01  Bloom

This scenario-based eLearning concept project was developed for Bloom, an Independent Garden Center. The business needed a learning solution that addressed its short training window and improved the customer experience. 

Audience: Employees of Bloom

Responsibilities: Instructional Design, eLearning Development, Visual Design, and mock-ups.

Tools Used: Articulate Storyline 360, Adobe Illustrator, Adobe XD.

Problem and Solution

The client, an Independent Garden Center(IGC), contacted me to address their unique problem.  Bloom, like most IGCs, relies on a tremendous amount of seasonal help. They employ a full-time, year round staff of 12, but at its peak time in May, the garden center balloons to 65 employees.  Of those seasonal workers, 8 to 12 are returnees from previous years.  In the past, Bloom has utlized their full-time employees and returning seasonal staff to train new employees, but customer complaints are rising and they are seeing fewer repeat customers each year.  

They needed a learning experience that addressed product knowledge and improved customer service. I proposed a scenario-based eLearning experience that would allow employees to make real-world decisions in a typical day at Bloom and see the consequences of their decisions in a low risk environment. 

Process

I approached the project by meeting with stakeholders and subject matter experts to better understand a day in the life of a Bloom seasonal employee.  Then, with their guidance, I created an action map.  I defined the problems new employees were facing and what actions they could take to improve them.

Action Map

This map displays the goal and branches to display possible actions that staff can take to meet the goal.

I worked with the SME to identify learner pain points.  I also researched Bloom customer comments on social media and was able to speak with year-round employees to create a customer profile.  This information helped me determine the challenges  customers and employees were experiencing.  

The main problems, based on my interviews and research seemed to be:

• Poor customer experience
• Greetings 
• Product knowledgeMany customers complained that they had a poor experience when shopping at Bloom.   One long time customer shared that when she asked where they were keeping the Impatients, the employee pointed “in a direction”.  She “spent over an hour” looking for the plant and left the store in frustration.  She is not planning on returning to Bloom.  

Another common complaint was a lack of acknowledgment.  Customers felt as if they were ignored, or customer engagement took place only at the register.  Bloom rolled out a version of the 10/4 greeting method at the end of last season to address this issue, but they wanted a way to implement it to employees hired after the season started.

The main complaint was a lack of product knowledge and disinterest in helping customers solve their problems.  The employees of Bloom, by default, should be the “product experts”. Bloom needed to find a way to help seasonal employees access the resources available to them via an online knowledge guide, customer booklets or asking a supervisor. 

This solution walks employees through interactions with three different customers, addressing the main issues and allowing them to solve customer problems through choice making and  trial and error.  

Character Creation and Visual Mock-Ups

Bloom customer engagements  are brief, but employees are interacting with many different customers every day.  In order to make the scenario true to experience, I created three characters, with different ‘voices’, problems and facial expressions.  I  wanted the setting to have the look and feel of Bloom.  It was also important to create a 4th character, the manager, Lindsey. She is the mentor character who guides the learner through the experience.  Once the characters and scenes seemed right, I moved them into Adobe XD

XD allows for rapid prototyping of scenarios and scenes. I am able to design ‘slide’ layouts, with text, backgrounds, colors, interaction and animations.  The sceens and characters went through several iterations and submitted to stakeholders for feedback.  After two rounds of feedback, the project was given the okay to move forward. 

Full Development

Development of the course began by creating the opening scene and submitting it  for feedback. This feedback led to me adjusting the design for contrast, adding interactions and redesigning my resource slide.  I was then able to move forward with additional scenes and complete the project. 

Takeaways

Organization matters!         

This project had many moving parts and pieces. Organizing scenes, characters, writing the scenario, the XD files, prototyping on two different systems.  Keeping track of all of this was challenging.  Developing a process, staying organized and labeling my work was incredibly helpful and saved me so much time in development. 

Understanding your Learners  

It’s challenging  to create learning experiences without understanding your audience. Onc of the reasons I chose this particular project is because I am a gardener, and know owners of IGC’s, so through our conversations I have a good understanding of the business and customer pain points.   This provided perspective and helped me create realistic scenarios. 

Creative Problem Solving   

Think outside the box, and when you think you have the solution, think a bit more.  

Because this project was conceptual, I don’t have data to determine if this solution helped Bloom to reach their training goal. Based on the feedback I did receive from friends and struagers, the story-based scenario proved to be engaging and many reported that they learned something. Gamified elements enabled learners to earn a ‘bonus’ moved learners forward to course completion.

I loved creating this project, the entire process was an incredible learning experience for me.   I hope you enjoy it!  

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