Stranger in a strange land
Well, if you asked me in 2019 what the world would be like in 2022, I wouldn’t have bet on a global pandemic, the threat of World War 3 in Europe, or being placed at risk of redundancy in a job that I only started last September. The ‘Roaring 20s’ have not been a roaring success so far.
Unfortunately, my time at WorldRemit appears to be coming to an end. I have very mixed feelings about this, as you can guess, and this is the first time in my working life that I have been in this position. In short, redundancy sucks.
Yet as I recently discussed with L&D Philadelphia, there’s a place for humour in most situations, even being laid off. I decided to channel my sadness and frustration into a new demo.
So, you’ve been made redundant? uses the same techniques I discussed in this blog to ‘turn a bug into a feature’. The Text-To-Speech voices in Storyline 360 can sometimes sound a bit robotic, which research shows can be offputting for learners. But this changes when you use Text-To-Speech for the voice of a robotic character.
Feeling dehumanised by the redundancy process, this tongue-in-cheek demo includes some helpful advice for those who find themselves in this situation.
Here's a demo I made after being placed at risk of redundancy. But I'm not on the scrapheap yet!
— ᴊ ᴏ ɴ ᴀ ᴛ ʜ ᴀ ɴ_ʜ ɪ ʟ ʟ (@DevByPowerPoint) March 11, 2022
I am 𝗹𝗼𝗼𝗸𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝗮 𝗻𝗲𝘄 𝗿𝗼𝗹𝗲, remote or hybrid in the UK. Something in the digital learning field, with scope for creativity, coaching others and defining strategy. pic.twitter.com/m35wneApfu
print("Hello World!")
This week's @ELHChallenge is 𝗔𝘂𝗱𝗶𝗼 𝗜𝗻𝘁𝗲𝗿𝘃𝗶𝗲𝘄𝘀 𝘄𝗶𝘁𝗵 𝗖𝗼𝘂𝗿𝘀𝗲 𝗗𝗲𝘀𝗶𝗴𝗻𝗲𝗿𝘀. Inspired by my new favorite TV show, @OnlyMurdersHulu, here's my podcast-style demo. The only killer you will find here is some killer e-learning tips! pic.twitter.com/j17NMyvnCC
— ᴊ ᴏ ɴ ᴀ ᴛ ʜ ᴀ ɴ_ʜ ɪ ʟ ʟ (@DevByPowerPoint) March 13, 2022
Getting back into the job market is daunting. How do I promote myself? What examples of my work should I share? Do I need to tailor my resume for each application?
By sheer coincidence, last week’s E-Learning Heroes Challenge was Audio Interviews with Course Designers.
So I took this as an apportunity to replace my old E-Learning Mixtape from 2020 with a more up-to-date podcast style interface, complete with a HTML coded accessible transcript.
Only Learners in the Building is a pastiche of the fictional podcast that features in the hit TV show, Only Murders in the Building. Why this design? Honestly, it was the first thing I thought of when I read the challenge title: ‘E-Learning Podcasts’.
I often include pop culture references in my demos, but I try to do this in such a way that even if you don’t get the reference, the joke doesn’t get in the way of the content and the user interface still feels familiar.
For this reason, I enjoy deconstructing apps and leveraging the user’s familiarity with an existing product. If people are used to listening to podcasts, why not ‘steal’ the user interface so they don’t waste valuable time figuring out how your design works? Good artists copy, great artists steal. Picasso never said that, by the way, but it’s still true.
Want to interview me without interviewing me? Check out the demo below.
Only Learners in the Building is a pastiche of the fictional podcast that features in the hit TV show, Only Murders in the Building. Why this design? Honestly, it was the first thing I thought of when I read the challenge title: ‘E-Learning Podcasts’.
I often include pop culture references in my demos, but I try to do this in such a way that even if you don’t get the reference, the joke doesn’t get in the way of the content and the user interface still feels familiar.
For this reason, I enjoy deconstructing apps and leveraging the user’s familiarity with an existing product. If people are used to listening to podcasts, why not ‘steal’ the user interface so they don’t waste valuable time figuring out how your design works? Good artists copy, great artists steal. Picasso never said that, by the way, but it’s still true.
Want to interview me without interviewing me? Click here.
Hero for Hire
I am an award-winning Instructional Designer and Learning Manager, with a background in teaching and training in the further education and financial services sectors.
Since 2016 I have specialised in online learning and I am an active member of the Articulate Community. In May 2019 I completed 52 weeks of E-Learning Heroes Challenges, and in February 2022 I was awarded the title of ‘Articulate Super Hero‘.
I create dynamic learning experiences that use novelty, humour and storytelling to gain attention, stimulate recall and effectively test understanding of a topic. Yet I also recognise the value of ‘lo-fi’ learning solutions that provide learners with quick answers at the point of need and ‘in the flow of work’. I have extensive experience of LMS provisioning, administration, management and content curation.
The only thing I love more than creating eLearning, is training others to create eLearning too. Throughout my career I have coached both peers and team members on best practices for learning design.
I am now looking for an exciting new opportinity with scope for creativity, coaching others and defining learning strategy.
Please contact me via LinkedIn if you have any suitable vacancies.