Click for the Full List of Challenges (Image Credit: Articulate)
When I first heard about Articulate’s ELH Challenges (which may well have been in this post from Tom Kuhlmann) it was clear they’d be a fantastic way to sharpen my skills and get involved in the community – but it still took me until #8 to put in an entry, and until #20 to get hooked.
To date I’ve completed 108 challenges, and although it’s taken a lot of time and effort to stick with them, it’s been life changing. I’m grateful for them every day, and thought I’d pause for a moment to share my top 5 reasons why.
1. Connection with a Vibrant Community
Whether you’re talking about Fearless Challenge Leader David Anderson, who always comes up with unique, creative challenges and sets the enthusiastic, inclusive, and ever-encouraging tone – or the extraordinary range of participants who never fail to share remarkable solutions and ideas along with a great deal of kindness and wisdom – the value of that energy and those connections can’t be overstated.
2. The Chance to Hone My Design Skills
I already had a good sense of my design sensibilities before coming into the challenges, but having the chance to stretch and practice and grow outside of the constraints of client projects was an absolute gift. If not for the challenges, I’d never have had the impetus to create a silly little paper doll slider, a romantic approach to filling out a passport form, an homage to health workers in West Africa, or a way to try different shades of lipstick on George Washington. It would have been unthinkable.
3. The Chance to Push My Software Skills
I think we all have a tendency to go with what we already know when it comes to software – especially when we’re on deadline and need to knock something out. So being challenged to grow and figure out how to do a whole lot more with Storyline (and other software) each week – either because David presented a new technical challenge or because my design ideas were forcing me to do more complex things – was another leap forward.
4. A Pretty Swingin’ Portfolio
No one ever asks to see my portfolio. By the time they contact me they’ve already had the chance to wander through over 100 pieces of my work (most of which are challenge entries), along with written explanations about each one. Once on the phone they can’t wait to tell me how much they loved things like the German drinking game, Big History timeline, or tic-tac-toe game and want to use those ideas in their company’s own courses.
5. A Whole Lot of Work
When other designers ask me where to find work, what companies look for in their ads, or what to put on their résumés – I’m useless. I have no idea. I spend my time designing e-learning projects for clients, working on new Articulate challenge entries, and keeping those entries visible. Because of that, wonderful people at creative companies who need someone to design custom e-learning find me. Many peers will tell you the same, and I wrote about how to get work like this – but only if you want work to come to you in a painless and enormously fun way.
So there you have it! The top 5 reasons I’m incredibly grateful for more than 2 years of Articulate challenges. To be honest, any one of those 5 reasons would have been enough to make participation worthwhile, but together they’ve enhanced my work life beyond measure.
Thank you, Articulate.
You are such an inspiration, Jackie! I love your work and I really enjoyed this post!
Oh my goodness – thank you, Montse! I always think of you as leading the way with gorgeous work and inspiring ideas. In fact, in that long-ago post from Tom I linked to, he was featuring one of your early challenge entries!
While most users think of your amazing and creative examples, or the fact you’ve completed 100+ challenges, the thing that stands out the most to me is how selfless you’ve been in helping new users find the challenges, build their portfolios, and get started in the industry.
Your elearning success is clearly tied to your willingness to help others. I can’t thank you enough for all you’ve shared over the past few years.
Now, how about completing last year’s webcam video challenge? http://community.articulate.com/articles/webcam-video-elearning
Haaaaaa :) Well it’s clearly on my incredibly short list of 4 past challenges still to do. I’ll be posting that one when you least expect it…
I can only agree to Montse, you are an incredible inspiration Jackie! One detail that popped into my mind just now: I like especially that your work is so different every time. There are challenge entries I simply love (the Muffins for example) but there are also others which did not float my boat. What seems like not to be a compliment at all is still meant as one! I adore that you put such a big variety online that Newbies like me still can learn from it and even find out what we would have done differently.
Thank you! And have a lot of fun with the next gazillion of challenges :-)
Thanks, Nina! :)
Great article, so many good points about the benefits of doing the challenges! I tweeted this one out as I think it will really help a lot of people find success in the e-learning field.
Hey Dan! It really is a straightforward way for to build skills, get attention, and find all the opportunities you want. Just takes determination and a little elbow grease. Thanks for sharing it!