In a learning scenario, the protagonist’s goals drive the story. All actions and decisions in the scenario will move you closer or further away from this goal.
This is one of the key elements I mention in Protagonists Should Be Like Your Learners:
- protagonist or main character
- The character’s goals
- Challenges faced by the characters
When you create characters for a scene, you may actually want to identify several goals that they want to achieve.
Begin with the end in mind
This may seem counterintuitive; we usually start writing from the beginning of the story. It’s more natural to start writing with “once upon a time…” than “…happily ever after.”
For a learning scenario, this is exactly what we need. How will your scene end? What do you want the character to do by the end of the story? How will it end?
It may be helpful to tie the conclusion of the story to your learning objectives.
- What do your learners need to be able to do after training?
- What skills do they need to demonstrate?
- What does a successful show look like?
A successful performance is the goal or conclusion of the story. In a branching scenario, achieving the goal is one of several endings to the story (while the consequence of failing to achieve the goal is an alternate ending).
Align learning goals with character goals
For example, let’s say one of the learner’s goals is to “provide employees with reasonable accommodations upon request, follow company procedures, and meet legal requirements.” What does this really mean for managers?
Consider business needs. The manager’s goal is not to truly provide reasonable accommodations for people with disabilities. Their big goal is to help their teams be more productive and successful. This is the driving motivation.
Target may be hidden
You may never explicitly state that goal. In fact, it’s probably better if you don’t. If they do, it might sound a little stilted and artificial. Most of the time, people don’t happily express their goals like Cindy in the picture below.
Rather than telling learners the goal directly, try to demonstrate it through their actions, conversations, and attention. Manager Cindy still has the same motivations and goals in the second picture. She wants her team to be productive and successful. But she didn’t say it directly. Instead of telling you her goal directly, she reveals it to you through a conversation with another character. In this case, the project has a more specific goal.
You may not even express your goals as clearly as you would in a conversation. It may only show up in the decisions your character makes. It’s easy to see how a manager worried about deadlines might refuse to give employees time to train. However, if assistive technology training helps employees perform better, it will actually help the team achieve its goals.
Primary and secondary goals
Cindy’s main goal is to help her team succeed so they can meet their deadlines. But this goal is still far from the learning goal. I’ll keep this primary motivation in mind when I write her character, but I need her to have a secondary goal that ties into the course.
In this case, her secondary goal might be to provide reasonable accommodations for her team so that they can continue to work effectively. She may have an additional secondary goal of complying with HR policies so she doesn’t get into trouble. I wouldn’t say that goal directly in the scene, but the choices she makes (such as consulting HR for help) will reflect that goal. In the last example above, delaying Rosa’s training would be a violation of human resources policy. The consequences of making this choice will show that she is not achieving her goals.
Thinking about your characters’ goals and motivations will make them more realistic and help keep your scenes moving toward those goals.
Want to know more?
Check out all my posts about storytelling and scenarios.
This article is featured in eLearning Examples, where you can find many scenario-based learning examples.
Originally published on May 17, 2016. Updated on January 23, 2020, January 2, 2025.
Upcoming events
Be Prepared: Make Training Relevant and Authentic to the Scenario
Wednesday, February 19, 2025 9:45 – 10:45 AM ET
“What does this have to do with me?” This is a question learners often ask when attending training or online learning. Many instructional designers get stuck when faced with boring or dense content. Often, training feels disconnected from learners’ day-to-day work. Because learners see it as irrelevant, they are less likely to remember their training and less willing to change their behavior. You need a way to help learners see the relevance of training so they can improve performance.
Training 2025 Conference & Expo. Use discount code TSP1 Save $150.
Beyond boredom: Creating scenario-based learning that engages participants
Tuesday, March 11, 2025, 12:00pm – 1:00pm ET
Using scenarios can make your eLearning more engaging and relevant. You can use scenarios to “hook” learners and draw them into the story from the beginning. Scenario-based learning can influence emotions, making participants care about the content and stay engaged. Scenarios allow you to practice relevant decision-making skills in situations that resemble real-life situations. Decision-making scenarios can increase engagement, improve skill transfer, and accelerate the accumulation of expertise. While branching scenarios is an effective strategy, there are a range of options beyond branching for incorporating storytelling and scenarios into eLearning. Many of these strategies can be used no matter what development tools you use.
Register for this free webinar through the Training Mag Network.
