January 22, 2007

The eLearning Guild’s

SM

Practical Applications of Technology for Learning

THIS WEEK: Design Techniques

While much attention has

Rapid e-Learning Design been paid to speeding up

with Microsoft Infopath development processes,

not much has been said
By Maria Leggett about facilitating the criti-
cally important design

R apid development! We have all heard this

buzzword over and over again for the past sev-
eral years. Everyone, it seems, is looking for a way to
phase of e-Learning proj-
ects. Much can be done
about the latter by lever-
develop e-Learning quickly in order to meet the demand
of customers in this just-in-time environment. But how
aging XML and tools that
can you implement rapid development without a mecha- use it, such as Microsoft
nism for rapid design? InfoPath. Read this article
What’s more, there really aren’t any generally-accepted standards for in- for an XML and InfoPath
structional documentation. As a result, each organization creates documenta-
tion applicable to its particular product(s) or learning culture. That might be tutorial that can pay imme-
fine for in-house e-Learning programs, but what if you plan to expand your
training audience to external customers, suppliers, or vendors? Must you start diate dividends in your
all over?
Now try to take that instructional design document, most likely created in design process!
Microsoft Word, turn it into a storyboard, and then develop it into e-Learning.
Between copying from one document and pasting it into another, keeping A publication of
track of multiple versions, and converting design concepts into online media
(including the whole range from HTML, to Flash, to Captivate), how rapid is
your design process going to be?
In this article, my main purpose is to introduce you to Microsoft InfoPath, an

XML editor meant for professionals who just need to
get a job done, without learning XML. You’ll get a
tutorial on how to use InfoPath to set up a reusable
template for your design process. I’ll also sketch for
you the way that I’m using InfoPath to go from SME
input, to design, to production, to organize the work of
the development team, and to manage version control.
Overview of rapid design with XML
Do my first three opening paragraphs pretty much
describe your design nightmares? Well, don’t despair.
There is a great solution for all of these problems:
eXtensible Markup Language (XML). With this plat-
form-independent technology, designers can create
reusable instructional design templates to expedite
the design process. Since most development soft-
ware tools (such as Flash and Dreamweaver) use
XML, all of these tools can access your content.
Worried by what you’ve heard about the challenges
of learning XML? Don’t want to learn to write XML?
There’s no budget for a programmer? What you need
is an XML editor program that will handle the details
from within a familiar “what you see is what you get”
interface.
Publisher David Holcombe
Editorial Director Heidi Fisk
Editor Bill Brandon
Copy Editor Charles Holcombe
Design Director Nancy Marland Wolinski
The eLearning Guild™ Advisory Board
Ruth Clark, Lance Dublin, Conrad Gottfredson,
Bill Horton, Bob Mosher, Eric Parks, Brenda Pfaus,
Marc Rosenberg, Allison Rossett
Copyright 2002 to 2007.
Learning Solutions e-Magazine™ (formerly The
eLearning Developers’ Journal™). Compilation copy-
right by The eLearning Guild. All rights reserved. Please
contact The eLearning Guild for reprint permission.
Learning Solutions e-Magazine™ is published weekly
for members of The eLearning Guild, 375 E Street,
Suite 200, Santa Rosa, CA 95404. Phone:
+1.707.566.8990. www.eLearningGuild.com
LEARNING SOLUTIONS | January 22, 2007 2
Design Techniques
But first, in case it’s new to you, let me offer some
There is a great solu-
XML basics from the instructional designer’s perspec-
tive. Programmers, and those who are already well tion for [design night-
versed in XML and XML transformations, may want to mares]: eXtensible
skip ahead to “What InfoPath does for the designer.”
Markup Language
A brief look at XML
(XML). With this plat-
XML is all the rage these days, and for good rea-
son. XML, like HTML and XHTML, is a way to mark form-independent
up content, using “tags.” technology, designers
However, HTML and XHTML are computer lan-
guages that define the display of content as a Web can create reusable
page. A browser can interpret HTML, and display con- instructional design
tent in specific ways: bold text, italicized text, formatted
with bullets or paragraph styles, different fonts or col-
templates to expedite
ors, with various types of graphics, and so on. the design process.
XML, on the other hand, gives structure to data.
Strictly speaking, and in spite of its name, XML is not
a markup language. It has no fixed vocabulary or gram-
mar. What it does do is give you a system with which
you can create your own markup language matched to
the job you are doing. Not only that, the markup lan-
guage you build using XML’s rules will work within any
generic XML tool you use later. Documents that you
Learning Solutions e-Magazine™ is designed to serve as a catalyst
for innovation and as a vehicle for the dissemination of new and practical
strategies, techniques, and best practices for e-Learning design, devel-
opment and management professionals. It is not intended to be THE
definitive authority ... rather, it is intended to be a medium through which
e-Learning professionals can share their knowledge, expertise, and expe-
rience. As in any profession, there are many different ways to accomplish
a specific objective. Learning Solutions will share many different per-
spectives and does not position any one as “the right way,” but rather
we position each article as “one of the right ways” for accomplishing an
objective. We assume that readers will evaluate the merits of each article
and use the ideas they contain in a manner appropriate for their specific
situation.
The articles in Learning Solutions are all written by people who are
actively engaged in this profession — not by journalists or freelance writ-
ers. Submissions are always welcome, as are suggestions for future top-
ics. To learn more about how to submit articles and/or ideas, please visit
our Web site at www.eLearningGuild.com.
 LEARNING SOLUTIONS | January 22, 2007 3
Design Techniques

create with this markup language will be flexible and

reusable, and you will be able to transform them into
XHTML or HTML documents for display on the Web,
or even into Portable Document Format (PDF) for
printing. (Note, though, I won’t be covering conversion
to PDF.) As you will see in this article, this creates
tremendous advantages for you as an e-Learning
designer.
An XML document contains data and markup that
provides structure for the content. The data in an
XML document is like the data in any other computer
document, but most of the time, the documents are
“narrative” — containing information in letters, num-
bers, and symbols meant for humans to use once the February 15 & 16, 2007
information is put into an appropriate form. The mark-
up looks, on the surface, much like HTML markup: let-
ters, numbers, and symbols enclosed in angle brack-
New Techniques for
ets. We call these combinations “tags.”
But there is an important difference. In HTML, mark-
Desiging and Developing
up tags are predefined. You can look up any given tag e-Learning Simulations
and know that a browser will always interpret it as a
specific display instruction. XML does not have a de- • LEARN how organizations — whether cor-
fined set of tags. Instead, you create markup tags that porate, academic, or government — are
apply to the content you are trying to catalog. using simulations
An XML markup tag consists of elements such as
<language>. Each element can have attributes such • EXPLORE using different tools and
as <language type=”EN”>. In this example, the processes for developing simulations
information the writer wanted to capture was the lan- • DISCOVER how simulations can take a dry
guage of the document. The element called lan- topic and make it exciting and engaging
guage serves that purpose. The attribute and its des-
cription (type=”EN”) indicates that the language of • EXAMINE how to design various simulation
the document is English. For the German translation, elements
the attribute description becomes type= ”German”.
• ENSURE that your simulations meet both
But wait, there’s more!
the learners’ and the organization’s goals
The XML schema and the designer’s vision
Quality control of all the content and the markup
tags in an XML document is critical to success. An
XML schema document gives you a way to control
the details of your document content and markup. The Register Today!
schema document contains the descriptions of the +1.707.566.8990
types of content and the structure the XML document
can have, and it contains any constraints on the data
www.eLearningGuild.com
types and display. This is important to you as an in-
structional designer because it allows you to create a Hosted by:
template that someone else can use to enter data into
your XML document, and this template will only allow
the other person to enter what you intended, the way
that you intended. The XML schema, if you will, is a
set of rules — and they are rules that you write, for Technology
Sponsor:
your particular project. Figure 1 on page 4 shows
how this works. The capture process (often a Subject
Matter Expert, or SME, creating a Microsoft Word

document) collects content, the XML template, pow-
ered by the schema, filters and conforms it, and the
resulting valid XML resides in a document, ready for
retrieval and use.
The combination of tags that describe your data,
and the schema, which sets the rules for the descrip-
tion, structure, and constraints, gives you another
powerful benefit. It makes your data reusable. In my
earlier example, instead of having to make a new set
of tags for each translation, the writer only needs to
change the language attribute. Furthermore, by deter-
mining the data you want to capture you can use the
XML schema as the standard for future XML docu-
ments that need to describe the same type of data.
Think of a schema as a Microsoft Word template. The
data fields are already in place each time you create a
new document from the template.
Transforming your data for the rest of the team with
XSLT
XML makes it easy to store and retrieve data, es-
pecially if the data is the kind that you don’t need to
be able to search randomly. Instructional content is
generally sequential, so it’s a good candidate for
XML. XML also supports transformation of data into
different formats, to make it easier to use for different
tasks. This means that you can use the same XML
data source repeatedly, but only show each user the
specific information he or she requires for the job at
hand.
XML uses a language called XSLT (eXtensible
Style Language Transformation) to take data elements
apart, sort and select or delete them, rearrange the
results, and transform them into another document in
a presentation format, such as an HTML or XHTML
file. Without going into the mechanics too far, you (or
your XML editor software) create transformation in-
structions written in XSLT — essentially a stylesheet —
for each view, and link these to the XML document.
Any XSLT-compliant Web browser (and that is most
of them) will then transform the XML into HTML or
XHTML according to the instructions.
In fact, transformation simply gives you another
view of the data in the original XML file, and you can
use XML and XSLT to create as many different views
of any part of that data as you need. The data in the
original file is unchanged. Figure 2 is a graphic repre-
sentation of this process.
Don’t worry, that’s as technical as it gets because
now here’s the good stuff! You don’t have to be a pro-
grammer to create an XML schema or an XML docu-
ment, or to generate the XSLT transformations. The
XML editor software will do all the hard work for you.
LEARNING SOLUTIONS | January 22, 2007 4
Design Techniques
What you do need is instructional design knowledge,
understanding of usability principles, and a vision for
reusability and templates. For more advanced options,
particularly when exporting XML out to e-Learning
development tools, you will need some knowledge of
XSLT. You may also need some knowledge of the
larger eXtensible Stylesheet Language (XSL), of
which XSLT is one part. However, for streamlining
your instructional design process and documentation,
an XML editor will be all you need. If you want to
ì Figure 1 The XML
learn more about XML and XSLT, W3 Schools has schema document acts as
an excellent tutorial to get you started. (http://www. a template to ensure the
w3schools.com) validity of your XML data.
Figure 2 XML uses XSLT
ì
What InfoPath does for the designer
to transform data into spe-
There are many XML editors on the market, differ-
cific views for different
ing in functionality and price. Some of the more popu-
users.
lar editors are XMLSpy by Altova, Adobe/Macromedia
Dreamweaver, and Microsoft InfoPath.
I chose Microsoft InfoPath for my solution based on
several factors. First, it is part of the Microsoft Office
2003 Professional version and works with Word,
Excel, and Access, tying together the Office suite with
the technology of XML. Since Microsoft Office 2003
Professional is a standard software load across the
Textron enterprise, it was an easy decision for me to
select InfoPath, as everyone — from the subject matter
experts to the entire design team — had access to it.
Second, InfoPath is not an expensive solution. Pur-
chased as a stand-alone application, the software
retails for less than $200.00 per license.
More to the point for my purposes, InfoPath is spe-
 LEARNING SOLUTIONS | January 22, 2007 5
Design Techniques

cially designed for creating forms with custom views.
Imagine having only one document that contained all
the content, and all the information needed to pro-
duce the design document, storyboard, and the
voiceover script. InfoPath provides that functionality.
With the ability to create multiple views of the content,
InfoPath can even filter available information in a cus-
tom view for a specific audience. Certain fields can
be locked or unavailable depending on the view.
For example, the SME has access to a view of the
content storyboard that only has one unrestricted field
available for him or her to enter feedback. Not only do
your SMEs not see your programming instructions,
they can’t alter your content! Because InfoPath is cre-
ating XML documents, you can archive the XML sto-
ryboard into a database such as Access, or export it
to Microsoft Word for those users who do not have
the InfoPath software. This is the power of XML as a
platform-independent language.
Finally, the best part for non-technical users is that
InfoPath looks like a Word document. Users familiar
with Microsoft Office won’t feel like they have to learn
yet another software package! I have used InfoPath
in both the academic and corporate environments,
where is was very well received, even among non-
technical users.
You can think about the method of using InfoPath
in an instructional design and development project as
having two parts. In the first part, the instructional
designer creates and publishes a reusable template,
including views for each of the functional participants
in the design and development processes. In the sec-
ond part, the instructional designer uses the template
and views to guide the project along the path from
design to production. I’ll next give you snapshots of
each of these two parts. Then I’ll go into detail on
how to use InfoPath to create the template and views.
I’ll wrap up the article with some “gotchas” that you
will want to know about.
Create and publish a reusable template
You are probably anxious to solve all your design
problems and speed up your design process with a
nice reusable template. You can’t wait to get those Strictly speaking, and
wonderful customized views into the hands of your
team (and especially into the hands of the SMEs). in spite of its name,
However, it’s important not to get the proverbial cart XML is not a markup
before the horse.
Remember that development is only as good as its
language. It has no
design. That should give us instructional designers fixed vocabulary or
some job security! The same holds true for a reusable
grammar. What it
XML template. Fortunately, the creation and publish-
ing process is literally straightforward with InfoPath. does do is give you a
(See Figure 3.) system with which
It is always a good idea to start development by
creating a mockup of your template. Please involve in you can create your
this mockup effort the key professionals who will be own markup lan-
producing the content. These are the SMEs, the
graphic artists, and the programmers, at a minimum. guage matched to
Find out what information they need in order to pro- the job you are do-
duce their best results. Identify the information and
ing. Not only that, the
content required to create engaging, effective learn-
ing, e.g.: markup language
• The project description
you build using
• Business goals for the project (what’s the
payback?) XML’s rules will work
• The audience demographics within any generic
• The learning objectives
• The actual content XML tool you use
• The theme later.
• A description of the user interface
Once the mockup is complete and reviewed, it’s
time to start up InfoPath and create the “Form.” This
form, when completed, is the master template.
Form creation begins with development of the data
source, the hierarchical structure of fields, groups,
and repeating groups that store all the data in the
form. Think of these as files and folders that hold all
the information needed by the designer, the develop-
ers (programmers), and the writers, graphic artists,
and animators. In the process of developing the data
source, InfoPath will guide you through definition of
the data structure, content types, and constraints that ì Figure 3 InfoPath pro-
will become the basis for the InfoPath created XML vides a clear, simple path
schema. for creation of reusable
Once the data source is completed, InfoPath will XML templates.
 LEARNING SOLUTIONS | January 22, 2007 6
Design Techniques

help you design the form layout. This provides the may decide to modify other content or information in In fact, transforma-
instructions for presentation of the data in the source. the XML data store. The instructional designer, and
It is the basis for the XSLT documents that InfoPath writers assigned to the project, will be able to add tion simply gives you
will create, and for the master template view. text, narrative, or directions to the data store as well. another view of the
Almost finished now, InfoPath guides you through Other contributors (for example, the animators, and
design of the views. Views are display settings, stored the voice talent) will be able to access that informa-
data in the original
within the template. This is where InfoPath applies tion as needed for their jobs. XML file, and you can
XSLT to create these multiple views, each a cus- In the yellow box in Figure 4 that outlines InfoPath’s
use XML and XSLT to
tomized layout for a particular function or audience. functionality, all of the documents, data, and views are
You can design as many of these as you need, but totally reusable. The schema that is behind the Master create as many differ-
here are some that I have found especially useful: Template is a separate document, and the instruction- ent views of any part
• SME view (often the default view) al designer can apply it to other projects. The XSLT
• Design document instructions that generate the views are separate doc- of that data as you
• Storyboard uments, and the designer can apply them to other need. The data in
• Voiceover script projects too. The XML data itself is editable, and the
Once you create the form, you can publish it to a designer can copy and paste elements that may be the original file is
shared location. The shared location can be a Web needed in another instructional product. unchanged.
server, a Microsoft SharePoint content server, or sim- Can you see how much time and effort this pro-
ply a shared network folder. cess will save you? Are you ready to get started? In
the next section, I walk you through the creation of
Design to production
the Form in InfoPath.
When you have published the form, you are ready
to begin moving through the rest of the design pro- The reusable template
cess and on to production. Figure 4 illustrates one The steps in this tutorial follow those in Figure 3 on
rather typical path. page 5.
In my organization, initial content usually comes
ì Figure 4 InfoPath auto-
Mockup with MS Word
from the subject matter expert(s) in the form of MS mates the path from de-
Word documents. The instructional designer inputs When thinking about a template form, consider the sign to production and
this information into the master template, with any design challenges as well as areas that you could greatly simplifies the com-
appropriate edits or clarification. The instructional streamline in the design process. Take into account munication and coordina-
designer also inputs key information in the categories your instructional design goals, the entire cycle of tion processes for the
identified during the form mockup process (i.e., goals, design and development, and the data you need to instructional designer.
objectives, themes, naviga-
tion, etc.)
At this point, InfoPath has
already set up the transfor-
mation instructions so the
views are available to con-
tributors. The instructional
designer need only tell the
contributors how to access
those views.
In some cases, contribu-
tors will be able to provide
additional information back
to the XML data. For exam-
ple, the SME will be able to
provide review comments
and the instructional design-
er will be able to read them.
Based on those comments,
the instructional designer
 LEARNING SOLUTIONS | January 22, 2007 7
Design Techniques

create effective, engaging learning. Now you can begin adding data sources. The DNA
Involve the whole team in the process: designers, of the template form is its data source. The data
developers, and SMEs. You might not think the audi- source stores all the data in the form, and outlines the
ence description is important to the developer, but hierarchical structure of the data. It consists of fields
this information really affects the selection of media (elements and attributes), groups, and repeating
and interactivity involved. I highly recommend captur- groups. The overall data source is similar to folders
ing this data in Microsoft Word. Create a mockup of and files on a hard drive. Figure 6 shows this struc- ì
how you envision the form structure and the layout. ture within an actual completed form. Figure 5 The main
InfoPath interface consists
Then have all parties involved review the document. A field is an element or attribute in a data source
of the form layout area and
In designing a master template in InfoPath, you can that contains the data. If the field is an element, it can
the Design Tasks panel.
continue to add fields to the form. However, it is much contain attribute fields. (Remember the structure of an
easier to refine your form content in Word, where
everyone can review, add, and edit.
Here are some core fields to get you started in
your documentation.
• Description: Brief summary of the overall project,
content, technology
• Goals: The business or performance outcomes
that will result from students completing the pro-
gram
• Audience: The audience including, if applicable,
their prior knowledge, demographics, psycho-
graphics, and attitudes towards content and tech-
nology
• Content: Source materials and access to any
SMEs
• Objectives: Lesson and content objectives
• Metaphor/theme: The overall interface meta-
phor or creative theme which will be used
throughout the program ì
• User Interface: Narrative description, from the
Figure 6 The structure of
the data source is similar
user’s point of view, of how the program will be
to the “files and folders”
navigated
arrangement that you
Create the data source already know and use.
After finalizing your fields and structure, it’s time to
transfer that information into a data structure in Info-
Path.
To get started, choose File > Design a form from
the InfoPath menu. Select an option from the Design
a new form sub-menu on the right. Choose New
Blank Form when you are creating a form from
scratch. If you would like to customize a pre-built
Microsoft template, choose Customize a sample. If
you already have an XML document or schema that
you want to use as the structure, select the option
New from XML Document or Schema.
The main interface consists of the form layout area
and the Design Tasks panel. Any time you need to
return to the listing of options in the Design Task
panel, click the Design Tasks button to display the
panel. (See Figure 5.)
 LEARNING SOLUTIONS | January 22, 2007 8
Design Techniques

XML tag.) A group is an element that can contain Design the form layout ... InfoPath is specially
fields and other groups. Groups can also contain field After finalizing your data sources, you can begin
controls such radio buttons and drop-down lists. designed for creating
designing and positioning your fields in the form lay-
When defined as a repeating group, a data field con- out area. Common design layout options that are forms with custom
tains fields and other groups that can be repeatedly available in Word are also available in InfoPath. The
used in the InfoPath document. Does this sound famil-
views. Imagine having
ability to format text, add color, insert hyperlinks, add
iar? Yes, that’s right, the data source in InfoPath is the images, and use layout tables are some of the design only one document
XML schema. (See, I told you InfoPath did all the hard features available. In addition, you can utilize the many that contained all the
stuff!) form-control options such as checkboxes, date picker,
To get started creating your data source, click the or rich-text boxes to control your data display.
content, and all the
Data Source link from the Design Tasks panel on the For the best organization and position placement information needed to
right. InfoPath will always name the first group myfields.
(See Figure 7.) You can rename this group by double- produce the design
clicking myfields in the Data sources list and typing document, storyboard,
in a new name.
When creating your data source fields, keep the and the voiceover
following in mind. Use descriptive names for your data script. InfoPath pro-
fields. For example, you should name a field for learn-
vides that functionality.
ing objectives Learning_Objectives or LearningOb-
jectives, not field1. Notice that I used an underscore
in the field name. The initial cap format in the second
word is another option. InfoPath cannot read spaces
in the field names — this is actually a restriction of
XML. Establish a punctuation standard before creat-
ing fields. One option is entering in all field names in
all lowercase or all uppercase. Consistency is key!
To continue adding more data fields, click the Add Figure 7 Open the Data

ì
button at the bottom of the panel, or right-click the Source panel (from the
group folder and select Add from the menu. After enter- Design Tasks panel) to
ing a name for the field or group, select the type (field begin creating the data
element, field attribute, or group). (See Figure 8.) source.
Remember that earlier I suggested designing the
form first in Word. Here’s why. Once you define a
type for the field, you cannot change its type later.
Although you can delete fields and start again, con-
sider the type of structure or hierarchy you envision
for your content before you begin to design.
For example, will you have more than one learning
objective? Most likely, you will. So the learning objec-
tives data field will need to be a repeating group.
Check the checkbox next to Repeating in the bottom
left corner. This will create a repeating group and will
enable the form user to add more learning objectives
in the form.
Finally, select a data type for the field. Carefully
consider the kind of data that the field will capture.
(See Figure 9 on page 9.) For versioning, you might
create a field called version and set the data type to
“Whole Number” (integer). However, if you plan to
enter version numbers as 1.1, the Whole Number
data type won’t be valid. Instead, use the Decimal
Number type. You must click OK to confirm the new
field after making your selections. Figure 8 InfoPath guides you with dialogs when you are adding data fields and groups.
 LEARNING SOLUTIONS | January 22, 2007 9
Design Techniques

control, I recommend layout tables as the way to tion to this dilemma. A view is a defined form-specific
organize and position your data fields on the page. display setting that is saved within the form template,
After the table structure is in place, you can drag your and applied to the form data when the user fills out ì Figure 9 Select the most
data sources to the desired table cell position on the the form. The same data fields are available for each appropriate data type
form layout, and add controls, color, and other format- view; however, you can filter out fields for specific for your fields. This may
ting. To create the layout table, choose Table > Insert users. (See Figure 12 on page 10.) require some planning
> Layout Table or click the layout link from the De- Creating different views for each of the instructional and thought about your
sign Tasks panel to select a pre-defined table layout. design forms streamlines the process. An InfoPath development process,
For usability, break your form into sections with a document can have a design document view, a story- such as versioning.
separate layout table for each content section. Form
design best-practice suggests that users complete
forms more accurately if they are presented with
blocks of fields grouped together by relation. For
example, group your needs-analysis fields together
in one table. Place your learning content outline in
a separate layout table. The power of color will also
help separate information into defined groups. Choose
Format > Color Schemes to set up different colors
for layout tables. As you begin creating different lay-
out views for your form, color schemes will help differ-
entiate the document views. I’ve made a Captivate
movie available that illustrates this. See the Resources
section for more information.
Add Form Controls
After positioning fields in your table layout, review
your fields to determine if a form control might display
the information more efficiently. For example, I have a
field called contentType. This field describes the type
of interaction the e-Learning will be: demonstration,
exercise, video, or synchronous learning. To control
user data entry, it is best to display this field as a
drop-down list box. (See Figure 10.) Right-click the
field in the layout form, select Change To... from the
menu and select List Box. Right-click the field again
and select Properties. Here you can enter the values
for your list box. Click the add button in the bottom
right corner to add values. Use the arrow buttons to
reorder any values and click OK. Note that in the data
structure, you can convert only fields to form controls.
You cannot convert groups (the folder icons).
As you design your form, periodically preview it to
see how the form will function. Click the Preview
Form button to view and enter data into the form. To
return to the design view, click the Close Preview
button. (See Figure 11 on page 10 for the location of
these buttons.)

Design the views

Remember earlier, when discussing some of the
problems in creating rapid design, I mentioned deal-
ing with multiple documents and versions. Creating Figure 10 It may be advisable to add form controls (such as drop-down lists or option
multiple views in one InfoPath document is the solu- buttons) in order to make it easier for users to fill in the fields.
 LEARNING SOLUTIONS | January 22, 2007 10
Design Techniques

board view, and an SME view. If you need an audio InfoPath Gotchas!
script for your voiceover talent, just create a view that There are a few things to remember when using
displays only the voiceover text. To create additional InfoPath.
views, select the Views link from the Design Tasks • First, as with any Microsoft product, there are ì Figure 11 Use the
panel. From the Actions menu at the bottom select always Service Packs and updates. With InfoPath Preview Form button as
Add a New View and type in a descriptive name for 2003, you will want to make sure that you at least you design to see how your
the view. have SP1 installed as well. You can download form will function.
There is a shortcut for creating views. Since the
views share the same data source, after creating a
new view, copy the fields and layouts from another
view and paste into the new view. Modify the fields for
this view as needed, and change the color scheme
design of the table layout as well so that users can
easily tell one view from another.
There are also some tricks for using views. Give
your views descriptive names based on their purpose
— for example, design document, or SME review. You
may designate one view as the default by right click-
ing the view and selecting Set as Default. This is the
view that will automatically be visible when the form
opens. I usually designate the SME view as the de-
fault view. Other users can access the desired view
from the View menu in the published form. To prevent
editing of specific fields in a view, right-click the field,
select the Display tab and check the Read-only box.

Publish the form

You have created your data source, designed the
form layout, and created custom views as needed.
All that is left is to publish the form. Choose File >
Publish and walk through the Publishing Wizard.
Prior to publishing, ensure that you have designated
a shared location to publish the form. All users must Figure 12 InfoPath makes it easy to deal with versioning and with the needs of multiple
have access to this location. A Web server or Micro- contributors, by making it easy to set up views.
soft Share Point Content Server are the best loca-
tions, however, a shared network directory folder
works as well. The Publishing Wizard will prompt
you to select the desired location to complete the
publishing process. (See Figure 13.)
Think of a published InfoPath template form as a
Word template. Double-clicking the template to open
it will generate a new blank form from the designed
template.
After you have published a form, you can still modi-
fy the form data sources and design. To open a pub-
lished form, you must choose File > Open and browse
for the InfoPath document (it will have a .XSN file ex-
tension) or right-click the InfoPath document in a fold-
er and choose Design from the shortcut menu. You
cannot double-click a document to open in Design
view as this will generate a template of the InfoPath
form. Figure 13 The Publishing Wizard helps you select the hosting location to complete the
publish process.
 LEARNING SOLUTIONS | January 22, 2007 11
Design Techniques

this from Microsoft’s Web site. Choose Help > print format. PrimoPDF is free PDF software It is always a good
About Microsoft InfoPath to check that SP1 (http://www.primopdf.com) you can use if you
has been installed. Microsoft is now releasing don’t have Adobe Acrobat. The other option is to idea to start develop-
InfoPath 2007, so make sure everyone is using copy the picture from the InfoPath document by ment by creating a
the same version. selecting Edit > Copy and pasting it in the cor-
• All users must have InfoPath installed on their rect position in the Word document.
mockup of your tem-
computer to access InfoPath documents. In addi- plate. Please involve
Conclusion
tion, InfoPath documents have the restriction that
Harnessing the power of XML with InfoPath can in this mockup effort
they must publish to a shared directory or Web
site where everyone who uses the form has ac- expedite your design phase, through the creation of the key professionals
cess. The upside to this is that you only have reusable design documents. Remember to carefully
plan your data and structure with the entire team be-
who will be produc-
to make any new data elements or any layout
changes once in the source document. Once fore jumping into the InfoPath document design. By ing the content.
published, all previous versions of the document creating forms that employ usability and display audi-
These are the SMEs,
will update with the changes when the docu- ence-specific information, you can streamline your
ments are opened the next time. So, for example, design flow and tailor the process to meet the needs the graphic artists,
I received a request to change the font size in the of your team and learning programs. and the program-
documentation from 10 to 12 — after 20 XML Resources mers, at a minimum.
documents had already been created. I changed
Additional documents and Captivate tutorials are
the font size in the master template, republished Find out what infor-
available from http://www.id-webworks.com/docu-
it, and all the documents based on that template
ments/infopath.zip. mation they need in
updated to the size 12 font.
Books: order to produce
• If you are using graphics in your document, these
• Aitken, Peter, Powering Office 2003 with XML,
graphics will not export over when exporting a their best results.
Wiley Publishing, Inc., 2004.
document to a Microsoft Word version. Here are
• Robbins, Thom, Programming Microsoft InfoPath:
some solutions. If you have some kind of PDF
A Developer’s Guide, Charles River Media, 2004.
software, choose File > Print and choose PDF

• Watt, Andrew H., Microsoft Office InfoPath 2003
Kick Start, Sams, 2004.
• Barker, F. Scott., Beginning InfoPath 2003, Wrox,
2005.
Author Contact
Maria Leggett is a Senior Train-
ing Analyst with Textron, a $10
billion global multi-industry
company. Maria is responsible
for the instructional design and
development of Textron’s enter-
prise Six Sigma curriculum, as
well as supporting management
of the enterprise-wide learning management system
within Textron University. Maria joined Textron in
September 2005 from Babson College where she
was a Senior e-Learning Content Developer. Maria
has over eight years experience in the learning and
development field as a trainer, instructional designer,
and e-Learning developer. Prior to Textron, she was
designing and developing Web-based sales training
and MBA courses for both companies and institutions
of higher learning.
Maria holds a Masters of Education degree in In-
structional Design from the University of Massachu-
setts and Bachelor of Arts degree in Journalism from
Miami University. In addition, she has earned certifi-
cates in Project Management, Business Analysis,
and Information Design from Boston University and
Bentley College. She holds numerous industry certifi-
cations including:
• Certified Project Management Professional, PMP
• Macromedia MX 2004 Dreamweaver Developer
• Macromedia MX 2004 Flash Developer
• Macromedia MX 2004 Flash Designer
• CompTIA Certified Technical Trainer, CTT+
• CIW Master Internet Web Designer/CI Certified
Instructor
Contact Maria by email to mleggett@textron.com
or maria@id-webworks.com
Discuss this article in the “Talk Back to the Auth-
ors” Forum of Community Connections (http://www.
elearningguild.com/community_connections/forum/
categories. cfm? catid= 17& entercat=y). You can
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week’s article, or you can make a general comment
to other readers.
Additional information on the topics covered in
this article is also listed in the Guild Resource
Directory.
LEARNING SOLUTIONS | January 22, 2007 12
Design Techniques
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