Putting Guests FIRST with L.A.S.T.
Scenario-based eLearning course targeted toward recently hired hotel clerks to deal with difficult guest interactions.
Tools Used
Articulate Storyline 360, PowerPoint, Miro, Envato Elements, Coolors, Audacity
Targeted Learners
Newly hired hotel desk clerks
Learning Goals
After completion of the course, the learner will be able to deal with difficult guest interactions and identify solutions dependent on the situation.
Problem
Difficulty with dealing with aggressive situations brought on by guests of Hotela. Incorrectly involving the manager for situations that can be solved.
Solution
Use the L.A.S.T. method to de-escalate tense situations and arrive at a solution. Turning a scenario around where the guest has a positive interaction.
Design Ideas
To mimic the conditions of the hotel, I chose visuals that matched with the hotel branding and closely aligned with traditional hospitality decor. Intentionally, choosing a warming color scheme to invoke a welcoming feel. I looked for color palettes on Coolors and ColorMind.io and arrived on a color scheme that showed some contrast and warmth.
The visuals were predominantly found in Envato Elements and I searched for keywords that include: hotel, hotel desk, clerk. These images and videos provide visuals that immerse the learner in professional fields of hospitality. I wanted to design photorealistic visuals rather than animation as the learner could draw further relevance to their professional task.
Design & Development Process
Starting with the main objective and collaborating with a professional hospitality subject-matter expert, I created an action map for tangible actions that the learner needs to perform from the needs analysis interview. Prior to a text-based storyboard, I created a concept map to organize the main outline of the course. The storyboard included items like hotel branding, on-screen text, visuals, interactive functionality, and audio including narration. Visual assets were collected and audio assets were recorded using Audacity. I created a visual prototype with a rough draft created in Articulate Storyline 360.
Action Mapping
To identify the focus of the eLearning simulation, I worked with a hotel manager, who acted as my SME throughout the project. Participating in several interviews and conversations about expectations and common mistakes. I used MindMeister to create the action map and identified specific actions that work towards the main objective’s task.
Concept Map
I created a concept map in Miro after organizing major targets on the action map. The map was useful as it guided my storyboard elements and helped me think about interactivity. Essentially, this is a backwards design model where I deliberated on key outcomes and the path to achieve those outcomes.
Text-Based Storyboard
The text-based storyboard identified the hotel branding with colors, fonts, and logo. Each slide listed the on-screen text, slide visuals/audio, slide interactivity, and audio/narration.
Visual Storyboard
I created a visual storyboard in Storyline as a rough draft from the text-based storyboard. Each slide includes text, visuals, slide elements as placeholders to give a spatial idea of elements on the slide. The visual storyboard had some interactive functionality included like the motion path hover state, next slide button, input name variable, and slide layers. This gives a feel for user experience but further development would be needed for user interface.
Job Aid
Quick reference guide for hotel desk clerks to view the L.A.S.T. method of customer service.
Results & Takeaways
One key takeaway is that the answer choices on the assessment should be more difficult as it's possible for the learner to click through the interactions and easily get the correct answer by educated guessing. Another takeaway is that the process of introducing the key aspect, example and then practice proved effective as the learner has an exemplar then an immediate check for understanding.
Finally, redesigning the layout to adhere more toward Mayer’s Multimedia Principles as the audio, video and text outlay could add to high cognitive load.