Create Better Questions in Articulate Storyline

Assessments are a vital part of any learning experience. In eLearning, well-designed questions in Articulate Storyline help you confirm that learners not only understand the content but can also apply it in real-world situations.

Whether you’re designing compliance training, onboarding, or scenario-based learning, Storyline gives you everything you need to build engaging, flexible, and meaningful assessments.

The Power of Storyline’s Question Templates

In Articulate Storyline, every question begins with a simple, universal template. This foundation controls how the question behaves and gives you enormous flexibility. You can create a wide variety of graded and survey questions from multiple choice and drag-and-drop to matching, hotspots, and more.

Even before exploring survey-style questions, you’ll find plenty of ways to move beyond standard “multiple guess” quizzes.

Adding Interactivity and Variety

One of the best things about Storyline is how easy it is to add nuance and interactivity to your questions. For example, you can:

• Provide custom feedback and scoring based on learner choices

• Shuffle answers to avoid predictability

• Control the number of attempts allowed per question

• Attach media (images, audio, or video) for context

• Branch learners to different slides depending on their responses

These simple features can transform an assessment from predictable to powerful all with just a few clicks.

When Questions Aren’t So Straightforward

Of course, not every question has a single, clear-cut answer. During one of our Certified Articulate Storyline training workshops, a participant raised an interesting challenge.

They were designing a module for hospital doctors. The question asked what procedures should be followed when a patient presents with multiple symptoms. However, because doctors may take different diagnostic paths, none strictly right or wrong, it was impossible to list every possible answer combination.

So how do you handle complex or subjective questions like this in Storyline?

Step 1: Refine the Question Wording

First, focus on clarifying what you want learners to demonstrate. Instead of asking:

“What would you do if you were confronted by a patient with the following symptoms…?”

Try reframing the question as:

“From the list below, select the procedures that must always be undertaken when confronted with…”

This small change makes it clear there are specific correct responses. Your answer list can now focus on those must-do procedures, avoiding ambiguity.

Step 2: Use Feedback to Add Depth

Next, use feedback layers to acknowledge nuance. For example, your correct/incorrect feedback might read:

“Correct — in addition to these required procedures, there are other valid approaches depending on the doctor’s experience and the patient’s condition.”

This confirms the learner’s understanding while recognising that real-world practice may vary.

Expanding the Feedback Space in Storyline

If you’ve tried adding detailed feedback, you might have noticed that Storyline’s default feedback box can feel a little cramped. Thankfully, it’s easy to customise.

Here’s how:

1. Open the feedback layer for your question.

2. Resize or replace the default grey box with your own shape that fits the amount of text you need.

3. Send your new box to the back of the layer timeline.

4. Move the feedback text and button to align neatly with your new layout.

For very detailed feedback, you can even add a scrolling panel inside the feedback layer — perfect for longer explanations or links to further reading.

Why Storyline Makes It Easy

This example highlights what makes Articulate Storyline so powerful. You’re not limited to default quiz interactions — you can adapt every element to fit your learners, your content, and your context.

From branching logic to dynamic feedback, Storyline gives learning designers the flexibility to craft assessments that reflect the complexity of real decisions — not just textbook answers.

So next time you’re designing questions in Articulate Storyline, remember:

• Start with clear intent

• Write purposeful question text

• Use feedback creatively

• Take advantage of Storyline’s visual and functional flexibility

That’s how you turn ordinary questions into powerful learning moments.

Ready to Master Question Design in Storyline?

If you’d like to go deeper and learn how to build engaging, interactive assessments like these, join our Certified Articulate Storyline Training.
Delivered live by expert trainers, you’ll gain hands-on experience creating custom question types, branching scenarios, and interactive feedback, all within Storyline.