Rapid e-Learning Design with Microsoft InfoPath

January 22, 2007

While much attention has

been paid to speeding up

development processes,

not much has been said

about facilitating the criti-

cally important design

phase of e-Learning proj-

ects. Much can be done

about the latter by lever-

aging XML and tools that

use it, such as Microsoft

InfoPath. Read this article

for an XML and InfoPath

tutorial that can pay imme-

diate dividends in your

design process!

Rapid e-Learning Design with Microsoft InfopathBy Maria Leggett

Rapid 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

develop e-Learning quickly in order to meet the demand

of customers in this just-in-time environment. But how

can you implement rapid development without a mecha-

nism for rapid design?

What’s more, there really aren’t any generally-accepted standards for in-structional documentation. As a result, each organization creates documenta-tion applicable to its particular product(s) or learning culture. That might befine for in-house e-Learning programs, but what if you plan to expand yourtraining audience to external customers, suppliers, or vendors? Must you startall over?

Now try to take that instructional design document, most likely created inMicrosoft Word, turn it into a storyboard, and then develop it into e-Learning.Between copying from one document and pasting it into another, keepingtrack of multiple versions, and converting design concepts into online media(including the whole range from HTML, to Flash, to Captivate), how rapid isyour design process going to be?

In this article, my main purpose is to introduce you to Microsoft InfoPath, an

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2LEARNING SOLUTIONS | January 22, 2007

But first, in case it’s new to you, let me offer someXML basics from the instructional designer’s perspec-tive. Programmers, and those who are already wellversed in XML and XML transformations, may want toskip ahead to “What InfoPath does for the designer.”

A brief look at XML

XML is all the rage these days, and for good rea-son. XML, like HTML and XHTML, is a way to mark up content, using “tags.”

However, HTML and XHTML are computer lan-guages that define the display of content as a Webpage. A browser can interpret HTML, and display con-tent in specific ways: bold text, italicized text, formattedwith bullets or paragraph styles, different fonts or col-ors, with various types of graphics, and so on.

XML, on the other hand, gives structure to data.Strictly speaking, and in spite of its name, XML is nota markup language. It has no fixed vocabulary or gram-mar. What it does do is give you a system with whichyou can create your own markup language matched tothe job you are doing. Not only that, the markup lan-guage you build using XML’s rules will work within anygeneric XML tool you use later. Documents that you

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XML editor meant for professionals who just need toget a job done, without learning XML. You’ll get atutorial on how to use InfoPath to set up a reusabletemplate for your design process. I’ll also sketch foryou the way that I’m using InfoPath to go from SMEinput, to design, to production, to organize the work ofthe development team, and to manage version control.

Overview of rapid design with XML

Do my first three opening paragraphs pretty muchdescribe 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 createreusable instructional design templates to expeditethe design process. Since most development soft-ware tools (such as Flash and Dreamweaver) useXML, all of these tools can access your content.

Worried by what you’ve heard about the challengesof learning XML? Don’t want to learn to write XML?There’s no budget for a programmer? What you needis an XML editor program that will handle the detailsfrom within a familiar “what you see is what you get”interface.

There is a great solu-

tion for [design night-

mares]: eXtensible

Markup Language

(XML). With this plat-

form-independent

technology, designers

can create reusable

instructional design

templates to expedite

the design process.

create with this markup language will be flexible andreusable, and you will be able to transform them intoXHTML or HTML documents for display on the Web,or even into Portable Document Format (PDF) forprinting. (Note, though, I won’t be covering conversionto PDF.) As you will see in this article, this createstremendous advantages for you as an e-Learningdesigner.

An XML document contains data and markup thatprovides structure for the content. The data in anXML document is like the data in any other computerdocument, but most of the time, the documents are“narrative” — containing information in letters, num-bers, and symbols meant for humans to use once theinformation 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-ets. We call these combinations “tags.”

But there is an important difference. In HTML, mark-up tags are predefined. You can look up any given tagand know that a browser will always interpret it as aspecific display instruction. XML does not have a de-fined set of tags. Instead, you create markup tags thatapply to the content you are trying to catalog.

An XML markup tag consists of elements such as<language>. Each element can have attributes suchas <language type=”EN”>. In this example, theinformation the writer wanted to capture was the lan-guage of the document. The element called lan-guage serves that purpose. The attribute and its des-cription (type=”EN”) indicates that the language ofthe document is English. For the German translation,the attribute description becomes type= ”German”.But wait, there’s more!

The XML schema and the designer’s visionQuality control of all the content and the markup

tags in an XML document is critical to success. AnXML schema document gives you a way to controlthe details of your document content and markup. Theschema document contains the descriptions of thetypes of content and the structure the XML documentcan have, and it contains any constraints on the datatypes and display. This is important to you as an in-structional designer because it allows you to create atemplate that someone else can use to enter data intoyour XML document, and this template will only allowthe other person to enter what you intended, the waythat you intended. The XML schema, if you will, is aset of rules — and they are rules that you write, foryour particular project. Figure 1 on page 4 showshow this works. The capture process (often a SubjectMatter Expert, or SME, creating a Microsoft Word


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document) collects content, the XML template, pow-ered by the schema, filters and conforms it, and theresulting valid XML resides in a document, ready forretrieval 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 anotherpowerful benefit. It makes your data reusable. In myearlier example, instead of having to make a new setof tags for each translation, the writer only needs tochange the language attribute. Furthermore, by deter-mining the data you want to capture you can use theXML 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. Thedata fields are already in place each time you create anew document from the template.

Transforming your data for the rest of the team withXSLT

XML makes it easy to store and retrieve data, es-pecially if the data is the kind that you don’t need tobe able to search randomly. Instructional content isgenerally sequential, so it’s a good candidate forXML. XML also supports transformation of data intodifferent formats, to make it easier to use for differenttasks. This means that you can use the same XMLdata source repeatedly, but only show each user thespecific information he or she requires for the job athand.

XML uses a language called XSLT (eXtensibleStyle Language Transformation) to take data elementsapart, sort and select or delete them, rearrange theresults, and transform them into another document ina presentation format, such as an HTML or XHTMLfile. Without going into the mechanics too far, you (oryour 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 mostof them) will then transform the XML into HTML orXHTML according to the instructions.

In fact, transformation simply gives you anotherview of the data in the original XML file, and you canuse XML and XSLT to create as many different viewsof any part of that data as you need. The data in theoriginal file is unchanged. Figure 2 is a graphic repre-sentation of this process.

Don’t worry, that’s as technical as it gets becausenow 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. TheXML editor software will do all the hard work for you.

What you do need is instructional design knowledge,understanding of usability principles, and a vision forreusability and templates. For more advanced options,particularly when exporting XML out to e-Learningdevelopment tools, you will need some knowledge ofXSLT. You may also need some knowledge of thelarger eXtensible Stylesheet Language (XSL), ofwhich XSLT is one part. However, for streamliningyour instructional design process and documentation,an XML editor will be all you need. If you want tolearn more about XML and XSLT, W3 Schools has an excellent tutorial to get you started. (http://www.w3schools.com)

What InfoPath does for the designer

There are many XML editors on the market, differ-ing in functionality and price. Some of the more popu-lar editors are XMLSpy by Altova, Adobe/MacromediaDreamweaver, and Microsoft InfoPath.

I chose Microsoft InfoPath for my solution based onseveral factors. First, it is part of the Microsoft Office2003 Professional version and works with Word,Excel, and Access, tying together the Office suite withthe technology of XML. Since Microsoft Office 2003Professional is a standard software load across theTextron enterprise, it was an easy decision for me toselect InfoPath, as everyone — from the subject matterexperts to the entire design team — had access to it.Second, InfoPath is not an expensive solution. Pur-chased as a stand-alone application, the softwareretails for less than $200.00 per license.

More to the point for my purposes, InfoPath is spe-

Figure 1 The XMLschema document acts asa template to ensure thevalidity of your XML data.

ì

Figure 2 XML uses XSLTto transform data into spe-cific views for differentusers.

ì

Design Techniques


cially designed for creating forms with custom views.Imagine having only one document that contained allthe content, and all the information needed to pro-duce the design document, storyboard, and thevoiceover 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 canbe locked or unavailable depending on the view.

For example, the SME has access to a view of thecontent storyboard that only has one unrestricted fieldavailable for him or her to enter feedback. Not only doyour 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 itto Microsoft Word for those users who do not havethe InfoPath software. This is the power of XML as aplatform-independent language.

Finally, the best part for non-technical users is thatInfoPath looks like a Word document. Users familiarwith Microsoft Office won’t feel like they have to learnyet 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 InfoPathin an instructional design and development project ashaving two parts. In the first part, the instructionaldesigner creates and publishes a reusable template,including views for each of the functional participantsin the design and development processes. In the sec-ond part, the instructional designer uses the templateand views to guide the project along the path fromdesign to production. I’ll next give you snapshots ofeach of these two parts. Then I’ll go into detail onhow to use InfoPath to create the template and views.I’ll wrap up the article with some “gotchas” that youwill want to know about.

Create and publish a reusable template

You are probably anxious to solve all your designproblems and speed up your design process with a

nice reusable template. You can’t wait to get thosewonderful customized views into the hands of yourteam (and especially into the hands of the SMEs).However, it’s important not to get the proverbial cartbefore the horse.

Remember that development is only as good as itsdesign. That should give us instructional designerssome job security! The same holds true for a reusableXML template. Fortunately, the creation and publish-ing process is literally straightforward with InfoPath.(See Figure 3.)

It is always a good idea to start development bycreating a mockup of your template. Please involve inthis mockup effort the key professionals who will beproducing the content. These are the SMEs, thegraphic artists, and the programmers, at a minimum.Find out what information they need in order to pro-duce their best results. Identify the information andcontent required to create engaging, effective learn-ing, e.g.:

• The project description• Business goals for the project (what’s the

payback?)• The audience demographics• The learning objectives• The actual content• The theme• A description of the user interfaceOnce the mockup is complete and reviewed, it’s

time to start up InfoPath and create the “Form.” Thisform, when completed, is the master template.

Form creation begins with development of the datasource, the hierarchical structure of fields, groups,and repeating groups that store all the data in theform. Think of these as files and folders that hold allthe information needed by the designer, the develop-ers (programmers), and the writers, graphic artists,and animators. In the process of developing the datasource, InfoPath will guide you through definition ofthe data structure, content types, and constraints thatwill become the basis for the InfoPath created XMLschema.

Once the data source is completed, InfoPath will

Strictly speaking, and

in spite of its name,

XML is not a markup

language. It has no

fixed vocabulary or

grammar. What it

does do is give you a

system with which

you can create your

own markup lan-

guage matched to

the job you are do-

ing. Not only that, the

markup language

you build using

XML’s rules will work

within any generic

XML tool you use

later.

Figure 3 InfoPath pro-vides a clear, simple pathfor creation of reusableXML templates.

ì

Design Techniques


help you design the form layout. This provides theinstructions for presentation of the data in the source.It is the basis for the XSLT documents that InfoPathwill create, and for the master template view.

Almost finished now, InfoPath guides you throughdesign of the views. Views are display settings, storedwithin the template. This is where InfoPath appliesXSLT to create these multiple views, each a cus-tomized layout for a particular function or audience.You can design as many of these as you need, buthere are some that I have found especially useful:

• SME view (often the default view)• Design document• Storyboard• Voiceover scriptOnce you create the form, you can publish it to a

shared location. The shared location can be a Webserver, a Microsoft SharePoint content server, or sim-ply a shared network folder.

Design to production

When you have published the form, you are readyto begin moving through the rest of the design pro-cess and on to production. Figure 4 illustrates onerather typical path.

In my organization, initial content usually comesfrom the subject matter expert(s) in the form of MSWord documents. The instructional designer inputsthis information into the master template, with anyappropriate edits or clarification. The instructionaldesigner also inputs key information in the categoriesidentified during the form mockup process (i.e., goals,objectives, themes, naviga-tion, etc.)

At this point, InfoPath hasalready set up the transfor-mation instructions so theviews are available to con-tributors. The instructionaldesigner need only tell thecontributors how to accessthose views.

In some cases, contribu-tors will be able to provideadditional information backto the XML data. For exam-ple, the SME will be able toprovide review commentsand the instructional design-er will be able to read them.Based on those comments,the instructional designer

may decide to modify other content or information inthe XML data store. The instructional designer, andwriters assigned to the project, will be able to addtext, narrative, or directions to the data store as well.Other contributors (for example, the animators, andthe voice talent) will be able to access that informa-tion as needed for their jobs.

In the yellow box in Figure 4 that outlines InfoPath’sfunctionality, all of the documents, data, and views aretotally reusable. The schema that is behind the MasterTemplate is a separate document, and the instruction-al designer can apply it to other projects. The XSLTinstructions that generate the views are separate doc-uments, and the designer can apply them to otherprojects too. The XML data itself is editable, and thedesigner can copy and paste elements that may beneeded in another instructional product.

Can you see how much time and effort this pro-cess will save you? Are you ready to get started? Inthe next section, I walk you through the creation of the Form in InfoPath.

The reusable template

The steps in this tutorial follow those in Figure 3 onpage 5.

Mockup with MS Word

When thinking about a template form, consider thedesign challenges as well as areas that you couldstreamline in the design process. Take into accountyour instructional design goals, the entire cycle ofdesign and development, and the data you need to

In fact, transforma-

tion simply gives you

another view of the

data in the original

XML file, and you can

use XML and XSLT to

create as many differ-

ent views of any part

of that data as you

need. The data in

the original file is

unchanged.

Figure 4 InfoPath auto-mates the path from de-sign to production andgreatly simplifies the com-munication and coordina-tion processes for theinstructional designer.

ì

Design Techniques


create effective, engaging learning. Involve the whole team in the process: designers,

developers, and SMEs. You might not think the audi-ence description is important to the developer, butthis information really affects the selection of mediaand interactivity involved. I highly recommend captur-ing this data in Microsoft Word. Create a mockup ofhow you envision the form structure and the layout.Then have all parties involved review the document.

In designing a master template in InfoPath, you cancontinue to add fields to the form. However, it is mucheasier to refine your form content in Word, whereeveryone can review, add, and edit.

Here are some core fields to get you started inyour documentation.

• Description: Brief summary of the overall project,content, technology

• Goals: The business or performance outcomesthat 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 anySMEs

• Objectives: Lesson and content objectives• Metaphor/theme: The overall interface meta-

phor or creative theme which will be usedthroughout the program

• User Interface: Narrative description, from theuser’s point of view, of how the program will benavigated

Create the data source

After finalizing your fields and structure, it’s time totransfer that information into a data structure in Info-Path.

To get started, choose File > Design a form fromthe InfoPath menu. Select an option from the Designa new form sub-menu on the right. Choose NewBlank Form when you are creating a form fromscratch. If you would like to customize a pre-builtMicrosoft template, choose Customize a sample. Ifyou already have an XML document or schema thatyou want to use as the structure, select the optionNew from XML Document or Schema.

The main interface consists of the form layout areaand the Design Tasks panel. Any time you need toreturn to the listing of options in the Design Taskpanel, click the Design Tasks button to display thepanel. (See Figure 5.)

Now you can begin adding data sources. The DNAof the template form is its data source. The datasource stores all the data in the form, and outlines thehierarchical structure of the data. It consists of fields(elements and attributes), groups, and repeatinggroups. The overall data source is similar to foldersand files on a hard drive. Figure 6 shows this struc-ture within an actual completed form.

A field is an element or attribute in a data sourcethat contains the data. If the field is an element, it cancontain attribute fields. (Remember the structure of an

Figure 5 The mainInfoPath interface consistsof the form layout area andthe Design Tasks panel.

ì

Figure 6 The structure ofthe data source is similarto the “files and folders”arrangement that youalready know and use.

ì

Design Techniques


... InfoPath is specially

designed for creating

forms with custom

views. Imagine having

only one document

that contained all the

content, and all the

information needed to

produce the design

document, storyboard,

and the voiceover

script. InfoPath pro-

vides that functionality.

XML tag.) A group is an element that can containfields and other groups. Groups can also contain fieldcontrols such radio buttons and drop-down lists.When defined as a repeating group, a data field con-tains fields and other groups that can be repeatedlyused in the InfoPath document. Does this sound famil-iar? Yes, that’s right, the data source in InfoPath is theXML schema. (See, I told you InfoPath did all the hardstuff!)

To get started creating your data source, click theData Source link from the Design Tasks panel on theright. InfoPath will always name the first group myfields.(See Figure 7.) You can rename this group by double-clicking myfields in the Data sources list and typingin a new name.

When creating your data source fields, keep thefollowing in mind. Use descriptive names for your datafields. For example, you should name a field for learn-ing objectives Learning_Objectives or LearningOb-jectives, not field1. Notice that I used an underscorein the field name. The initial cap format in the secondword is another option. InfoPath cannot read spacesin the field names — this is actually a restriction ofXML. Establish a punctuation standard before creat-ing fields. One option is entering in all field names inall lowercase or all uppercase. Consistency is key!

To continue adding more data fields, click the Addbutton at the bottom of the panel, or right-click thegroup folder and select Add from the menu. After enter-ing a name for the field or group, select the type (fieldelement, field attribute, or group). (See Figure 8.)

Remember that earlier I suggested designing theform first in Word. Here’s why. Once you define atype 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 envisionfor your content before you begin to design.

For example, will you have more than one learningobjective? 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 bottomleft corner. This will create a repeating group and willenable the form user to add more learning objectivesin the form.

Finally, select a data type for the field. Carefullyconsider the kind of data that the field will capture.(See Figure 9 on page 9.) For versioning, you mightcreate a field called version and set the data type to“Whole Number” (integer). However, if you plan toenter version numbers as 1.1, the Whole Numberdata type won’t be valid. Instead, use the DecimalNumber type. You must click OK to confirm the newfield after making your selections.

Design the form layout

After finalizing your data sources, you can begindesigning and positioning your fields in the form lay-out area. Common design layout options that areavailable in Word are also available in InfoPath. Theability to format text, add color, insert hyperlinks, addimages, and use layout tables are some of the designfeatures available. In addition, you can utilize the manyform-control options such as checkboxes, date picker,or rich-text boxes to control your data display.

For the best organization and position placement

Figure 8 InfoPath guides you with dialogs when you are adding data fields and groups.

Figure 7 Open the DataSource panel (from theDesign Tasks panel) tobegin creating the datasource.

ì

Design Techniques


control, I recommend layout tables as the way toorganize and position your data fields on the page.After the table structure is in place, you can drag yourdata sources to the desired table cell position on theform layout, and add controls, color, and other format-ting. To create the layout table, choose Table > Insert> Layout Table or click the layout link from the De-sign Tasks panel to select a pre-defined table layout.

For usability, break your form into sections with aseparate layout table for each content section. Formdesign best-practice suggests that users completeforms more accurately if they are presented withblocks of fields grouped together by relation. Forexample, group your needs-analysis fields together in one table. Place your learning content outline in a separate layout table. The power of color will alsohelp separate information into defined groups. ChooseFormat > Color Schemes to set up different colorsfor 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 Captivatemovie available that illustrates this. See the Resourcessection for more information.

Add Form ControlsAfter positioning fields in your table layout, review

your fields to determine if a form control might displaythe information more efficiently. For example, I have afield called contentType. This field describes the typeof interaction the e-Learning will be: demonstration,exercise, video, or synchronous learning. To controluser data entry, it is best to display this field as adrop-down list box. (See Figure 10.) Right-click thefield in the layout form, select Change To... from themenu and select List Box. Right-click the field againand select Properties. Here you can enter the valuesfor your list box. Click the add button in the bottomright corner to add values. Use the arrow buttons toreorder any values and click OK. Note that in the datastructure, you can convert only fields to form controls.You cannot convert groups (the folder icons).

As you design your form, periodically preview it tosee how the form will function. Click the PreviewForm button to view and enter data into the form. Toreturn to the design view, click the Close Previewbutton. (See Figure 11 on page 10 for the location ofthese buttons.)

Design the views

Remember earlier, when discussing some of theproblems in creating rapid design, I mentioned deal-ing with multiple documents and versions. Creatingmultiple views in one InfoPath document is the solu-

tion to this dilemma. A view is a defined form-specificdisplay setting that is saved within the form template,and applied to the form data when the user fills outthe form. The same data fields are available for eachview; however, you can filter out fields for specificusers. (See Figure 12 on page 10.)

Creating different views for each of the instructionaldesign forms streamlines the process. An InfoPathdocument can have a design document view, a story-

Figure 10 It may be advisable to add form controls (such as drop-down lists or optionbuttons) in order to make it easier for users to fill in the fields.

Figure 9 Select the mostappropriate data type for your fields. This mayrequire some planning and thought about yourdevelopment process, such as versioning.

ì

Design Techniques


board view, and an SME view. If you need an audioscript for your voiceover talent, just create a view thatdisplays only the voiceover text. To create additionalviews, select the Views link from the Design Taskspanel. From the Actions menu at the bottom selectAdd a New View and type in a descriptive name forthe view.

There is a shortcut for creating views. Since theviews share the same data source, after creating anew view, copy the fields and layouts from anotherview and paste into the new view. Modify the fields forthis view as needed, and change the color schemedesign of the table layout as well so that users caneasily tell one view from another.

There are also some tricks for using views. Giveyour views descriptive names based on their purpose— for example, design document, or SME review. Youmay designate one view as the default by right click-ing the view and selecting Set as Default. This is theview that will automatically be visible when the formopens. I usually designate the SME view as the de-fault view. Other users can access the desired viewfrom the View menu in the published form. To preventediting 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 theform 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 musthave access to this location. A Web server or Micro-soft Share Point Content Server are the best loca-tions, however, a shared network directory folderworks as well. The Publishing Wizard will prompt you to select the desired location to complete thepublishing process. (See Figure 13.)

Think of a published InfoPath template form as aWord template. Double-clicking the template to openit will generate a new blank form from the designedtemplate.

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 browsefor 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. Youcannot double-click a document to open in Designview as this will generate a template of the InfoPathform.

Figure 12 InfoPath makes it easy to deal with versioning and with the needs of multiplecontributors, by making it easy to set up views.

Figure 11 Use thePreview Form button asyou design to see how yourform will function.

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Figure 13 The Publishing Wizard helps you select the hosting location to complete thepublish process.

InfoPath Gotchas!

There are a few things to remember when usingInfoPath.

• First, as with any Microsoft product, there arealways Service Packs and updates. With InfoPath2003, you will want to make sure that you at leasthave SP1 installed as well. You can download

Design Techniques


It is always a good

idea to start develop-

ment by creating a

mockup of your tem-

plate. Please involve

in this mockup effort

the key professionals

who will be produc-

ing the content.

These are the SMEs,

the graphic artists,

and the program-

mers, at a minimum.

Find out what infor-

mation they need in

order to produce

their best results.

this from Microsoft’s Web site. Choose Help >About Microsoft InfoPath to check that SP1has been installed. Microsoft is now releasingInfoPath 2007, so make sure everyone is usingthe same version.

• All users must have InfoPath installed on theircomputer to access InfoPath documents. In addi-tion, InfoPath documents have the restriction thatthey must publish to a shared directory or Website where everyone who uses the form has ac-cess. The upside to this is that you only have to make any new data elements or any layoutchanges once in the source document. Oncepublished, all previous versions of the documentwill update with the changes when the docu-ments are opened the next time. So, for example,I received a request to change the font size in thedocumentation from 10 to 12 — after 20 XMLdocuments had already been created. I changedthe font size in the master template, republished it, and all the documents based on that templateupdated to the size 12 font.

• If you are using graphics in your document, thesegraphics will not export over when exporting adocument to a Microsoft Word version. Here aresome solutions. If you have some kind of PDFsoftware, choose File > Print and choose PDF

print format. PrimoPDF is free PDF software(http://www.primopdf.com) you can use if youdon’t have Adobe Acrobat. The other option is tocopy the picture from the InfoPath document byselecting Edit > Copy and pasting it in the cor-rect position in the Word document.

Conclusion

Harnessing the power of XML with InfoPath canexpedite your design phase, through the creation ofreusable design documents. Remember to carefullyplan your data and structure with the entire team be-fore jumping into the InfoPath document design. Bycreating forms that employ usability and display audi-ence-specific information, you can streamline yourdesign flow and tailor the process to meet the needsof your team and learning programs.

Resources

Additional documents and Captivate tutorials areavailable from http://www.id-webworks.com/docu-ments/infopath.zip.

Books:• Aitken, Peter, Powering Office 2003 with XML,

Wiley Publishing, Inc., 2004.• Robbins, Thom, Programming Microsoft InfoPath:

A Developer’s Guide, Charles River Media, 2004.

Design Techniques


• Watt, Andrew H., Microsoft Office InfoPath 2003Kick Start, Sams, 2004.

• Barker, F. Scott., Beginning InfoPath 2003, Wrox,2005.

Author Contact

Maria Leggett is a Senior Train-ing Analyst with Textron, a $10billion global multi-industrycompany. Maria is responsiblefor the instructional design anddevelopment of Textron’s enter-prise Six Sigma curriculum, aswell as supporting management

of the enterprise-wide learning management systemwithin Textron University. Maria joined Textron inSeptember 2005 from Babson College where shewas a Senior e-Learning Content Developer. Mariahas over eight years experience in the learning anddevelopment field as a trainer, instructional designer,and e-Learning developer. Prior to Textron, she wasdesigning and developing Web-based sales trainingand MBA courses for both companies and institutionsof 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 fromMiami University. In addition, she has earned certifi-cates in Project Management, Business Analysis, and Information Design from Boston University andBentley 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

InstructorContact Maria by email to [email protected]

or [email protected]

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