As instructional designers, we build classes that continue to excite our audience through attention grabbing learning objects that are chained together to form an engaging experience. At least, that's what we'd like to always have although sometimes we find ourselves with materials that are quite bland and have that must-learn-but-will-be-boring content requirement.
As I was searching for a way to test colours for my residence, I figured I'd play with the colours online first before I buy the paints as I've made wrong decisions as my colour laser printer doesn't correctly match what I see online. In comes Behr's colour smart website where for USD$5 you can upload your own picture/s and "virtually paint" it with a colour palette as extensive as Behr's collection. I like this idea from a practical point because I can visualize-before-purchase (VBP).
This VBP concept translates into instructional design as our learners want to gain the experience before they are faced with real world challenges that were addressed by your training programme. Going back to the Behr's website, if you click on their simulation, it mimic's our learner simulations that we create in Captivate, Camtasia, or any similar animation-type products. Check it out. And let me know how the learning here translated to something you can use at your own workplace.
