Sarah Slade

The final episode in a short series about different ways to create scenarios in Articulate Rise. 

Part three of this series was titled ‘Choose your own adventure’ and featured an AI generated portrait of my favourite Dungeons and Dragons character (her name’s Tan and she’s a Wood Elf Ranger, currently somewhere in a forest with a trans raccoon, a mutant rabbit and an alcoholic monk). That title was a bit misleading. The method I showcased gave an illusion of choice, with the buttons and the knowledge check, but there was still only one route to the end.

This final episode covers the only option that I felt could lead to a properly complex branching scenario, with different conclusions, switchbacks and…the all important feedback.

Scenario with button stacks

This approach uses button stacks to offer different options – in this example I’ve presented Patricia’s side of the story and asked the learner to choose Natalie’s response from three options. Each option takes the learner to the next stage in the story. 

However, this time, the story changes according to the choices the learner makes. In this example, the ‘bad’ path ends with Patricia snapping angrily at Natalie and the ‘meh’ path leads to a reminder of Natalie’s responsibilities as a care worker, plus an option to start again.

This was by far my favourite approach in terms of flexibility and creativity. I could design some fairly complex branches, even with a simple story like this one, and I could use a variety of media (and try Emma Berry’s clever ideas for breaking up the blockier aspects of a Rise layout).

What do you think? I’d love to read your comments, whether you leave them below, or on the review version (click on the button above or here)