Training Industry Magazine - January/February 2021 - 44

in the second column). These each
offer four choices (shown as lines),
leading to 16 screens in turn three
(shown as 16 ovals in the third column).
Here's where it gets ugly. You soon
face sprawling content needs:
64 screens, 256 screens and so
on (Figure 2).
Doing it the hard way with unique
choices and follow-up screens, you'd
need to build a 340-screen SCORM
package to cover just four decisions.
An eight-turn scenario is 65,000
screens, and a 20-turn scenrio is an
even more daunting undertaking.
You need to prune the tree, but arbitrarily
reducing choices or shortening the
number of turns diminishes learner joy
and engagement.

Technique 1:

ENDINGS

A simple way to prune the tree is
to add endings: If learners make a
decision that takes them off course -
intervene, give them instruction and
have them start over.
A learner has freedom, but - if a
hopeless action is chosen - the story
plays out and feedback is offered.
Then, the space resets, and a learner
can try again. This eliminates the need
to depict the scenario beyond those
choices, reducing content work.
Let's see how that works in our
management simulation. The fourth
choice is to do a radical reorganization,
going well beyond what would be
reasonable. The module plays out the

restarting than working through the
situation. This lessens engagement.
As with pepper, a little goes a
long way.

Technique 2:

NUDGES

A variation of the first technique is
to use a coach, character or other
narrative device to nudge learners
back onto the right path when they
stray, like a shepherd.
In our management situation, say a
learner decides to make a radical
change to their team that has
substantial consequences. A senior
manager character then pops up to
provide feedback and suggest - or
insist upon - a less drastic approach.
Thus, the learner is compelled
to reconsider without breaking
the narrative.
Nudges are generally superior
to endings, because the learner
never has to leave the narrative and
remains engaged.

Technique 3:

FAST-FORWARDS

Another way to create a manageable
and interesting interactive narrative
is to use " fast-forwards. " Fastforwards allow learners to wander,
but interventions teleport learners
to future portions of the story where
things are reset, and they can wander
again anew.

FIVE TECHNIQUES
FOR PRUNING
THE TREE
Here are five ways to simplify
content creation without sacrificing
the richness that makes interactive
narratives great. Each technique is
applied to our management training
example to illustrate its application
within an interactive narrative.

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consequences (massive confusion,
decreased productivity, bad press,
major griping), provides tutoring to
explain why it was an unproductive
choice and sends learners back to the
start to try something else.
While this technique has advantages,
it can be overused. Consider a
design in which you offer one correct
choice and restart for the others over
multiple turns. Learners spend more
time stopping, being redirected and

In our management simulation, the
learner starts by setting up a team,
then a fast-forward sends learners
one year into the future to handle a
disruptive industry change. Another
fast-forward then teleports learners
another year forward to address a
new cost-reduction mandate. This
can be managed as a sequence
of two- or three-turn segments. At
the end of each segment, narration
intervenes to fast-forward to the
next segment.
https://www.trainingindustry.com/glossary/scorm/
Training Industry Magazine - January/February 2021

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