job aids and visuals
Please note: due to the proprietary nature of these work samples, some materials cannot be shared here in full.
Example 1: Comprehensive VoiceThread Guide
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Audience: University faculty.
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Skills Used: Instructional design, visual design, infographic design; needs, learner, and task analyses; written communication, verbal communication, collaboration.
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Tools Used: VoiceThread, Moodle, SnagIt, Microsoft Word, Microsoft Teams, SharePoint.
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Highlights: interactive table of contents, scaffolded design, step-by-step guide, screenshots, misconceptions addressed, FAQ section to address common questions.
Context
The interactive tool “VoiceThread” was being adopted by this client for their online courses. There are many benefits to using VoiceThread, with accessibility, ease of sharing presentations, and peer feedback among the most impactful. Typically, faculty will use VoiceThread for short lectures or videos, student presentations, or require students to interact with VoiceThread for a grade.
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Problem and Solution
The majority of my faculty were very new to VoiceThread and understanding the tool had a relatively steep learning curve. While client leadership offered Professional Development sessions, faculty were not required to attend. After talking with a handful of faculty that expressed their uncertainty and stress, I decided I needed to create an aid to help them navigate the tool's complexities that could be accessed at any time.
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Through an informal needs analysis in the shape of conversations and interviews with faculty, I had enough data to determine that a comprehensive tool was needed to meet everyone's unique needs. Some had never seen or heard of VoiceThread before and were not aware of its functionalities and capabilities; while other only needed support in following a deep linking process that we established to ensure that the VoiceThread would duplicate from one Moodle course into another.
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The Process
I reached out to a close colleague at the partner institution who is experienced with VoiceThread to see if she would be interested in collaborating with me on my tool's creation, as she also knew the faculty well and could speak to their technological abilities. We met on Microsoft Teams and established our learning objectives, brainstormed what form this job aid would take and the sections of information it would include, and agreed upon a working timeline for our drafts.
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We decided on a comprehensive six-part interactive document, scaffolded to meet every faculty member's needs. We split our six sections up based on who had the most experience with a particular aspect of VoiceThread and individually worked on our assigned portions. We sent drafts back and forth using a collaborative SharePoint Word file, reviewed each other's work before we met again, and then met on Teams to discuss. Through these conversations, we identified gaps and areas that needed further clarification.
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The portions I took covered ways that VoiceThread could be used by faculty and students and the steps needed to deep link a VoiceThread into the client's LMS, Moodle. This required a careful and detailed task analysis in order to convey steps clearly and accurately to faculty. I was mindful to provide as much context as possible and address issues they may run into while following the process.
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The Final Product
This job aid is scaffolded to serve all faculty: those that know nothing about VoiceThread, and those that are familiar with it but only need to know how to link one into Moodle or find the answer to a common question. It also describes the process used when working with an instructional designer, and how they can help the faculty understand the tool. Using an interactive table of contents, the user can jump to whichever section applies to them rather than needing to read through the entire document.
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Screenshots from Moodle and VoiceThread are used to serve as a visual aid for faculty, in addition to clearly written step-by-step instructions.
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Lastly, a FAQ section is provided at the end of the document. This is seen as a living, breathing section that can be updated as needed based upon faculty feedback and results of additional needs analyses.
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Results
This job aid was in use for about 9 months when I transitioned to another position. Up until that point, the feedback had been overwhelmingly positive. Once I would meet with a faculty member, show them the document, and explain how the document could be used, they were usually thrilled to see that they had a resource to turn when they needed help with understanding VoiceThread and the steps taken to properly deep link into Moodle. It also cut down on faculty needing to reach out to ask questions about the linking process, as they had a guide to turn to instead.
Example 2: A QuickStart Guide to VoiceThread​
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Audience: University faculty.
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Skills Used: Instructional design, visual design, infographic design.
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Tools Used: Canva, SnagIt.
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Highlights: Properly formatted headings and subheadings, bulleted lists, table, and screenshots with arrow indicators.
Context
As a follow-up to the Comprehensive VoiceThread Guide above, I wanted to create a visual representation to summarize the most important information. I firmly believe that Universal Design for Learning should be integrated wherever possible to meet the needs of all learners; having a visual version of key points in addition to the text and screenshot-based file satisfied multiple means of representation.
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The Final Product
I used Canva to highlight the major components of the Comprehensive VoiceThread Guide that faculty needed to know: a general four-step process, and two common misconceptions that often arise when faculty begin working with VoiceThread. A graphic using subheadings and bullet points conveys the four major steps and subpoints within each step. A table is used on page two to highlight important information quickly. Screenshots with arrow indicators are used on page three to clarify the linking process in Moodle.
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Note: PDF below contains three pages. You can also access it in here on my Google Drive.
Example 3: Course Development Checklist Tool​
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Audience: team of instructional design colleagues.
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Skills Used: instructional design, visual design; needs, learner, and task analyses; written communication.
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Tools Used: internal project management system, Microsoft Word, Microsoft Teams, SharePoint.
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Highlights: interactive checkboxes, tables for organization, headings and subheadings to easily find information.
Context
When I was Senior Instructional Designer at Wiley, one of the hats I wore was developing materials to support new designers to the team. I was responsible for evaluating existing training materials and identifying gaps or areas for improvement to ensure that new designers were prepared to be client-facing. I also looked for ways to improve training materials for the designers mentoring new team members. This project not only suits new designers to the team, but also provides an additional project management option to designers who have been on the team for years and may be transitioning between accounts.
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Problem and Solution
I was working with a client that had a high number of course orders and their time investment became too great for only one designer. A secondary designer was added to the account with me, and that designer had worked with several other clients that did not follow the same workflow that was necessary for this client. As I was brainstorming ways that I could train the new designer to work with the new client successfully, I decided to create a resource that the new designer could save and easily reference when needed.
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The Final Product
The final creation was a project management tool that became a solution for other designers as well, as the format is one that is easily customizable. Any designer working with any client should be able to take this form and adapt it to meet their needs as they train secondary designers, brand new designers, or are simply looking for another way to project manage.
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Results
The secondary designer that I was training on the client absolutely loved having a tangible, simple way to quickly check off items. She noted that it answered many of the questions she has regarding ‘what comes next?’ and ‘what do I need to do before I do this other thing?’ without her needing to reach out to someone else for help.
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My manager liked this as well because it is something that can be adapted for any client, which will increase efficiency and knowledge-sharing when new designers join the team.