Scenarios¶

A scenario is a branching story. The learner reads a situation, picks a choice, and sees what happens next. Each choice leads to a different step, so two learners can take two different paths through the same block. A scenario has no AI chat and no score. For an open conversation with an AI character, use a Roleplay instead.

Accessible to: Trainers, Workspace Owners, Admins (authoring) · Learners (playing a scenario)

The idea in one minute¶

You write a set of steps. Each step is a short piece of text.
Most steps give the learner 2 to 4 choices. Each choice leads to another step.
A step with no choices is an ending.
The learner finishes the block when they reach the first ending. There is no score and no pass or fail.

Use a scenario when the learner must make a decision and see the result. A good example is a customer who reports a problem: if the learner escalates, one outcome follows, and if they ignore it, a different outcome follows.

Tip

Use a Quiz when an answer is right or wrong and you need a score. Use a Roleplay when the learner must talk with an AI character. Use a scenario when the learner must choose and see what happens.

Add a scenario to a course¶

Open the course and go to the Content tab.
Click Add Block and choose Scenario.
The Scenario Editor opens with a starter story of 3 steps: a first step with 2 choices, and 2 endings. The steps have a title and no text. Write your own story in them.

To change a scenario later, click it on the Content tab.

Note

If Scenario is missing from the Add Block menu, ask a workspace owner to turn on Branching scenarios. See Turning scenarios on or off.

Make a scenario from blocks that you have¶

You can merge a set of text blocks into 1 scenario. Each block becomes 1 step, with its text and its media unchanged. Aimee writes the choices between the steps and some short endings.

You can merge 2 to 15 blocks. These blocks can merge: Slide, Accordion, Flip card, Stepper, boxed list, flowchart and section blocks. A selection that has a different block, such as a video or a quiz, cannot merge.

Open the course and go to the Content tab.
Tick the checkbox on each block that you want in the story.
Click Merge into in the toolbar, then click Scenario. If Scenario is off, the menu shows the reason below it.
If you want, write what the learner should practise in Instructions for the AI (optional).
Click Draft the scenario. Aimee writes a draft. The course does not change at this time.
Read the preview. It shows each step, its choices and the step that each choice leads to. A step shows From a block, New step or Ending.
Click the merge button to confirm. It shows the count of blocks, for example Merge 3 blocks. Or click Try again to get a new draft, or Cancel to keep your blocks as they are.

After you confirm, the scenario replaces the blocks and the Scenario Editor opens. Edit the story there.

The preview can show the list Some parts do not move into the scenario. A step has 1 column and no interactive parts. So a part such as a multi-column layout, or a rule that the learner must open each section, does not move into the step. All the text of the block stays. Read the list before you confirm.

If a block changes after Aimee writes the draft, Aimee does not merge. Click Try again to get a draft from the blocks as they are now.

Undo a merge¶

You can undo a merge until you publish the course. The Undo merge button shows on the scenario block on the Content tab, and in the top bar of the Scenario Editor.

Undo merge brings the blocks back at their earlier positions, with their files and their narration.
The undo deletes the scenario and the edits that you made in it.
After you publish the course, Undo merge is no longer available.

Delete a merged scenario¶

When you delete a scenario that a merge made, Aimee asks Delete this scenario? and gives 2 actions:

Bring the slides back - does the same as Undo merge. The blocks come back and the scenario goes away.
Delete all - deletes the scenario and the blocks that the merge replaced.

If you select many blocks and click Delete selected, the message tells you when the selection has a merged scenario. The blocks that the merge replaced are deleted too.

Build the story¶

The Scenario Editor has 3 areas:

The guide at the top shows the order of work in 2 parts. A part shows a tick when it is done. Click a part to go to it.
The Steps outline on the left shows the steps as an indented list. Each step sits below the step that leads to it.
The open step on the right is the step that you edit now. Click a step in the outline to open it.

Guide part	What you do	When it shows a tick
1. Describe the scenario	Give the scenario a title. You can also ask Aimee for a first draft.	The scenario has a title.
2. Write the steps	Write each step and its choices.	Each step has a title and text, each choice has a text and a step that it leads to, and the editor shows no problems.

Title¶

Click Scenario setup in the outline, or part 1 of the guide. Give the scenario a Title. The editor needs a title before you can save.

Steps¶

Click a step in the outline to open it. The open step has:

Part	What it is
Step title	A short name for the step.
What the learner reads	The text of the step.
What the learner can do	The choices. Each choice has a text and a Leads to selector.

To add a choice:

Click Add choice and write what the learner can do.
Open Leads to and select where the choice goes:
- A new step makes a step and links the choice to it.
- A new ending makes an ending and links the choice to it.
- A step under A step in the scenario links the choice to a step that you already have.
Click the new step in the outline to write it.

The outline shows these marks:

Ending - the step has no choices, so the story stops there.
Goes to - the choice leads to a step that already shows higher in the outline.
A warning mark - the step has a problem. Open the step to read it.
Not linked yet - no choice leads to these steps, so the learner cannot see them. Link a choice to each one, or delete it.

Follow these rules:

A scenario holds 30 steps at most. The outline shows how many steps you use.
A step holds 2 to 4 choices. A step with no choices is an ending.
Each choice text has 200 characters or fewer. Keep choices short and clear.
A choice can lead back to an earlier step. This lets the learner try a different path.
The story starts at the first step in the outline. To start at a different step, open that step and click Start the scenario here.
Use Delete this step and Delete this choice to remove a step or a choice.
Add step below the outline makes a step that no choice leads to. Use it when you want to write a step before you link it.

Tip

Write the endings first. Then write the steps that lead to them. This keeps each path short and gives every path a clear result.

Draft with AI¶

If you want a first draft, let Aimee write it:

Click Scenario setup in the outline.
Write a Title. In Scenario description, write what the learner should practise. Add facts, rules or a short case. The editor does not save the description, so keep a copy if you need it again.
Click Draft the scenario with AI.
Aimee drafts the whole story from your text and from the other content of the course. Review it, edit it, and save.

If the course has no other content, Aimee does not draft a story. The editor tells you to add slides or other blocks first.

If the scenario already has steps, Aimee asks Replace the scenario? before it continues. Choose Replace with AI draft to replace every step, or Keep my scenario to cancel. You cannot undo the replacement after you save.

Note

The AI draft is a starting point. Read every step and check that the facts are correct before you publish.

Preview¶

Click Preview in the top bar to play the story as a learner does. Click Edit to go back to the steps. The preview uses what is on screen now, so you do not need to save first. Nothing that you do in the preview is saved.

Checks before you publish¶

A scenario cannot be published if the story cannot be played. The editor lists each problem above the outline. Click a problem to open its step. The publish check also names the problem and links you to the editor. The checks are:

The story has a first step.
Every step can be reached from the first step.
Every step has 2 to 4 choices, or it is an ending with no choices. A step with only 1 choice is not allowed.
The learner can reach an ending from the first step.

What the learner experiences¶

The learner sees one step at a time. They read the text and click a choice. The next step opens at once.

When the learner reaches an ending, the block shows 2 buttons:

Try again - goes back to the first step, so the learner can try a different path.
Continue - goes to the next slide of the course.

The Next button stays off until the learner reaches an ending. The bar shows Reach an ending to proceed. After the learner reaches an ending once, the block counts as complete. Clicking Try again does not undo this.

The block gives no score, no points, and no debrief. If a learner leaves and returns, they continue from the step where they stopped.

Turning scenarios on or off¶

A workspace owner or admin controls scenarios on the Features tab of Workspace Settings. See Workspace Settings.

The switch is called Branching scenarios. It is on by default.
When it is on, authors can add Scenario blocks, and the Draft the scenario with AI button works.
When it is off, authors cannot add new Scenario blocks. Scenario blocks that already exist keep working for learners.

Tips¶

Tip

Keep a story to 5 to 10 steps. A short story is easier to test, and the learner remembers each choice.

Tip

Make each wrong choice teach something. Show the result of the choice, and say why it matters.

Courses - building a course and adding blocks
Roleplay - a live AI conversation with a character, with a score
Workspace Settings - the Branching scenarios switch