The Problem

Agape Animal Rescue and Training Center needs their new foster parents to be better equipped to handle medical situations and emergencies that may arise with the foster parents’ new foster dog. Safe and healthy dogs are able to be adopted quickly which frees up more foster parents to care for more dogs.

The Solution

With the help of the Subject Matter Experts at Agape Rescue, I developed a scenario-based solution for new foster parents to practice following the proper protocols for medical needs and emergencies that may arise for their new foster dog. The scenario-based learning allows for new foster parents to experience consequences for choices in a safe environment.

My Process

Using the ADDIE framework, I met with the SMEs at Agape to identify the problem, outlined their protocols for medical care, and began the design process. I wrote a storyboard based on the information given by the SMEs, designed visual mock ups and a prototype, and fully developed the project using Articulate Storyline.

Action Map

The SMEs had actions they wanted their new foster parents to perform correctly. I used the actions written by the SMEs and their medical protocols to establish positive and negative consequences for each decision the foster parent may make when faced with a medical situation or emergency.

Text-based Storyboard

Once I had gathered all required information from the SMEs and established consequences for choices within that information, I began to write a text-based storyboard. This storyboard was the blueprint for the project. I included all content, scenarios with consequences, programming notes, and visual notes.

When writing the scenarios with the consequences, I made sure that each answer choice was equal in length and that the distractors were realistic enough, so that the correct answer choice was not obvious.

In an effort to avoid a lot of text, I designed a mentor character to help guide the learner toward the correct answer choice. I created the mentor to allow the learner to make mistakes while giving them the option to seek out information as needed. This strategy keeps the learner engaged while allowing for choice.

I reached out to my instructional designer community for feedback on my storyboard. They provided feedback which helped my scenarios become more realistic and concise. I then reviewed the storyboard with the SMEs at Agape and once approved, I began the next step of my process: visual mock ups.

Visual Mockups

I used Agape’s style guide to help create my own visual mock ups and wire frames. I used the style guide to decide on fonts, colors schemes, and buttons. Then, I used this same style guide to create the mentor and a progress bar on completing the foster training.

Full Development

After receiving feedback throughout all of the above steps, I began to work on the final product. There were still many things to adjust along the way, but I was able to move through those adjustments quickly with the development process I followed. There are many sections of the project that I would like to highlight here.

First, I am very pleased with how effective the progress meter was. The learner was able to stay engaged by seeing their progress. They were also able to consider their mistakes if the meter went down with an incorrect response. If the learner was not engaged or not utilizing the mentor and continually chose the wrong answer, once the meter reached a certain point, the learner was required to restart the entire course.

If the learner is utilizing the mentor when necessary, they will be successful even if they make some mistakes throughout. The completion slide will alert the learner to mistakes they made and the need for any review by showing an X under each section. If the learner was able to complete the course without making any mistakes, each section will have a checkmark, but the learner will still have the opportunity to review all materials.

At times, the amount of information would have required multiple scenarios. Rather than creating a new scenario, I incorporated some of the information into the positive consequence slide. For example, if the learner was successful in feeding the heartworm preventative to their dog, it brought them to a slide that provided information on what to do if their dog refused to eat the heartworm medication. This strategy allowed the information to become part of the scenario rather than just information given.

If the learner made a decision with disastrous consequences (the death of the dog, costing the foster group a lot of money), then the user has no choice but go back to the beginning of that section to review the information.

Under the Lost Dog Emergencies section, there was a lot of information to provide to the learner. In an effort to avoid too much information at once and allow for learner choice, I created a slide with labeled pictures. The learner will click on each picture to learn more information about lost dog emergencies. The learner will be unable to proceed to the next slide until all information is viewed.