How to use Side Effects in Simulations

What's a Side Effect?

Creators can add Side Effects to Choices as a way of helping participants understand that making a Choice may have indirect consequences. There are two kinds of Side Effects: extra feedback and point modification. The former causes Choice-specific feedback to be shown to the participant in their results and the latter causes their score to be modified positively or negatively.

Why we added the Side Effects feature

We created Simulations.net so that learners can participate in meaningful digital learning experiences that more-closely resemble real life. In life, often times our choices have side effects that are only realized later. For example, we decide to attend a professional conference to generate sales leads and, as a side effect, meet someone who may be a good hire. Or, alternatively, we decide to take out a loan now and have to pay interest on it later. You can simulate these experiences by adding Side Effects to your Simualtion's Choices.

How to use Side Effects

An individual Side Effect must be associated with a Choice. Side Effects can be added any Choice that's made available for a question in your Simulations. There are two kinds of side effects: 

  • Extra Feedback: Cause this Choice-specific feedback to be shown to participants who make this Choice when they view the results of their Simulation. Adding a extra feedback Side Effect is an excellent way of helping participants make progress on the learning goals you've identified for your Simulation.
  • Point Modifiers: Cause points to be added or subtracted (either by addition or a percentage multiplication) to the participant's score when this Choice is made. Point side effects are best used to simulate the indirect consequences of making a Choice.

Example: Sarah is building a Simulation to train managers of quick service restaurants. In one of the Rounds of the Simulation, she adds the question "Your discretionary budget for the quarter is $5000. What will you do with it?" Sarah adds these Choices:

  1. Hire an online marketing company to promote the restaurant
  2. Repaint the interior of the restaurant
  3. Buy a new espresso machine
From experience as a restaurant manager herself, Sarah knows that Choice 2 doesn't pay off much in the short term, but it has a long-term positive multiplying effect for the restaurant. So, she assigns Choice 2 a score of 0 and also adds the following Side Effects:
  • Extra Feedback: "In my experience, most managers won't choose #2 because it feels uninteresting. However, customers love being places that feel fresh and new and, over the long term, this decision will cause them to return more often and generally augment the sales of the restaurant."
  • Point Modifier: 15% increase on the overall score.
So, when Robert goes through Sarah's Simulation and makes this choice, he'll see the above Extra Feedback about this choice in his results and his overall score will be increased by 15%.

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