Guardians of the Plate
An eLearning Food Safety Quest
This eLearning experience is a concept project featuring scenario-based safety training for new restaurant food handlers. It enhances learner engagement and enjoyment through gamification and a movie-style trailer introduction.
Audience: Recently-hired food-handling staff in a restaurant
Responsibilities: Instructional Design, eLearning Development, AI-Enhanced Graphic Design, AI-Assisted Creative Writing
Tools: Articulate Storyline, Adobe Illustrator, MindMeister, Adobe Express, Dall-E, ChatGPT, Camtasia, Leia Piix, ElevenLabs, PowerPoint
The Problem
Food safety significantly impacts the restaurant industry. Negligent food handling practices can result in safety violations, revenue loss, and foodborne disease outbreaks. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) estimates that foodborne illnesses affect 1 in 6 Americans (48 million) annually, leading to 128,000 hospitalizations and 3,000 deaths.
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In this concept project, new management takes charge of a restaurant chain grappling with food safety issues. The management aims to implement updated safety training for their 70,000 employees across 800 locations throughout the United States.
The Solution
After conducting a needs analysis with subject matter experts, I identified the complexity of the problem. While some issues stemmed from cultural and environmental factors, others resulted from deficiencies in skills and knowledge that training could address.
To enhance food safety skills, I recommended implementing a story-driven scenario-based e-learning program for new employees, accompanied by job aids at their workstations. Additionally, contingent on budget and time constraints, I suggested the development of an app containing micro-learning safety scenarios.
The Process
The ADDIE model inspired my process and included the following steps:​
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Action Mapping and Analysis
I interviewed two subject matter experts (SMEs) with a combined 18 years of restaurant industry experience, spanning various roles and establishments. We assessed the actions performed by food handlers during their work, the errors they commit, the reasons behind these mistakes, and potential solutions to fix them.
The action map and table below provide a concise overview of our discoveries, emphasizing the actions with the greatest potential to enhance food safety.
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Our findings highlighted that some issues, driven by culture or external factors, couldn't be addressed solely through training. For instance, employees often worked when sick due to financial constraints or cultural influences.
However, training could improve other problems, such as not knowing when to use gloves or not using the correct equipment for the job. In several cases, job aids could supplement or substitute for training. New employees received limited training, and seasoned staff tended to forget protocols. Managers were aware of safety procedures but struggled to enforce them due to time constraints and competing priorities.
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Although we did not identify correct food storage in our original action mapping session, my follow-up conversations with the SMEs, suggested that keeping food at the right temperature and proper organization of refrigerated food was critical for food safety. I therefore included it in the learning experience.
Instructional Design Document
After analyzing the data, I wrote a proposal for the SMEs to review. The proposal details a training solution that involves scenario-based safety training delivered in an e-learning format for new employees and job aids at workstations. I also suggested the development of an app containing micro-learning safety scenarios. Managers could use this app every month to reinforce employee safety training and address emerging food safety issues.
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Overall, a hybrid learning experience involving e-learning for new employees, an app for managers and all employees to use throughout the year, plus job aids will help the restaurant chain reach its goal of decreasing safety violations. Due to time constraints, I focused initially on developing the eLearning for new employees and the job aids.
Storyboard
After receiving feedback from the SMEs, I created a text-based storyboard to guide my development. The storyboards included on-screen text, a list of media, as well as programming, animation, and navigation notes.
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I focused on the learner’s experience and recreated a day in the life of a restaurant employee. Since this was scenario-based eLearning, I included choices and consequences based on real-life work in a restaurant. Just like on the job, learners would feel some consequences immediately, but others would not impact them until later.
Visual Design
Since this learning experience was for a large restaurant chain, I chose colors and fonts used in the industry. Restaurants use red to add energy and yellow to convey happiness. Therefore, I chose a color palette with a bold crimson red and a bright yellow. For the font pairing, I selected Montserrat, a Google Font that restaurant websites use, and paired it with Georgia for the headings.
I also created a custom logo for my fictitious restaurant, The Crimson Crab, and a charcuterie-inspired font for my learning experience, Guardians of the Plate, using Open AI and Adobe tools.
The Evolution of Steve McClean Character
Development
I knew that my scenario-based learning experience would have triggers, variables, and conditions, so I chose Articulate Storyline to develop the learning experience. I sourced images from FreePix or created them using Dall-E from Open AI. I modified images using Adobe Illustrator and Adobe Express to create the custom look I envisioned and to correct AI-generated mistakes.
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I wanted to add some gamification elements to my learning experience, so I created three different mentor characters that the learner could choose to help on their journey. I also wanted a custom progress bar that fit the seafood restaurant theme. I envisioned a crab climbing up a pole when the learner made correct decisions and climbing down the pole for incorrect choices. Developing this progress bar was difficult and challenged my Storyline development skills. I needed 106 states,106 cue points, and over 400 triggers duplicated and modified on 4 different layers to bring my crawling crab to life!
One of the tasks the SMEs identified was organizing refrigerated food to prevent cross-contamination. I simulated this real-life task by creating a drag-and-drop interaction where the learner had to unpack shipping boxes and correctly organize them in the refrigerator.
As a learning experience designer and educator, I rely on Gagne’s nine events of instruction. Since some learners think safety training is dull, I wanted to make it exciting from the start, so I created a movie trailer introduction using Camtasia with a dramatic cinematic score, striking images, subtle animation, 3D effects from LeiaPiix, and text-to-voiceover narration from ElevenLabs.
Part of the proposed learning solution included job aids. Before creating custom job aids, I researched existing food safety infographic posters. The Centers for Disease Control, State Food Safety, and FoodDocs have many professionally designed job aids that management can produce and display at strategic locations in their restaurants. I included the job aids in the eLearning experience so that learners got to practice using resources they would reference on the job.
Prototype and Feedback
I developed a prototype and released it to my test learners and SMEs. This version had all the major features but was not in a final state. Feedback included text changes, typos, scenario clarification, and a few mistakes. One of the SMEs suggested changes to align with the National Registry of Food Standard Professionals standards and to comply with restaurant labor laws. My testers also suggested additional features such as information for managers that will provide the training and a summary screen for learners that shows all their choices, what they got wrong, and suggestions for improvement. I incorporated both additional features into the final product and like the improvements.
Summary Screen Improvements
Results
I enjoyed bringing this concept project to life. Creating the characters, script, visual design, and movie-like intro was fun. I customized the feedback from different mentors to fit the character's personality. The final scenario had ten possible endings depending on the choices made during the learning experience.
I also loved the challenge of figuring out complex programming like the crab progress meter. Unfortunately, I found myself hitting the limitations of the Storyline software. A batch trigger programming feature or the ability of JavaScript to change states would have reduced development time.
I love working with people and enjoy collaborating with the SMEs. In the future, I plan to release a simpler prototype to get feedback earlier and more often.
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Future Development
Both SMEs were former restaurant managers and loved the app I proposed in the instructional design proposal. The app would include built-in micro-learning safety scenarios and fields to create customized eLearning. Managers could use this app every month to reinforce employee safety training and address emerging food safety issues. The app would also provide opportunities for staff input, which would help with employee buy-in. This project would benefit restaurant managers and their teams, and I would also learn new eLearning development skills.