Branching scenarios

Branching scenarios give your team the power to personalize your training further and put learners in control of their learning experience. You can foster greater engagement by providing relevant training paths based on learners' scenario responses.

Who can use this feature?

👀 Creators, primary admins, and admins

🏳️ Available on Pro plan

Who can’t use this feature?

❌ Learners. This feature is also not available on Basic and Teams plans

Contents of this article:

1. Create a new branching scenario
2. Editing branching scenarios
3. Navigating branching scenarios
4. Frequently asked questions

Creating a new branching scenario

Design branching ‘scenarios and put learners in control of their learning journey.

To create a new branching scenario:

1. Navigate to your lesson storyboard: Begin by opening your lesson storyboard within the HowToo platform.
2. Select "add block": Once you've pinpointed the ideal spot for your branching scenario, select the + icon to add a new block. This will open the block selection page.
3. Choose the "branching" category: Navigate to the "branching" category and select the "Multi-topic branch home" block to create your branching scenario.

Once you’ve selected this block, you’ll observe that a home block has been created with two separate empty branches extending from it. This is the foundation for your branching scenario. Read on to learn more about editing your branching scenario.

Editing your branching scenarios

Editing branching scenarios is very similar to the common functionality of the storyboard editor. You’ll notice you can add blocks, re-arrange branches, and blocks, as well as duplicate blocks and branches.

To add blocks to a branch:

1. Select the ‘+’ icon to add new blocks to your branching scenario.

To add additional branches:

1. Hover over the branch scenario and select the ‘+’ plus icon that appears between the branches.

Note: You can only add up to 10 branches per scenario.

To delete branches: 

1. Select the hamburger icon, next to the branch title
2. Select delete and then confirm you would like to delete the entire branch

Note: Deleting a branch will delete all blocks contained within that branch.

To delete a branching scenario:

1. Select the hamburger icon on the multi-split branch home block
2. Select delete and then confirm you would like to delete the entire branching scenario

Note: Deleting an entire branching scenario will delete all branches and the blocks contained within that branch.

To re-arrange blocks and branches:

Just like with blocks you can drag and re-arrange blocks and branches. You can also select the branch home to move the entire scenario to a different location within your storyboard.

Navigating branching scenarios

When learners land on the multi-topic branch homepage, they will be prompted to choose from the options displayed on the screen. Upon selecting an option, learners will be presented with blocks within that branch. 

Frequently asked questions

1. Can you add a branching scenario to an assessment?

Currently, the HowToo platform does not allow branching scenarios in assessments.

2. Where does the learner go after completing a branch?

You’ll notice the branches converge back into a single linear pathway. Once learners complete all the blocks within the selected branch they will then navigate through the linear blocks after the branch scenario.

3. How many branches can I add to a scenario?

You can add up to 10 branches per scenario.

4. How do you track learner's completion through a scenario

Learners are only required to complete one branch within each scenario. They can complete additional branches by using the navigation bar, however completion of these blocks won't be counted towards their completion.

5. Can branches be of different lengths?

Yes, branches can be of different lengths. This also won’t affect completion as the learner will only have to complete their selected branch, regardless of its length, to get 100% completion.

6. Can I add a branching scenario within a branching scenario?

Unfortunately, you can not yet add branching scenarios within branching scenarios to create decision trees etc.

7. Can I add a skip branch option?

Yes, you can add a skip option by creating a blank branch. This will allow the user to skip forward to the next block after the branching scenario.

8. Can a learner view or complete other branches?

Yes, learners can use the side navigation bar to view other branches available to them and complete them if they desire. However, completing more than one branch will not increase their completion percentage.

9. Can branching scenarios be added to any storyboard type?

Yes, branching scenarios can be added to both single and multi-topic storyboard formats.

10. Why can’t I add a branching scenario to a scrolling theme?

Unfortunately, branching scenarios are not currently compatible with scrolling themes. We hope to have this available soon.