowledge and expertise in the task teaches or mentors us. However, mentoring requires the easy and timely access to a knowledgeable person. The ever-popular ugly stepchild of mentoring is on-the-job training (OJT) from the employee in the next cube. This person is expedient, but may or may not actually know how to properly execute the task. This convenient cube citizen often does not provide the desired results, since merely being convenient will not replace the need for correct knowledge. It’s a little like being lost in a strange city, and asking directions from another tourist. You’re better off just looking at a map. This is why a Post-it (the ubiquitous “sticky note”) listing a string of keyboard short cuts taped to a monitor can be more effective than a convenient cube citizen at helping you navigate a software task.
When sticky notes just aren’t enough, there’s e-Learning! If the goal is to answer every question that may ever come up in your business in a just-in-time fashion, and if you have a pesky bottomless pit of money in need of emptying, the preferred method of e-Learning is Electronic Performance Support Systems (EPSS). However, EPSS is not ideal for those of us living in the real world. Out here, we require simple how-to demonstration learning nuggets, efficiently designed for commonly needed instructions.
Keep it simple!
Create as little e-Learning as possible to convey the necessary information and skill. Consider your investment of time, resources, and money that could be used on other projects, as well as the cost of lost opportunity. Also, consider the learners’ investment of time and interest. The how-to explanation should be short and efficient while respecting the content. How do you do this?
Filmmakers use a simple rule: all information, visual or otherwise, should always be new. This insures that the viewer (the learner) will stay interested (and will continue to learn).
By definition, how-to instruction is task training. The first step in designing such instruction is to develop a simple task list for the activity. For example, an iPhone user may have difficulty switching on a BlackBerry. The task list may be as follows: 1) Orient the Learners’ point-of-view (POV) to the view of the front panel, 2) Direct POV to the top edge of the device, 3) Identify power button, 4) Press power button.
There are three mediums for producing a little how-to nugget; these are still images, video, and animation. Each is progressively more difficult technically, and more complex to produce, but each meets a specific set of requirements. More complex learning requirements demand more complex production modalities.
Sequenced still images
A series of still images that clearly illustrate the task can be very effective. Manufacturers often ship consumer electronic equipment with instructions that are sequenced graphic images describing the set-up and operation of the device. These can be photos or drawings, most often the latter. Such illustrations are high contrast and bold colors, with important details exaggerated with highlights or outlines. To eliminate the possibility of confusion, the illustrations leave out irrelevant details such as textures, vents, and logos. The panels appear in task order, with numbers that indicate the sequence, and call-outs that provide important information and labeling.
Video
Video is particularly useful when:
- The task is complex, requiring many steps,
- The subject device has many cable connections, switches, and control panels, or
- The device is oddly shaped, in a way that is difficult to explain in a still image.
The goal of a video is similar to that of the sequenced images. The how-to video must be clear, easily understandable, and it must provide explicit instructions.
3D animation
If the task requires explanation of internal or moving parts, an animated effect is the preferred solution. There are some technical terms that describe various kinds of animated illustration. A Cut-Away reveals the interior of the device to review an important element. A Fading Cut-Away is an animated transition, useful in demonstrating a sequence of tasks. For example, the device operator pushes a button, the outer shell of the device fades away to reveal a part or the entire interior, a part moves, or electricity moves though a circuit board. An Exploded image is one which shows all of the parts of the device “exploded” out from the core: screws, fasteners, cover panels, circuit boards, and other parts all appear in the illustration as if they were out of and apart from the object.
Animation is useful when there is motion, or when a still image doesn’t explain an action adequately. Video may not suffice if the task includes manipulation by hand, and the operator’s hand would be in the way, obscuring the action or preventing it from showing clearly in the video. Animation can replicate the task without the use of a hand.
Some examples
Returning to the BlackBerry, here are three progressively more complex how-to examples. A simple sequence of clear images that illustrate each step in the task is enough to show a new customer how to quickly turn on the device. A short video could demonstrate the physical motion needed to activate applications, and to operate buttons on the screen of a BlackBerry Storm.
An animation may be the best method to show a technician how to open the shell of the device and replace a part. In an animation, the screws can “explode out” in the proper order and the shell can open. The learner can clearly see the motion in the animation.
Video is a reasonable way to create how-to e-Learning nuggets for complex tasks. In the last half of this article, we offer you five sets of tips for producing a how-to video: lighting, motion, support, camera, and formats. Keep in mind that whenever possible it always best to keep it simple.
