Creating plausible choices and distractors is one of the most challenging aspects of writing scenarios. Options need to be realistic, and wrong answers should reflect mistakes someone might actually make, not obvious throwaways that learners can easily eliminate. When distractors are too weak, learners guess or game the system instead of genuinely practicing the decision—and that practice is exactly what builds the judgment they need to perform well on the job.

In this session, you'll learn techniques for crafting scenario choices that give learners authentic practice with the decisions that drive performance. We'll cover how to identify the decision points where better judgment leads to better outcomes, how to mine real-world mistakes for compelling distractors, and how to write consequences that reinforce learning without feeling contrived. You'll get tips to strengthen weak answer options and learn how to transform straightforward questions into genuine decision-making challenges.

When learners practice making realistic decisions and experience the consequences of both good and poor choices, they build the skills that translate directly to improved performance. You'll leave this session with practical techniques to make your scenarios true performance enablers

By the end of this session, you’ll be able to:

• Identify decisions that impact performance
• Generate plausible distractors based on common errors and misconceptions
• Write consequences that make each choice a learning opportunity
• Evaluate and strengthen existing scenario questions

Christy Tucker is a learning experience design consultant with over 20 years of experience helping people learn. She specializes in using scenario-based learning to engage audiences and promote skill transfer to real-world environments. She has created training for a wide range of clients, including Fortune 500 companies, nonprofit associations, state and local government agencies, universities, and more. Christy has been blogging about instructional design and elearning for over 15 years and is a regular speaker at industry conferences and events.