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Trade Off

Give learners a fixed budget and make every choice cost something.

Best for: prioritization, resourcing, strategy.

Build Trade-Off Decision Activities Without Code

Training asks learners to pick the best option. Work asks them to pick one good option and lose another. Those are different skills, and only one of them shows up on the job.

Trade Off gives learners a fixed budget and makes every gain cost something. You set the options and their prices, then export a single HTML file you embed in Articulate Rise, Storyline, Captivate, Canvas, Moodle, or any LMS that accepts HTML.

Use it for prioritization, resourcing, and strategy training, where the real lesson is that there was never enough to fund everything worth funding.

WHY IT WORKS

Trade Off gives learners a fixed budget so every choice costs something else.

Across 435 studies, feedback improved learning, and how much depended on the information the feedback carried. Wisniewski, Zierer and Hattie (2020).

Build Trade-Off Decision Activities Without Code

How To Use the Generators


Each tool in the eLearningDesign.org ecosystem follows a streamlined, three-step workflow designed to keep you focused on instructional strategy while we handle the technical execution.

  1. Input Your Content: Open the Content tab to add your specific learning prompts, interactive options, and coaching feedback. This is where you build the logic and instructional heart of your activity.

  2. Customize Your Design: Switch to the Design tab to align the tool with your course aesthetic. You can manually adjust colors, typography, and layout structures to ensure a seamless visual fit.

  3. Generate and Embed: Go to the Generate tab to finalize your tool. Click "Copy Embed Code" for your authoring tool's HTML block, or "Download as HTML" for local hosting and offline use.

Common Use Cases


  • Resource Allocation: Give managers a budget too small for every request and see what they protect.

  • Project Prioritization: Force a choice between two defensible initiatives with real consequences.

  • Strategic Planning: Show how an early commitment closes off options later in the exercise.

Technical Specifications


  • Visual Interface for Code: Set the options and their costs while the generator handles the budget math and running totals.

  • Fixed-Frame Optimization: Built to hold its layout inside iframes and web objects in Rise 360 and Storyline.

  • WCAG Friendly: Includes keyboard navigation support so the activity stays accessible.

  • Brand-Consistent Palette: Fully customizable colors and fonts so the tool matches any corporate, educational, or organizational identity.

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