This Articulate E-Learning Heroes Challenge is to design a two-slide interaction that includes a content screen and a gate screen. The key is to show the gate screen interacts with the rest of the course. Using a gate screen is one of my favorite ways to have the learner stop and think about what it is they are doing or choosing .
The Idea
I wanted to have a slide where the learner makes a decision, and use the gate screen to allow the learner a chance to think about their choice before continuing.
The Design
When I first thought about this challenge, my inner nerd took over, and I immediately thought of iconic gate-related lines from two different films. First, I thought of Gandalf saying, “YOU SHALL NOT PASS!” in the first Lord of the Rings movie. Ghost Busters also came to mind with Zuul The Gatekeeper in search of the Keymaster to bring about Gozer The Destroyer. Since I couldn’t come up with a scenario or choice involving an ancient fire demon, I decided to go with the Ghost Busters theme.
The Gate Screen Interaction
When the learner starts, they first see the question, and then two possible choices. The learner makes their decision by clicking on either choice.
The gate screen appears to enter as a layer over the first choice screen. Typically, I would be more inclined to use slide layers as the gate screen, but I built this one as a separate slide for the challenge. To give it the slide layer effect, I duplicated the first slide and added the gate screen assets on top, added entrance animations, and adjusted the timings as necessary.
The goal in adding the gate screen in steps like this is to encourage the learner to pause for a moment to either confirm their choice by choosing “Yes,” or to go back and try again by choosing “No.” When the choice is confirmed, the course continues by revealing the outcome of the choice—in the form of YouTube clips from the movie.
Final Product
Although the YouTube clips didn’t work out as embedded video assets on the slide, I like the simple functionality of this type of interaction. When I think of a gate screen, I always picture the type of gate you would find on a castle drawbridge — something that commands attention before continuing on. By putting the gate screen on top of whatever is being confirmed or reevaluated, the learner can benefit from maintaining context within the course. Interested in seeing the demo or seeing how I built it? Check out the links below.
