Drag and Drop Lite Widget Preferences

The 1.1 dot point update to our popular Drag and Drop Lite question widget for Captivate 4 and 5 added some enhancements to widget preference options that will be of interest to Captivate developers.

Snap back to start if dropped on incorrect target

This new setting has been added below the previous snapping behaviours that allowed drag objects to snap to targets, or snap back to starting position if not dropped on targets.

The enhancement was suggested by customer Andre van den Berg from New Zealand who wanted to create training interactions that forced the learner to keep trying until they had successfully found the correct solution.  Thanks Andre!  We liked your idea and included it for everyone else. 

However, if you use this option, be aware that it may mean your learners can never actually get the question wrong.  With this preference enabled the widget will only ever allow drag objects to drop onto correct targets. 

Use initial hit testing

This setting adds more scope to the types of questions you can create, but it comes at a potential cost.  Let me explain...

Say you wanted to create a question that taught users the correct order of steps to follow in a business process using a diagram like this one:

You create the drag and drop question using images of the action boxes as drag objects and highlight boxes as hit targets with the preference set to Hide targets at runtime.  Then you turn on Randomise > Swap places so that the action boxes are randomly shuffled at runtime, requiring the learner to drag them all back into their correct places.

However, when testing your question you notice that sometimes it gets marked incorrect even though all objects have been correctly positioned over their relevant targets.  What gives?  Well it all has to do with the way the widget performs hit testing.

Normally, hit testing is only performed after an object has been dropped onto a target.  This works fine as long as you drag the object at least once.  However, what if your object was already sitting over the top of the correct target on the diagram, so you did not move it?  In that case, this object will not be hit tested.  When the question is evaluated on Submit, it will appear to the widget that one item is missing (because it didn't show up in the hit tests) and therefore the question will be marked as incorrect.

To allow for this question scenario we've added the option to Use initial hit testing.  This means that objects will be tested without being dragged.  It covers the scenario we outlined above quite nicely. But....it's a two-edged sword, and you need to use it with caution.  We even added a stern warning message that pops up when you select this option to remind you of the potential dangers.

Here's the problem:  Say you thought your question was now working very well so you decided to make it AutoSubmit so that the learner doesn't have to click a button.  Since all objects start the question positioned over target objects, this question would immediately submit without the learner taking any action! 

There are also other scenarios where a given set of preference settings in combination with Use initial hit testing would cause conflicts, but we'll let you find them for yourself :p)

Bottom line is, the new preferences in Drag and Drop Lite make it even more powerful than before.  Now you have enough power to REALLY do some damage!

So use with care...and see a doctor if pain persists.

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