Keeping remote learners engaged can be a challenge for training and enablement professionals. Hours of training videos punctuated by messages and pings from the always-on digital workplace can make it hard for anyone to stay focused.
On top of the digital distraction at work, creating a successful training and onboarding program isn’t easy. A recent Gallup study found only 12% of employees believe their organization does a great job onboarding new hires.
Is it possible for organizations to effectively train employees in a distributed world? We think so. The key is to build experiences that empower employees to learn at their own pace, guide them to the most important learning content as quickly as possible, and open custom pathways specific to your employees role within your company.
Building custom learning experiences starts with interactive video. While traditional learning content follows a linear path, interactive video provides the ability to create customized learning journeys that puts employees in the driver’s seat.
First, what is video branching?
Branching video is a type of interactive video where the viewer’s participation directly impacts the outcome of the storyline.
Branching videos allow viewers the unique opportunity to engage in the content through interactive storytelling. You can ask questions to viewers with dedicated decision points. Based on the reply or action, the viewer is sent to another part of the video. The key is to build a compelling workflow of potential storylines and let your employees choose their own learning path.
Two use cases for video branching
Video branching is a great tool for building custom learning and onboarding experiences. We’ve highlighted two powerful use cases where training and enablement teams can leverage interactive:
Custom learning paths
A traditional learning video may take viewers through a linear learning pathway. For example, a general employee onboarding program may walk new hires through the company culture, company product or services, different departments and leaders, and different roles and responsibilities. The content may be shared in a single video or series of videos that equal hours of content to wade through.
With video branching, training and enablement teams can divide the content into clickable segments, allowing new hires to jump into key areas that are most relevant to them all within a single video.
Scenario-based training
Learning on the job is only effective when employees understand how to apply their knowledge. That’s why scenario-based training can be a powerful and engaging way to teach employees.
Video branching offers training and enablement teams the ability to build out engaging storylines, showcase different scenarios, and dramatize outcomes that employees may face on the job.
Below is an example from Radisson Hotel Group that shows how video branching can create the perfect scenario-based training experience for hotel staff.
Creating a simplified branching structure
When mapping out the branching structure for your first interactive video, it’s best to simplify the experience for your viewer. For example, if you created a decision point with three different outcomes, after two more decision points, you would already have 27 different outcomes to account for in your video.
Instead, try using a master loop where a single story plays out. When your learner chooses a wrong outcome at a decision point, the scenario plays out, and they return to the decision point to choose another outcome. Once they choose the correct outcome, the storyline continues. Master loops are great for scenario-based training and video quizzes.
For other branching use cases, take the time to storyboard what content you want your viewer to see. You can create flowcharts and decision trees to visualize the video experience at each stage.
Four things to prepare for a branching video shoot
Building an effective video branching experience starts with your video content. Branching videos combine different video clips to make an interactive story for the viewer. Because of this, it’s important to carefully plan out your shots and editing before layering in your video branching elements.
So before planning your shoot and script, consider these 4 tips:
- Map out your viewer user journeys before shooting. You can use a user flow diagram or tools like twine to help.
- Shoot all possible outcomes and scenes. Be sure to let the camera roll longer than you typically would.
- Think about what is happening on screen when a viewer has to make a choice.
- Consider how you want to transition from the decision screen to the user choices. Also think through what that will look like.
Building a branching video with Vimeo
While branching videos require a bit of work upfront with planning, shooting, and editing, the results can quadruple your efforts for your viewers. Below, we’ve outlined how to build out your branching storyline with Vimeo.
Bring all your choices to one timeline
To start, you’ll want to upload your video assets to Vimeo on a single video file. Be sure to edit them together as one long video file (one right after the other) rather than different segments.
Create a decision point
Add hotspots to your video and use the ‘jump to time in video’ action to take your viewer to a specific point in the video or to view the outcome of a particular choice.
Add playback segments
To prevent viewers from being able to skip around videos and bypass decision points, you can create playback segments. Playback segments allow creators to break up videos into parts so that viewers can only scrub within that segment. This is an important feature when creating branching videos, as it enforces your branching structure and prevents viewers from cheating the branching structure.
Below is an example of a training EMS video using playback segments.
Choose between a pause or loop
It’s important to decide what will happen at each decision point.
For example, you might choose to create a pause point with a time trigger, which will stop the video from playing until a choice has been made.
Or, you may consider creating a looping section of content with your hotspot. You can use a time trigger to jump to a time in the video and create a loop.
When making a decision, consider if your video has shot specific content for a decision point (like prompts that tell the viewer what’s happening on the screen) and how you want your viewer to interact and make a choice.
Build your transitions
Once your viewer makes a choice and a decision point, you’ll want to understand what transition the video will make.
You may prefer to make a seamless continuation of the video or you may want to consider different effects to mask changes in the scene.
Create your own learning journey with Vimeo
