This week I combined two weekly challenges into one: One about showing conversations, and one about branching scenarios. Clearly a marriage made in e-learning heaven.

The Idea

I wanted to show simple in-person conversations that are clean, clear, and creative – then structure them around a branching scenario.

The Design

I had no idea what would happen in this one, so while waiting for inspiration I started to pull in some of Storyline’s built-in characters. I’d never designed with them before, so this felt somewhat radical. Luckily, that process sparked a story.

The Conversations

I eschewed bubbles, boxes, and lines and simply placed the character’s dialogue next to the character. I also like to color-coordinate their text color with their clothes. It adds interest and helps distinguish who’s saying what.

The Settings

I stuck with one simple geometric background throughout and only tossed in the most minimal props or location indicators as needed. It helps keep you focused on the action.

The Branching Scenario

I kept this simple but not too predictable, since that’ll kill curiosity in a heartbeat. The feedback for each choice is to show you the results of your decisions, rather than telling you what’s right or wrong. Only when you get to the end of one of the branches will you get a nice little message all wrapped up in a bow. After all, we still need a training objective – er –  I mean – resolution to the story, right?

See the Results of Your Decisions!

I’m trying not to give too much away about this one – but I like it a lot and hope you do, too. If you’d like to get to know an illustrated man* a little bit better, have a look right here.

*It’s not Bradbury’s, but his is sure good, too.