When the action map has been completed, I moved to creating a text-based storyboard. I decided to include animated Vyond videos with audio narration to start and end the course, in order to enhance the narrative. I consciously used this approach as it follows Richard Mayer’s  modality principle stating that humans learn best from visuals and spoken words than from visuals and printed words.

I built the scenario mechanism around presenting three choices for each decision (one correct and two incorrect) and showing the ensuing consequences. When a learner chooses a wrong action, they are presented with real-life consequences. Through a ‘Try again’ button they are brought back to the decision screen. The decisions and choices have been agreed with the SME and stemmed from the pain points and actions identified on the action map, reflecting the lifestyle choices affecting headaches and highlighting the importance of openly communicating with the employer on the subject of the illness.

I introduced a ‘mentor’ character providing relevant advice to learner on each screen. I decided to call the character Professor Ed Ache, a playful pun on ‘headache’, to inject fun elements into the scenario, and increase learner’s engagement.

Another humorous part I added to the instructions  screen at the beginning, shows Prof Ed Ache forgetting where he left his glasses and then putting them on. The rationale behind it was to show a mentor who is knowledgeable but also approachable.

The lines I wrote for Professor are quite casual, as I deliberately steered away from the typical clinical language often used by medical professionals. This is in line with Mayer’s personalization principle which states that people learn better when words used in multimedia  training are in conversational style rather than formal style.