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Learn how to create engaging, educational dilemmas that challenge users to think critically about ethical scenarios.

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Understanding Dilemmas

A dilemma in Dashboard Dilemas is a gamified learning experience where users navigate ethical scenarios by answering questions. Each dilemma can contain multiple questions organized by category, difficulty, and theme.
Dilemmas are also called “Juegos” (games) in the platform interface. The terms are used interchangeably.

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Dilemma Types

Dashboard Dilemas supports several game formats:

Ángel o Demonio

Users make binary ethical choices, accumulating points for “angel” (ethical) or “demon” (unethical) decisions. Best for clear-cut ethical scenarios.

Pasapalabra

Inspired by the word game format, users answer quick-fire questions across different categories. Great for knowledge assessment.

Millonario

Quiz-show style with increasing difficulty and stakes. Users can use lifelines and must decide when to cash out. Ideal for high-stakes decision training.

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Creating a New Dilemma

1

Access Dilemmas Section

From the admin dashboard, navigate to Dilemas (Juegos) in the sidebar.
2

Initiate Dilemma Creation

Click the “Crear Dilema” button in the top-right corner.
This opens the WordPress custom post editor where dilemmas are managed.
3

Configure Basic Information

Fill in the essential details:Required Fields:
  • Dilemma Name: Clear, descriptive title (e.g., “Dilemas Éticos en Recursos Humanos”)
  • Type: Select the game format (Ángel o Demonio, Pasapalabra, or Millonario)
  • Associated Client: Choose which client(s) can access this dilemma
Optional Fields:
  • Description: Brief overview of the dilemma’s focus
  • Instructions: User-facing guidance on how to play
  • Estimated Duration: Help users plan their time (e.g., “15-20 minutes”)
4

Set Activation Details

Configure timing and availability:
  • Activation Date: When the dilemma becomes available to users
  • Expiration Date (optional): Deadline for completion
  • Status: Set to “Publish” to make it active, “Draft” to keep it hidden
For time-sensitive campaigns, use activation and expiration dates to create urgency and drive completion.
5

Save the Dilemma

Click Publish or Save Draft to create the dilemma.The dilemma is now created but empty—next, you’ll add questions.

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Adding Questions to a Dilemma

Questions are the core of your dilemma. Poor questions lead to user frustration and invalid data. Take time to craft clear, thought-provoking scenarios.
1

Navigate to Questions

Go to Preguntas from the sidebar.
2

Filter by Your Dilemma

Use the filters to select:
  • Client: The client associated with your dilemma
  • Dilema: The specific dilemma you just created
3

Add a New Question

Click “Agregar Pregunta” and configure:

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Question Content

  • Question Text: The scenario or question users will see
    • Be specific and realistic
    • Include necessary context
    • Keep it concise (2-3 sentences max)
Example: “You discover a colleague has been submitting false expense reports. The colleague is a friend and is going through financial difficulties. What do you do?”

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Answer Options

Provide 3-4 possible responses:
  • Make them distinct and plausible
  • Avoid obviously wrong “throwaway” options
  • Ensure one answer is clearly most ethical/correct
Example Options:
  1. Report to HR immediately (CORRECT)
  2. Talk to the colleague privately and ask them to stop
  3. Ignore it—it’s not your business
  4. Offer to lend them money to help with their situation
4

Configure Question Metadata

Set additional parameters:

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Category

Assign to a thematic category:
  • Ethics & Integrity
  • Compliance & Legal
  • Workplace Conduct
  • Decision-Making
  • Conflict Resolution
  • Data Privacy
  • Customer Relations
Consistent categorization enables powerful analytics. You’ll be able to see which areas users struggle with most.

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Difficulty Level

The system calculates difficulty based on user performance, but you can manually set:
  • Low (<0.40): Most users get it wrong—very challenging
  • Medium (0.40-0.69): Moderate challenge
  • High (≥0.70): Most users get it right—easier question
Difficulty is counter-intuitive: A “difficult” question has a LOW difficulty index because few people answer correctly.

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Points Value

Assign point value based on:
  • Importance of the topic
  • Difficulty of the question
  • Strategic weight in overall assessment
Typical range: 10-100 points per question
5

Mark Critical Questions (Optional)

If a question addresses a high-risk topic (legal compliance, safety, harassment, etc.), mark it as Critical.Critical questions:
  • Appear with a red indicator in analytics
  • Are highlighted in risk reports
  • Trigger alerts if failure rates are high
  • Receive priority attention from admins
6

Set Question Order

Determine the sequence:
  • Use the “Order Number” field to control question flow
  • Consider building narrative or increasing difficulty
  • Group related questions together
Start with easier questions to build confidence, then increase difficulty. End with a memorable or impactful scenario.

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Question Writing Best Practices

Do:
  • Provide sufficient context for users to make informed decisions
  • Use realistic workplace scenarios
  • Define roles clearly (“your manager,” “a client,” “HR”)
Don’t:
  • Use vague or ambiguous language
  • Assume specialized knowledge users may not have
  • Create trick questions that test reading comprehension rather than ethics
Example:❌ Bad: “Someone does something wrong. What do you do?”✅ Good: “During a team meeting, your manager takes credit for an idea you presented in a previous 1-on-1. Several colleagues witnessed your original presentation. What is your best course of action?”
The best questions present genuine ethical tensions where multiple values conflict:
  • Loyalty vs. Honesty
  • Short-term gain vs. Long-term trust
  • Individual benefit vs. Team good
  • Rule-following vs. Compassion
Example: “A long-time customer asks you to expedite their order by skipping standard quality checks. They promise future business if you help them meet their deadline. Your company policy requires all quality checks, but your sales quota depends on maintaining this relationship. What do you do?”This creates tension between:
  • Following company policy
  • Meeting sales targets
  • Maintaining customer relationships
  • Ensuring product quality
Create 3-4 answer options with varying degrees of ethical soundness:
  1. Clearly Correct (Best ethical choice)
  2. Partially Correct (Acceptable but not ideal)
  3. Questionable (Problematic but not terrible)
  4. Clearly Wrong (Unethical or dangerous)
Avoid:
  • Options that are all essentially the same
  • Obviously ridiculous options no one would choose
  • Options requiring information not provided in the question
Grading:
  • Only the “clearly correct” option should be marked as correct
  • Consider partial credit for “partially correct” if your system supports it
Remember that ethics can be culturally influenced:
  • Avoid scenarios that assume specific cultural norms
  • Be cautious with religious or political topics
  • Test questions with diverse groups before deploying
  • Provide cultural context when necessary
Questions about family obligations, hierarchy, directness in communication, and personal boundaries may be perceived differently across cultures. When deploying internationally, review questions for cultural appropriateness.

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Configuring Dilemma Difficulty

Balance your dilemma with a mix of question difficulties:
1

Assess Question Distribution

After adding questions, review the difficulty spread:Ideal Distribution:
  • 20-30% High difficulty (easy questions) - Build confidence
  • 40-50% Medium difficulty - Core learning
  • 20-30% Low difficulty (hard questions) - Challenge thinking
2

Monitor Performance

After users start completing the dilemma:
  1. Go to Preguntas and filter by your dilemma
  2. Sort by “Error Rate” (descending)
  3. Review questions with >40% error rate
  4. Determine if the question is:
    • Too ambiguous (needs rewriting)
    • Appropriately difficult (good challenge)
    • Incorrectly marked (wrong answer flagged as correct)
3

Adjust as Needed

Based on performance data:
  • Rewrite confusing questions
  • Replace questions that don’t work
  • Add hints to particularly difficult questions
  • Reorder questions if flow is poor
Use the “Difficulty” filter in the Questions section to quickly identify questions that may need adjustment based on actual user performance.

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Testing Your Dilemma

Never launch an untested dilemma to real users. Always run through it yourself first.
1

Create Test User

Create a test user account assigned to the target client and area.
2

Complete the Dilemma

Play through the entire dilemma as a user would:
  • Check for typos and clarity
  • Verify questions appear in the correct order
  • Ensure answer options display properly
  • Test the scoring mechanism
  • Confirm completion triggers correctly
  • Review the final summary/results screen
3

Review Analytics

Log back into admin and verify:
  • Session was recorded in Dashboard
  • Answers are captured in Preguntas analytics
  • Score calculated correctly
  • User completion status updated
4

Get Feedback

Before broad deployment:
  1. Have a colleague or client stakeholder test the dilemma
  2. Collect feedback on clarity, relevance, and difficulty
  3. Make final adjustments based on feedback

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Managing Multiple Dilemmas

As your library grows, use these strategies:

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Organization

  • Naming Convention: Use clear, consistent names
    • Good: “Ethics 101 - Introduction”, “Ethics 201 - Advanced Scenarios”
    • Bad: “Dilemma 1”, “New Game”, “Test”
  • Client Association: Clearly document which dilemmas are client-specific vs. reusable
  • Version Control: When updating questions, consider creating a new version rather than modifying the original

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Performance Comparison

1

Access Dilemma Comparison

In the Dilemas section, use checkboxes to select 2+ dilemmas you want to compare.
2

View Comparative Analytics

Click “Comparar” to see side-by-side metrics:
  • Total sessions/users
  • Average scores
  • Completion rates
  • Time to complete
  • Question difficulty distribution
3

Identify Best Practices

Use comparison data to:
  • Determine which dilemmas drive best learning outcomes
  • Identify optimal question counts and difficulty mixes
  • Refine future dilemma designs based on what works

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Advanced: Adaptive Dilemmas

For sophisticated campaigns, consider creating branching scenarios or adaptive difficulty based on user performance.
While Dashboard Dilemas doesn’t have built-in branching logic, you can simulate it by:
  1. Sequential Dilemmas: Create follow-up dilemmas based on initial performance
    • Users scoring <60% on “Ethics 101” get assigned “Ethics 101 - Remedial”
    • Users scoring >80% get assigned “Ethics 201 - Advanced”
  2. Targeted Question Banks: Create dilemmas focused on areas where users struggled
    • If analytics show high error rates on “Data Privacy” questions, create a dedicated “Data Privacy Deep Dive” dilemma
  3. Progressive Campaigns: Deploy dilemmas in phases
    • Week 1: Awareness-building scenarios
    • Week 2: Application and decision-making
    • Week 3: Complex, multi-stakeholder dilemmas

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Troubleshooting Common Issues

Diagnosis:
  • Check average scores (if <50%, dilemma is too hard)
  • Review error rates on individual questions
  • Compare to benchmark dilemmas
Solutions:
  1. Add easier warm-up questions at the beginning
  2. Provide more context in question text
  3. Review answer options—are they too similar?
  4. Consider adding hints or clarifications
  5. Adjust scoring to be more forgiving
Diagnosis:
  • Check average time to complete (if >30 min, too long)
  • Identify where users are dropping off (which question)
Solutions:
  1. Reduce number of questions (aim for 10-15 max)
  2. Remove or simplify the question where drop-off occurs
  3. Break long dilemma into multiple shorter sessions
  4. Add progress indicators so users see end in sight
Diagnosis:
  • Not a dilemma issue—likely communication/motivation problem
Solutions:
  1. Work with client to improve internal promotion
  2. Send reminder emails to non-starters
  3. Clarify benefits/incentives (certificates, recognition)
  4. Reduce perceived time commitment in communications
  5. Get leadership endorsement/participation

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Next Steps

Manage Users

Learn how to track user progress through your dilemmas

Analyze Performance

Use analytics to evaluate dilemma effectiveness and user learning

Onboard Clients

Deploy your dilemmas to new client organizations

Admin Workflow

See how dilemma creation fits into overall platform management

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