The Cocktail Quiz

Catering companies often hire workers on a contract basis to meet seasonal demand. These employees may not be active professionals in the trade when hired and may only have a short window between date of hire and date of service. They need training and supplemental support to get them up to speed and ready to excel on the job.

This is a piece of gamified microlearning designed as a follow-up to a larger staff training. The goal is to quickly reinforce the training in a fun and engaging way. The Cocktail Quiz allows new hires to build skills on their mobile or desktop device prior to their first date of service, eliminating the churn of re-training new hires on their first day on the job.

Audience: Contract employees working as bartenders at a catering company
Responsibilities: Visual Design, eLearning Development, Instructional Design
Tools Used: Articulate Storyline, Adobe Creative Cloud

Experience the project

Overview

This project originated from discussions with a mentor experienced in microlearning. To learn more, I followed his recommendation to read What Works in Talent Development by Carla Torgerson and Sue Iannone (2020). Inspired by the book, I aimed to create a microlearning course and enhance it with gamification for increased learner engagement.

I translated my past experience in developing a tabs interaction for cocktail recipes into this microlearning project. Research and consultations with SMEs revealed a common scenario: a catering firm swiftly recruiting and training staff to address seasonal needs. While not necessarily professional bartenders, these employees could be rapidly trained to craft essential drinks.

After employees receive a short in-person training, this microlearning can be delivered as a follow-up via email and completed at the learner’s discretion. I chose a mobile-friendly aspect ratio, figuring that most learners would prefer to complete the activity on their phone. The gamification element adds a fun twist and the instructional designer could use an LMS to create a leaderboard for their new hires and offer incentives to the top scorers.

The tabs interaction that inspired the cocktail quiz

Process

Catering companies often design a cocktail menu with overlapping ingredients in order to more efficiently transport ingredients and provide efficient service. For this project I needed to find three popular drinks that could all be made with a common ingredients. After some research I came up with a drink menu of a margarita, a daiquiri, and a mojito.

I wanted to create an immersive scenario that mimicked the learner's work environment. The learner is approached by randomized patrons at a bar and asked to make each of these three cocktails. The learner constructs the cocktails using ingredients on display much as they would be behind the bar. At the click of a button, learners have access to a cheat sheet displaying the recipe.

Visual Design

Displaying this much visual information on a mobile screen was going to be a bit of a challenge. To address this issue I created several iterations of the slide that would hold the main interaction and revised them based on feedback from my SMEs and professional network.

The initial iteration of the challenge slide. It lacks the cross-section of the shaker and the re-do button.

The final iteration of the challenge slide

Game Logic

Simultaneously, I mocked up the game logic on a sheet of notebook paper. After I had a solid base to work from, I transposed this mock-up to Storyline. I used random number generators, variables, and triggers to keep score and randomize the order in which the challenges appear to make the interaction feel more lifelike.

Mapping out the game logic on notebook paper

Creating a functional demo of the game logic in Storyline

Programming Challenges

During my first round of feedback, learners expressed a desire for a visual representation of what they had added to the cocktail shaker. I recognized the need for this display to adapt dynamically based on ingredient sequence. To address this intriguing programming challenge, I harnessed Storyline's states and layers. I also created outlines for ingredients that had already been used to keep the learner oriented within the workspace.

Creating the dynamically changing representation of ingredients in Storyline

Final Thoughts

With design and programming settled, I crafted a functional Storyline prototype. Following additional feedback for visual tweaks, I uploaded the final version to AWS. Positive responses from my SMEs and network bolstered my confidence in creating gamified microlearning.