Human and Machine Interface

I consulted with a senior supervisor as the SME who worked for the client. I created the Action Map as we discussed his intentions for this e-learning material. It was clear that safety was a major issue and something that we both agreed could be improved by introducing online curriculum. As I gained insight about safety for ground workers, we were able to develop the learning objective: 

New and current ground workers will always follow the safety guidelines, this will result in annual injury statistics reducing from 6% to 4% (minimum) which will be measured quarterly.

As the discussion progressed, we highlighted the 5 most common and easily avoidable safety rules: PPE, adequate signage, phone use, unauthorised access, and correct documentation. The scenario-based questions will be centred on these areas. 

 As soon as the Action Map was complete, I then went onto plan the flow of the eLearning story. I envisioned what a typical new ground worker would experience at the start of their shift and developed it from there. 

In this process I used consultations that I had with the SME and developed out each scenario that a new shift worker would encounter. The story board first started as a quick hand draw sketch on paper, with a separate section where I mapped out the text/speech for each slide. 

When I had an initial completed storyboard and script, I discussed this with the SME to ensure clarity and precision. The storyboard from here went through multiple iterations, this was very important as I as was able to gain feedback from professionals which greatly improved the look and feel of the eLearning course. This was one of the most important stages of the design process as it helped with the functionality, uniformity, and overall balance of bringing this learning experience to the fore.  

I also developed a mentor function to add further interactivity to the course. Whenever the user finds it hard to answer a question the mentor button will be available to assist the user by providing hints. When the user answers a question correctly the mentor icon will change to further praise the operator. 

  As soon as I got authorisation on the storyboard, I began designing the visual mock-ups of the project. I initially used PowerPoint to create a mood board to gain an idea of font, size, button design, etc. This was to ensure uniformity across the project. When deciding the colour scheme, I extracted the company colours and used these to complement the style and tone of the project. 

Once this was created, I moved onto wireframing, this was to help with smoothly transitioning once full development would be initiated. I first sketched these lo-fidelity wireframes and then transferred this into PowerPoint. When this was mapped out, I felt confident and ready to begin developing the interactive prototype which would be presented to the SME for verification.  

I created an interactive prototype as it helped me to understand style, timing, interactivity and ultimately functionality before delving into the full project. This was the most exciting and enjoyable part of the process as I was able to see this creation come into fruition. The initial prototype focused on the first parts of the project – introduction, meeting the mentor, Daniel’s toolstation and beginnings of question 1. 

When developing the scenes in the Vyond, I used the wireframes to help me with designing and producing each scene, I edited backgrounds, characters, and items to suit the overall tone and style of the project. Many of the stock features were limited in respect to construction themed items, this meant I had to come up with creative ways of designing various interactions. 

I would focus on a section from the project in Vyond and then transfer this into Storyline, this is where I would concentrate on dialogue boxes, prompt textboxes, etc. I believe this was the most productive way of creation for me as I was able to keep each scene consistent with design and timings. Once a section was created in Vyond I would upload this into Storyline. Here I developed the textboxes, buttons, dialogue, transitions, and general user interactivity.