It’s only logical really that something based on multimedia also requires multiple skill sets. Fully featured interactive training calls on the knowledge and talents of quite a cast of characters – because while the trainee is focused on the visual surface of the program, there’s so much more going on to ensure the application meets the goals the sponsoring organization has set for it.
So just as it the common wisdom says it ‘takes a village’ to help a child grow to maturity, it can take a considerable team to deliver training that lives up to expectations for an organization.
First up, there has to be a sense of urgency and commitment from the sponsoring organization – all driven by a vision of what this investment is going to return. So you need that individual or group of individuals who are going to play the role of champion. If you expect to videotape or photograph content at a corporate location, for example, your guiding group has to identify that location and then commit to putting it in apple-pie order. That can require an internal team right there.
Next up, you need your subject matter expert(s) (SMEs) on tap – the men and women who will help to define the learning objectives that, once achieved, drive the measurable benefits. The instructional designer (ID) can bring general experience of how to structure the program, but still needs guidance on how to focus it for each particular client and environment.
The instructional designer, in turn, sets the scriptwriter off in the right direction. Of course, once the script is drafted, it’s going to go back through the hands of the SMEs and the ID in circular fashion until everyone is happy. And the writer can then hand it off to the production team, which might be a photographer, or a video producer/director, with a creative director looking over their shoulders because he/she will want to have a say in how the images and video are styled and timed, and how the on-camera talent (who may be actors or full-time employees) deliver their lines. In fact, it’s quite a different skill shooting video for use in an interactive experience compared to a product that will be passively viewed.
Eventually, the production team drops a heap of content off with the video editor and the production designer for reviewing and digitizing and editing and compressing. In the meantime the interactive designer has been hard at work designing interfaces and interface assets, waiting to get her hands on chunks of digitized content.
And that’s not all. Once we introduce logic into an application and seek to measure trainee performance, we’re in need of a programmer (or more than one). If the program is going to be controlled by a learning management system (LMS), then that pulls in a database administrator. A web designer may be required if the training is integrated with a website.
Eventually, the project team reaches the finish line, and the first trainees fire up the program. If they have the odd feeling that someone is watching them with particular interest… they’re right!
Andrew Webb has been building interactive multimedia solutions since 1992.
To learn more about how Quicksilver's interactive training program development can enhance training for your business, click here.
