Running Head: LYNN DIXON CASE ANALYSIS

Lynn Dixon Case Analysis

Amy Keyser
Purdue University

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LYNN DIXON CASE ANALYSIS

Stakeholders
Lynn Dixon is the instructional designer. She is well educated and has some experience,
but she has never developed training for a touch screen before. She is interested in the project
and eager to develop the materials but she does a feel a little overwhelmed by all the projects she
is juggling. Her primary concern is developing an e-learning module for a touch screen kiosk
that the client will like within the time and budget constraints of the contract.
Janette, her coworker, is in marketing. She is responsible for getting the clients and
sometimes overpromises what they can do within the time and budget constraints. She secured
the contract from the Aquarium. She deals with the cost estimates and communicating the
contract expectations. Her primary concerns are that the client is happy and the project stays
within budget. Since her role is primarily securing work, she will not have much involvement in
the project after the initial meeting, but she will be available for Lynn to consult with and if the
contract needs to be modified in any way.
Laura is the client. She hired Telopea Learning, where Lynn and Janette work, to design
the software for a new wetlands exhibit at the Aquarium in Cairns. She works for the
government in the department responsible for the Aquarium. Although she hired them, she will
only be involved on a macro level, with major reviews and final approval. Her primary concerns
are that the kiosk be relevant to the many different groups who will interact with it and that the
content include relationships among the wetlands, the Great Barrier Reef and the catchment. She
also wants a connection to be made to the Aborigines.
Ben is the Subject Matter Expert and Aquarium liaison. He will be the person at the
Aquarium who works most closely with Lynn as the project is developed. His concerns about

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the content mirror Lauras. He is very enthusiastic about the project and about wetlands. He
wants to make the exhibit engaging and has lots of ideas about how to make it interesting.
However, although he recognizes that there is a limited budget, he does not limit his vision to the
budget constraints.
The audience will be the people who visit the wetlands exhibit at the Aquarium as well as
those who visit the regional centers. The audience includes a wide variety of people: school
groups, senior citizens, families, wetlands experts and international visitors who may not
understand English. Their concerns are varied. They want to learn something. They want to be
entertained. There are probably accessibility issues: hearing, seeing, ease of use and limited
English concerns.
Instructional Design Challenges
One design challenge is the amount of material that Ben and Laura want to include in the
exhibit. This is part of the design stage of the ADDIE model (Molenda, 2003). In this case, the
challenge is compounded by the fact that Janette has a tendency to encourage clients to think
big (Nelson, 2014, p.198) in spite of the limits of the time and budgets that they contracted for.
She also tends to overpromise what can reasonably be done.
In this case, they have contracted for 20 minutes worth of material. They want to
include connections between the wetlands, the catchment area, and the Great Barrier Reef. They
also want to include information about different types of wetlands, including information about
regional areas. They are also interested in teaching viewers about the impact people have on the
wetlands. Finally, they want to include the connection the Aboriginal culture and history have
with the wetlands.

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Another design challenge is the desired interactivity given the budget constraint and
agreed upon interactivity. These issues occur in the development stage of the ADDIE model
(Molenda, 2003). Again, Janette is rather vague when discussing interactivity.
Ben wants to include a high level animation as well as games and Aboriginal storytelling, voiced over by someone with an Aboriginal accent. Laura wants to make sure the
experience is accessible to small children, those with limited English and experts in wetlands. It
will be challenging to make an experience that is both accessible and fun for children while
including information that is of interest to wetlands experts. In my own experience, if my kids
find it interesting, it is too simplistic for me. If I find it interesting, my kids are not that
interested in it. I do find that my kids spend more time with something if it is more interactive. It
will also be challenging to make it accessible to limited English speakers as well as those with
disabilities. One of the groups they mentioned were senior citizens, who may have trouble
hearing or seeing or even using a touch screen.
Lynns communication issues with Janette are important, but they are not germane for
this case, since the contract has been written. While I would suggest that Lynn use the respect
she has gained to start a dialog with the marketing people about what is possible and how to
communicate it, I dont think that is a high priority for this case. Personally, I want the priority
to be the content, but, if Im thinking about what they plan to evaluate: time spent at each page,
the graphics and interactivity need to supersede the content. They would do better to put their
time into making a few pages well, than to include all the content at the cost of the bells and
whistles.
How Assigned Readings and Previous Experiences Helped

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LYNN DIXON CASE ANALYSIS
In my current job, I teach two half-hour LiveLessons per week to high school students. (This is
similar to a Webinar in Adobe Connect). They are learning two or three topics each week. They
learn most of the content through an e-learning platform as well as a traditional textbook.
However, as high school students, many of them depend on having someone explain it to them. I
have to decide the most important information to teach in the hour that I have them during the
week. It can be difficult to condense all I want to show and tell them into the time I have, so I
identify with Ben.
Also, I love to go to theme parks, zoos, and national parks. I have plenty of experience
using touch screen kiosks in these kinds of venues. I think that twenty minutes of material is
probably plenty. You dont want there to be too much going on because people will take too long
and a line will form. Also, in my case, my utilization of these types of kiosks is limited by the
patience of my family who usually wants to move on.
Both readings suggest that graphics do enhance learning and interest. Hoffler and
Leutner (2007) believe that the research suggests that learning wont necessarily be enhanced
more realistic animations (i.e. videos). However, in this case, Im not sure that the goal is
learning. When they talk about evaluating the software, Ben and Laura speak of analyzing how
much time is spent with each topic (Nelson, 2014, p. 198). There is no attempt to assess
learning. I think the objective is more edutainment than actual learning.
Reasonable Solutions/Recommendations and How They Address the Challenges
Lynn already suggested one solution and that is to tap into the talent at the university.
Perhaps Ben could find someone of Aboriginal descent to do a voice over of the story. He may
also be able to find an intern who could do some animation to make the birds eye view of the
catchment and another who might be willing to develop a game.

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As I think about how to make the experience engaging to a variety of people, I think that
the key might be to accept that not all parts will be engaging to all people. Certainly, every page
should include some type of graphic that goes with the topic: a map of Australia that highlights
all the wetland, pictures of the threats to the wetlands, etc. (Hffler, 2007). However, some
pages, like the game to investigate different types of farming (Nelson, 2014, p.202) should be
geared toward children and other parts, such as the regional showcase, might be geared toward a
more sophisticated audience.
Another solution would be to have a frank talk with Ben and Laura about the limitations
of the budget. Lynn could explain the inverse relationship between more content and more
interactivity. Then the three of them could decide which direction they want to go: more content
or more interactivity.
Pros and Cons for Solutions
The first solution definitely has the advantage of getting more bang for their buck. It
could be a win-win situation: University students get experience that will help them as they
graduate and the Aquarium can get an engaging experience without paying full price. However,
it may be difficult to work with university students. They may graduate or move on. Also, Ben
would probably need to oversee them, since he lives in the area. They would need to make sure
that the communication with Lynn is there also. Finally, there is no guarantee that they will find
the right people at the University.
The second recommendation acknowledges the difficulty of designing interaction with
multiple age groups. It does provide something for everyone. However, if a wetlands expert
stumbles upon a game designed for children, he may move on without checking out the rest of

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the experience. If a child becomes bored, they may miss the parts that would be of interest to
them.
The third solution is the most practical. However, Lynns job as an instructional designer
is to add value (ISPI, 2002), so it seems like giving up to just say this is what we can do
without making an attempt to provide what the client wants.
Final Recommendation
My final recommendation is that Lynn ask Ben contact the university to see what skills
they may be able to tap into. If they can find students willing to serve as interns, then that will
work out well, but, if not, at least Ben can realize that he may need to dial back his vision, given
his budget. In addition, they should try to focus the development of different aspects of the
experience to different groups. They could include a description of each page on the home page
so viewers could go right to the area in which they are interested. That way, the intellectuals can
go to the more informative sections, while the kids can head straight to the games section. Their
tracking will allow them to adjust the content, especially if the survey includes demographic
information.

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References
Nelson, Christie. (2014) Lynn Dixon: Designing an Interactive Kiosk to Celebrate World Wetlands
Day. In Ertmer, P. A., Quinn, J. Glazewski, K.D. (Eds), The ID Casebook : Case Studies In
Instructional Design (p. 195 203) (4th ed.). Upper Saddle River, N.J.: Merrill.
Hffler, T. N. (2007). Instructional animation versus static pictures: A meta-analysis. Learning and
Instruction, 17(6), 722-739. doi:10.1016/j.learninstruc.2007.09.013
ISPI. (2002). Code of ethics. Retrieved
from https://mycourses.purdue.edu/bbcswebdav/courses/wl_65704.201610/Code%20of
%20Ethics.pdf.
Molenda, M. (2003). In search of the elusive ADDIE model. Perf. Improv., 42: 3436.
doi: 10.1002/pfi.4930420508