A Sample of Reds: Taste & Match a Selection of Varietals
This eLearning experience was designed to help support novice wine drinkers with understanding the flavor profiles of different styles of red wine. The visual study guide is paired with a drop-down menu knowledge check to support learners in connecting flavors to color.
Audience: New employees in the food and wine industry, novice & experienced wine drinkers
Responsibilities: Visual & graphic design, eLearning development & instructional design
Tools Used: Adobe Illustrator, Articulate Storyline 360, Figma
The Problem & Solution
It can take years of experience to grasp the nuance of wine flavors created by the variety of grapes used throughout the world. I wanted to design an engaging experience to support people new to working in the food and wine industry and novice wine drinkers eager to elevate their understanding. Reading wine labels can be confusing and it isn’t always easy asking for support at stores when making purchases, creating a need for clean and easy to read visual aids.
By visually breaking down red wine into three categories: light, medium, and full bodied, wine drinkers can see how the shades of red affect the flavors of wine and their tannins. I wanted the drop-down menu knowledge check descriptions to be similar to what might be written on a bottle of wine to create connections to the categories on the study guide. Making the learning experience fun and playful was key to allow for knowledge retention and to excite wine connoisseurs who might enjoy quizzing themselves.
My Process
The visual inspiration for this eLearning experience was to mirror real life wine tastings. I was excited to use my Illustrator skills to design engaging visuals allowing the learner to feel like they’re actually tasting each glass on the knowledge check slide.
I iterated several designs for the study guide to make sure the information being communicated was easy to read and relatable. It was important that the study guide didn’t overwhelm the learner with information and they could easily connect with the different categories while absorbing the information.
My first iteration of the project on Articulate Storyline used drag and drop boxes for selecting the wine varietals but luckily a thought partner shared how those types of learning experiences aren’t accessible. Problem solving how to change the project design was a good test of my skills as an instructional designer. I landed on pivoting to using drop down menus and I’m thrilled with the results. Using the focus order function in Storyline also reinforced how to make a fully accessible eLearning experience and the challenges that can exist for learners relying on a keyboard to interact with the module.
Results and Takeaways
I got a lot of joy out of building this eLearning experience. When I waited tables, I always struggled with talking about wine with guests confidently which inspired the desire to design a wine-focused interaction to give novices some edge. So far users have enjoyed testing their red wine knowledge and have also learned a few new factoids!
My biggest takeaway from designing this project was how important it is to keep accessibility in mind as you conceptualize learning experiences. The focus order tool is such a strong feature in Articulate Storyline and it really does streamline how we can use the keyboard for navigation.