156 Ways
to Improve Your
Instructional Design
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CONTENTS
Introduction
4
Begin With an Analysis
6
The Planning Process
9
Project Management
15
Keep it Simple
17
Visual Design Tips
21
Increasing Engagement
22
Technology
24
Foster Communication & Build Relationships
27
Working With SMEs
30
Focus on Results
32
Business Concerns
35
Professional Development
37
Additional Tips
40
INTRODUCTION
The field of instructional design has become increasingly complex, and
today’s IDs must demonstrate knowledge and expertise in a wide array
of arenas. When designing, developing or delivering content, modern
instructional designers are expected to be well-versed in everything
from artificial intelligence and augmented reality to specific tools and
accessible color palettes. They must know learning theory, but they must
also know how to deal with difficult stakeholders and subject matter
experts. It’s a lot to master.
Several months ago we opened a survey inviting members of the
Learning Guild community to share their favorite instructional design
practices and secrets. We received hundreds of insightful comments and
tips. This eBook is a compilation of short suggestions and practical howtos for instructional designers ... from fellow instructional designers. The
tips are organized into categories, and some have been lightly edited for
length or clarity.
156 Ways to Improve Your Instructional Design | 4
Remember you are not an
order-taker, you are a learning
advocate. Stay focused on
including content that is aligned
with performance and learning
objectives, is relevant, accurate,
and suitable for the intended
audience.
Sherry Nolan Larson, President/Founder
BEGIN WITH AN ANALYSIS
Always make time for needs
analysis. Make sure you have a
clear understanding of the business
needs and desired outcomes.
Partner with stakeholders to get
to the root of the performance
gaps and to truly discover whether
learning (or something else) is
the right solution. Don’t forget
your learners, too. Make time to
talk to a representative sample
to find out when, where, and how
they like to learn and to validate
the performance gaps rather than
relying on what stakeholders
have told you. Find out what the
constraints are as they relate to
budget, timeline, and technology.
Identify what, if anything, might
be a barrier to the successful
implementation of your solution.
Consider any change management
needs by identifying any barriers
to learning or application of the
learning and be sure to design for
these.
Emma Klosson, Learning Evangelist
Follow a clear method. Always
start with good analysis first
and not ‘just’ start designing.
Give time to analysis for
starting a project. Begin by
working with stakeholders and
SMEs to identify course goals
and learning objectives. Define
the assessment based on
the objectives. Then plan the
content to meet the objectives
and assessment. In the same
meetings, have the client list
the names of reviewers for
each phase.
Joan DeSoto
Perform a comprehensive training
needs analysis to understand the
client’s learning requirements
(such as knowledge and skills
gaps relative to performance
standards and procedures). Take
into consideration the on-the-job
realities that may differ from the
established policies, processes, and
procedures provided in operations
manuals.
James Woo, Senior Technical Specialist
Ger Driesen, Learning Innovation Leader
The Hybrid Workplace: Best Practices & Tips From Managers | 6
BEGIN WITH AN ANALYSIS
Only develop training as a last
resort. Well-conducted needs
analyses often discover that
the performance problem
needing to be solved isn’t
related to training (or the
lack of it), but is more likely
the result of environmental,
motivational, or supervisory
factors. While the training
department may be the ones
to solve the problem, the
solution is only rarely training
development.
“The bait must suit the fish, not the
angler.” In other words: Understand
your audience. One of the first
steps in instructional design is
understanding your target audience.
This includes your learners’ current
knowledge, what they need to learn,
and what will motivate them to
engage with the content. The more
you know about your learners, the
better you can tailor the learning
materials to meet their needs and
help them learn effectively.
Montse Anderson, E-Learning Designer
Richard Presley, Education Program
Manager
Put yourself into the shoes of the
learners. If you can, spend time
with them, listen to them, and learn
from them. Learn to frame ‘no’ by
lining up alternative solutions when
working with stakeholders. I find I
can be too easily driven by content.
I have to work hard to focus on the
outcomes and let the SMEs do what
they are great at.
Liz Reed, Digital Learning Specialist
Identify early on whether the
problem you’re trying to solve is a
content problem, a task problem,
etc. This will help you to identity
solutions and articulate options to
your stakeholders. Strike the word
“course” from your vocabulary
in the first meeting. This gets at
the heart of the matter for the
fundamental question to keep in
mind: “Will this problem respond to
instruction?”
JR Dingwall, Learning & Development
Specialist
The Hybrid Workplace: Best Practices & Tips From Managers | 7
BEGIN WITH AN ANALYSIS
Don’t short-change your
efforts by ignoring analysis
activities. That analysis should
be guiding your efforts
throughout, especially if a root
cause analysis reveals that the
problem isn’t one to be solved
by training.
Is it a training issue? If yes, design
the workshop so the learner can
develop the necessary skill. If it is
not a training issue, send it back to
the requester to solve the problem.
Maurice Coleman, Principal
Mark L. Sheppard, Principal Consultant
Take the time to determine the
true goal of your training project.
Also, ensure it aligns with your
organizational goals.
Assess to see if it is truly a
training issue rather than a
supervision issue. Training
cannot address supervision
deficiencies.
Leslie LeMaster, Correctional Program
Specialist
Randy Stanfill, Director of Training and
Professional Development
Never create something that is not
needed. Have you analyzed that
what you are creating actually is
needed/fits the participant’s need?
Susanne Melsom Klausen, Dgital Learning
Owner
The Hybrid Workplace: Best Practices & Tips From Managers | 8
THE PLANNING PROCESS
Design with learning transfer
in mind. That means design
for Acquire - Apply - Reflect
- Record. What happens on
the screen should be designed
to help learners acquire new
knowledge and at the end of
the cycle record their elections
on how the application of that
new knowledge went.
Keith Quinn, Consultant
I ALWAYS ask my customers:
What 3-5 things do you want your
learners to know as a result of this
training? That helps to keep them
focused, cuts way down on scope
creep, and helps to ensure we stay
on target, on track, and on time.
Rob Lyons, Education Program Specialist
Approach each deliverable
from the learner’s point of
view. Focus on what will help
them learn the material and
make that your top priority.
Design courses through the
use of personas. The PINOT
method involves a “persona
in need of training.” Using
this method helps keep SMEs
focused and keeps discussions
of what learners need to
know/do at the forefront of
the conversation.
To create the PINOT, consider
the following: Think about
their name, demographics
[age, gender, family, etc.],
likes/dislikes (such as food,
TV shows, brands), and what
they look like. Also think
about: What is their job title/
responsibilities? What drives
them? What do they like about
the job? What worries them?
What frustrates them?
If done well, learners can
connect with personas
and empathize with them,
and SMEs can focus on
helping them while avoiding
confusing/overwhelming them.
Inga Nordstrom-Kelly, Instructional Designer
Sally Emes, Senior Instructional Designer
The Hybrid Workplace: Best Practices & Tips From Managers | 9
THE PLANNING PROCESS
Use ADDIE/SAM or a
combination, but always use
your framework to start the
process.
Kathleen Hathaway, Organizational Learning
& Development Manager
To be successful, it’s important
that instructional designers use (or
adapt) a process methodology in
their workplace, whether it’s ADDIE,
Rapid Application Development,
some other model, or a hybrid that
fits the organization. Make sure
that what you are planning to train
is a skill or issue that can actually
benefit from training; otherwise
your training program may lead to
no improvement in job performance
or skills and will waste time and
precious resources.
Don W. Shannon, Instructor, “Principles of
e-Learning Instructional Design,” University
of California at Irvine
Sit down and establish your own
process for developing learning
experiences. Yes, using models like
ADDIE can help guide the various
phases or steps. But it’s been
really helpful to have flexibility in
any model. I have learned to fine
tune how you are going to get
information, engage with SMEs
(always send guiding questions;
never do a free range review cycle),
implement the course, etc.
Danielle Gines, Curriculum Specialist
If you are new to instructional
design, stick with an
instructional design model
(e.g., ADDIE, SAM, etc.) until
you’re comfortable with the
process, and to make sure
you don’t miss anything. Then
experience will take over.
Randall Ulrich, Organizational Development
Coordinator
Understand the content.
Lynn Anderson, CEO
The Hybrid Workplace: Best Practices & Tips From Managers | 10
THE PLANNING PROCESS
Integrate learning and
prototyping technology into
your project plans. Include
milestones in your project
plan that will demonstrate
improvements along the way.
Cheryl Lepatski, Advisor, Learning and
Development
Talk to your target audience(s). You
can’t underestimate the importance
of understanding who the training
is for and making it relevant and
engaging to them. If it doesn’t meet
their needs, you will have wasted
your time. Learner personas and
empathy maps are helpful tools
to do this well. View learning as
a journey rather than an event.
Everything should support the
learning journey—it is not just one
event.
Tami Zacharias, International Director of
Organizational Learning
Start with a brand guide. Have an
org-wide one and a department
guide to create standardizations
and processes for the different
types of educational experiences.
Also, have a department manual.
Having a manual provides written
standards of work. All terminology
should be listed in the manual and
expectations for each partner’s
role. For example: Define SME
and Stakeholder. What are your
expectations when working with
them? My manual also contains my
brand guide to ensure everyone
understands what the output of
collateral will be based on and the
options they will have to choose
from.
Melissa Peterson, Project Manager OELD
Start with the learning need.
It gives you the “why” of
your project. If you were not
involved in identifying the
learning need, then make sure
you get it from the team that
was.
Dennis Devriendt, Digital Learning Program
Manager
The Hybrid Workplace: Best Practices & Tips From Managers | 11
THE PLANNING PROCESS
Begin your design with
accessibility and inclusion in
mind. Take the time upfront to
plan your approach to building
your accessible and inclusive
course. Working backwards
to modify old courses to
make them accessible can
be difficult and often takes
significant time and effort. If
you are new to accessibility
and inclusion, you can find a
ton of advice online. Don’t be
too shy to use those resources
or ask others with more
experience for help.
When designing a learning
experience, always ask yourself:
“Who am I forgetting?” It’s difficult
to be completely inclusive of all
people all of the time but get to
know your learners and try to
accommodate their specific needs.
Learning is challenging enough
without having to navigate around
obstacles. Many obstacles can
be avoided with inclusive and
accessible design.
Pascale Swanson, eLearning Design Lead
Whenever possible, focus on
how to do something rather than
what to do. For example, if the
employees use a knowledge base
to find answers, spend most of your
learning intervention practicing
how to find the answers rather than
trying to memorize the answers
themselves. Format the learning
experience so that the participants
are exposed to the new skills,
knowledge, and behaviors as
close to how they will use them as
possible.
For every consideration,
suggestion, requirement, and
request in your instructional
design project, always think
about how it impacts the
learners and instructors.
Human-centered design puts
the learner and instructor at
the center of every decision.
Amanda, Learning Experience Designer
Jason Aydelott, Director of Learning and
People Development
Harley Fritts Instructional Designer
The Hybrid Workplace: Best Practices & Tips From Managers | 12
THE PLANNING PROCESS
Understand the difference
between giving presentations
and delivering training. If
there’s no practice and
feedback, it’s not training.
Presentations can be fine for
imparting simple information
and/or content that the
learner doesn’t need to
internalize. They can also be
used as an introduction to
the training itself. But if the
learners actually have to do
something with the content
when they’re back on the
job, or if the content is at all
complex, then training with
practice and feedback is
pretty much always the way to
go.
Laura Gillenwater
Design for learners as individuals.
We often design for groups without
considering that person on the end
of our training. Empathy maps can
help guide design. Are they a busy,
working professional who only has
10 minutes? Would microlearning
chunks be better?
Carolyn Kuhne, Principal Instructional
Designer
Keep your audience at the
top of your mind. If you have
the opportunity, interview the
learners throughout the design
and development process
to gauge their reaction to
various aspects of the course
you are building. You may
have the best intentions
while building a course, but
then find out perhaps the
animation style is off-putting
to a certain audience, or
possibly the gamification
aspects are inappropriate for
a particular group, or maybe
the stories and scenarios
aren’t sufficiently authentic
for the specific learners. Learn
from your audience and make
adjustments when necessary.
Pascale Swanson, eLearning Design Lead
The Hybrid Workplace: Best Practices & Tips From Managers | 13
THE PLANNING PROCESS
Start giving life to your
ideas with a concept board.
You can define the color
palette, choose the style
of imagery in your course,
gather graphic elements that
will highlight the experience
of your learners, and even
create simple mockups of the
look and feel. This will help
you visualize your project
and avoid the ‘blank canvas’
crisis, that moment when
your storyboard is ready but
you don’t have any ideas on
how to start working on your
course.
Kari Gomez, Instructional Designer
Make sure everything you ask
the learner to do has a purpose.
This applies to learning method,
gamification choices, content
inclusion, every aspect of training
creation. If you can’t explain how
it’s going to serve the learner,
reconsider whether you need it.
Sally Emes, Senior Instructional Designer
Not every request has to be
a “course.” Infographics and
reference guides are just as
powerful and useful when
applied effectively.
Mark L. Sheppard, Principal Consultant
Sit down and establish your own
process for developing learning
experiences. Using models like
ADDIE can help guide the various
phases or steps, but it’s been
really helpful to have flexibility in
any model. I have learned to fine
tune how you are going to get
information, engage with SMEs
implement the course, etc.
Danielle Gines Curriculum Specialist
The Hybrid Workplace: Best Practices & Tips From Managers | 14
PROJECT MANAGEMENT
Overcommunicate and document
key decisions made during a project
and its implementation. Project
sponsors and stakeholders often
forget why they decided to make
a certain choice and it’s good
practice to document this so they
can be directional for similar future
projects.
Make sure there are set
expectations and roles for all
persons on a project.
Kristin Bogren, Learning and Development
Specialist
Kelsey Linden, Senior Manager Instructional
Design
Use an archive folder so only
the current version of your
file is in the main folder and
previous versions are in the
archive folder.
Renee Minium, Senior Learning and Talent
Development Associate
Do everything possible
to gain clarity and have
documentation of intended
outcome and goals from all
key stakeholders; center the
scope and design based on
stated outcomes and goals;
establish appropriate review/
sign off for each project
phase/sprint.
Joy Lulis, Learning Experience Designer
The Hybrid Workplace: Best Practices & Tips From Managers | 15
PROJECT MANAGEMENT
When you reach a minimal desirable
product, before receiving any
feedback and revisions (therefore
changes), make a copy of your work
files. You will thank yourself later.
Sometimes these prototypes can be
a starting point for a new project of
yours or your colleagues.
Be organized! Have a naming
convention for your files and
assets. It seems like it takes a
lot of time, but it really saves
you time in troubleshooting.
Renee Minium, Senior Learning and Talent
Development Associate
Arturo Parra, Manager Instructional Designer
When you can and as soon
as you can, present an idea,
storyboard, etc. to the client/
customer to gain necessary
feedback to keep the project
moving forward.
Ellen Schmidt, Learning Consultant
The Hybrid Workplace: Best Practices & Tips From Managers | 16
KEEP IT SIMPLE
Most times, less is more. Always try
to give the learner the “why.” Make
it relevant. When speaking to SMEs,
really narrow the objective. Get to
the meat of what the learner really
NEEDS to know.
Nicholle Caruthers, Sr. Instructional Designer
Embed resources and links
within a course, not an
ancillary resource folder. I
teach high school and middle
school students. Students are
reluctant [putting that mildly]
to go to outside resources.
They also don’t want to click
through 3-5 layers to get to a
resource document.
Bruce Burch, Virtual Instructor
Today’s learners are used to
receiving information instantly
and in short bursts, especially
for technical training. I find
15-minute microlearning
modules and five-minute nano
lessons are preferred in our
organization. The formula:
Brief introduction paragraph +
demo/video + link printable/
downloadable QRG. Brief
introduction paragraph
provides the who, what, when,
where, and why in a couple of
short paragraphs. The demo
video is a link to a recorded
demo of the technology
or task. The printable/
downloadable QRG recaps
the key steps. Make sure to
make these resources available
for both mobile and laptop
devices.
Nanette Sullivan, Sr. Instructional Designer
Don’t overcomplicate your work.
Imagine you are the one taking the
course. The learner doesn’t need
over-the-top fancy animations,
but items that help them better
understand a process.
Jill Bagley, Continuing Education Platform
Sr Manager
Drive content with story. Keep
learnings brief and to the point
as possible.
Jim McAllister, Advisor, SSR Productions
The Hybrid Workplace: Best Practices & Tips From Managers | 17
KEEP IT SIMPLE
Keep the jargon, acronyms, and
industry terms to a minimum unless
you are writing for a specific legal,
technical, scientific, or medical
audience. Consider your time frame.
If something can be said in 2-5
minutes, do so. If your lesson is up
to 10 minutes, consider two parts.
If it takes longer than 10 minutes,
make it a full-blown course. Try
what I call “The Minute-and-aHalf Challenge.” I used to teach an
instructional design course, and
I would challenge my students
for their final project to create an
instructional video lasting a minute
and a half, plus or minus 10 seconds.
They had to write the copy, make
their video, and include at least
two effects (e.g., sound effects,
voiceover, music, fade in/out, titles,
etc.)
Randall Ulrich, Organizational Development
Coordinator
Don’t overcomplicate navigation.
Susan, Marketing Manager/Instructional
Designer
Less is more, in most cases.
Do not get caught up in
using ALL of the new and
trendy ID things. Rise courses,
infographics, and fancy
interactivities all have their
place, but too much of a
good thing can overwhelm
learners and quickly become
dismissed. The content and
storytelling of your course/
lesson/module should be the
star, not the shiny presentation
of it.
Danielle Mbadu, Senior Manager,
Instructional Design
Sometimes simple is better. If
there is a fancy new tool/trick
you want to try (AR/VR/AI/
etc.), make sure it contributes
to the actual learning that
needs to happen—otherwise, it
will just be a distraction.
Amanda, Learning Experience Designer
The Hybrid Workplace: Best Practices & Tips From Managers | 18
KEEP IT SIMPLE
It can be tempting to include all the
bells and whistles in every single
eLearning course. Resist that urge.
Your needs analysis and learner
analysis should reveal the building
blocks for effective instruction
for your circumstances. Use these
building blocks as a basis. Then
thoughtfully layer on aspects that
may improve learning, engagement,
or retention. But don’t let yourself
go beyond that and jump into the
“Hmm, this is kinda cool, let’s add
it!” territory. Often the flashiest
course is not the most effective one.
You don’t need to develop
everything. Can you send
them to an existing website,
YouTube video, training, book,
article, podcast, etc. to acquire
the content they need? Offer
many options so the learner
can choose how (and when)
they want to engage with the
content. Supplement this with
ways they can practice or test
their knowledge to know they
have achieved the goals.
Pascale Swanson, eLearning Design Lead
Michael Milroy, Instructional Design,
Manager
When working with faculty
members I first consider the
work as a student, then as
the faculty. So many write
instructions, processes, or
lessons with expertise bias,
skipping simple but important
steps. It is simple to them but
not to the student; all steps,
even the simple ones, are
essential.
Katherine Senko
Learn to quickly separate the
need-to-know from the nice-toknow. Most of what your SMEs
give you will qualify as essential
content. Your goal is to help
learners efficiently acquire the
knowledge and skills they need
without overwhelming them
with unnecessary, nice-to-know
information. The quicker you can
sift through their content and
identify the need-to-know, the more
efficiently you’ll create meaningful
courses.
Montse Anderson, E-Learning Designer
The Hybrid Workplace: Best Practices & Tips From Managers | 19
KEEP IT SIMPLE
Try to repurpose already valuable
training material that may exist.
For example, if marketing made a
professional video, try to repurpose
that in a course as opposed to
shooting footage yourself. Also, find
great templates online ahead of
time and download them for future
use. Many of them have beautiful
graphics and interactions and you
don’t have to reinvent the wheel.
Design and develop content
chunks once and use them
in multiple ways by creating
context and content as
separate pieces. That way, you
can use the content chunks
in new hire and refresher
courses.
Jason Aydelott, Director of Learning and
People Development
Annie Chatterjee Deffley, PhD, Instructional
Designer
The Hybrid Workplace: Best Practices & Tips From Managers | 20
VISUAL DESIGN TIPS
Where is the focus in the
shared content—reading
the screen or listening to a
presenter? The brain can
do one. Create the image
that connects the learning
for quicker recall. The brain
becomes overloaded after
seven minutes.
Keep it concise and organized:
Avoid overwhelming learners
with excessive information. Keep
your content concise, clear,
and organized. Use headings,
bullet points, and visuals to
improve readability and facilitate
comprehension.
Z. Gunjevic, Sr. Learning & Development
Program Manager
Diane McRandal, Instructional Coach
No more than five bullets on
a slide, with no more than five
words in a bullet, and no more
than five slides with words in a
row.
Kristin Bogren, Learning & Development
Specialist
Learn design principles besides
pedagogic concerns. Beautiful
aesthetics are important, too.
Helena Guimarães
When creating an animated
diagram for a multimedia
object, such as in Captivate,
Storyline, or Camtasia, begin
by incorporating all elements
and legends in proportional
sizes to form the finished
diagram. This ensures proper
fitting. Then, proceed in reverse
order to populate the diagram
based on the accompanying
narration or textual description.
That way you will ensure that:
1) Everything will fit
2) The end result does not look
too busy
3) Only those elements that
are pertinent are included in
the end
Angelo Athens, Training Manager
The Hybrid Workplace: Best Practices & Tips From Managers | 21
INCREASING ENGAGEMENT
Think about a course like you
would a film. What makes a good
film? Clear throughlines, good flow
and pacing, engaging visuals and
audio, etc. What happens when
there are too many stories and
characters that don’t feel balanced
out? Too many ideas? Keep things
focused; remember the message
of your course (everything in the
course should build on it); have
a beginning, middle, and an end;
and make sure it is visually and
auditorily engaging.
Harrison Knittle, Instructional Designer
Combine asynchronous online
discussions based on problembased learning and/or case-based
teaching with the skills involved
in feedback literacy to increase
engagement and learning.
William Hunter, Professor
When considering how to
increase engagement in an
eLearning course, be sure to
distinguish between ‘interface
interaction’ and ‘information
interaction.’ Courses with a
lot of clickable and moveable
elements have high interface
interaction. Unfortunately,
if they are not thoughtfully
designed, they can be prone
to causing cognitive overload
and increasing interaction
cost. On the other hand,
courses with high information
interaction encourage learners
to think deeply about the
course content, with or
without interacting with the
screen. These courses typically
have many opportunities for
generative processing, which is
an important piece of enduring
learning.
Pascale Swanson, eLearning Design Lead
The building block of instructional
design is “activity,” not “content.”
Mark L. Sheppard, Principal Consultant
The Hybrid Workplace: Best Practices & Tips From Managers | 22
INCREASING ENGAGEMENT
Mix your delivery methods up.
Consider each piece of content
individually when deciding how to
deliver it. Keep things interesting for
you to develop and for the learner
to complete.
Ryan McInnes, eLearning Director
Today’s learners scan for relevant
information and are frustrated when
they can’t locate it immediately.
For optimal engagement, an online
user should locate information
within three clicks. Pictures are
noticed first, then users search for
the information relevant to them
at that moment. Think: Site access
(first click), image with mouse
over and descriptive title (second
click), brief list of bullets to specific
info (third click). This method can
increase visits to resource pages
(e.g., department or organization
SharePoint resource pages).
Nanette Sullivan, Senior Instructional
Designer
Engagement happens in
the mind, not the fingers. In
an e-course, clicking “Next”
or clicking on something
on the screen just to get
additional text is not engaging
interactivity. Instead, pose
questions...they don’t even
always have to be in the form
of a quiz or have a simple
answer one can click on. They
can be “reflection” questions
and you can have the learner
check themselves by providing
answers or thoughts on the
next page. (You can even
use a variable that stored
their answer to display their
answer on that page, so they
can compare it to the model
answer.)
Laura Gillenwater
Ask the question: “What is the
learner doing?” If the answer is
listening, reading, or watching,
it’s time to engage them with an
activity.
Jason Aydelott, Director of Learning &
People Development
The Hybrid Workplace: Best Practices & Tips From Managers | 23
TECHNOLOGY
Know the audience and understand
their technical limitations. Create
output that can be easily consumed
by the intended audience. It does
not work to have an amazing VR
course with only two VR stations
available. Is the audience desk,
mobile, or limited PC access?
Kelli, L&D Manager
Know your authoring tool(s)
well, and the ultimate resting
place of the course, so you
can provide appropriate
instructional text at the end of
the course to help learners exit
it gracefully (and be marked
as complete if on an LMS).
Tracy Burrell, Virtual Learning Designer and
System Coordinator
Think of what you do as
designing “instructional
products” and expand your
toolbox beyond traditional ID
models and tools. Managing
a portfolio of instructional
products means you can draw
from UX, marketing, product
techniques, behaviour design,
and other disciplines.
No matter the project, no matter
your skill level, learn the shortcut
keys for the software you use. It
will save you energy and time when
creating your learning content
masterpieces.
Shannon Buford, Learning Content Specialist
Holly MacDonald, Founder + CEO
Stay up to date with new and
emerging technology.
Keep an open mind on new
and emerging technologies
and techniques. Don’t be
afraid of trying something new
with learners.
Amber, Instructional Design Advisor
Suzanne, Admin
The Hybrid Workplace: Best Practices & Tips From Managers | 24
TECHNOLOGY
Be picky when it comes to selecting
instructional design strategies and
eLearning development tools. Try
to avoid defaulting to the same
strategies and tools all the time.
Examine them in the context of
your learners and the content. It is
highly unlikely that any one strategy
or tool is perfect for every audience
and all types of content. Although
I have personal preferences, I will
reject even my favourite strategies
and tools when I know they won’t
work well with my learners or my
content.
I use keyboard shortcuts
along with the mouse to do
things faster. Using common
commands like Ctrl + A to
highlight text and then Ctrl +
C to copy the text from one
program and then click in the
second program where you
want the text and Ctrl +A to
highlight and Ctrl +V to paste.
This is faster than using only
the mouse for these actions.
Jeffrey Riley, Owner/Founder
Pascale Swanson, eLearning Design Lead
Expensive tools don’t mean
they are efficient or even the
best. Camtasia makes amazing
videos at a fraction of the
cost—and learning curve—of
Premier Pro.
Rochelle Barker, Learning Experience
Designer
Better to design an e-course with
great underlying instructional
design, but a more “homemade”
look, than to design an e-course that
looks impressive or has lots of bells
and whistles (video, etc.) but has
poor underlying instructional design.
Our job is to help people learn, not
to show off top-notch production
values. (If that’s your jam, maybe try
working in Hollywood, instead?)
Laura Gillenwater
The Hybrid Workplace: Best Practices & Tips From Managers | 25
TECHNOLOGY
Don’t focus on tool proficiency over
the fundamentals of instructional
design. Unless your solution
actually addresses a learning or
performance gap, it doesn’t matter
how pretty the output is. Tools
come and go but the practice and
discipline will always be there.
Mark L. Sheppard, Principal Consultant
Leverage multimedia and
technology: Utilize multimedia
elements such as images,
videos, audio, and interactive
simulations to enhance
the learning experience.
Choose technology tools
and platforms that align with
the learning objectives and
preferences of your target
audience.
Z. Gunjevic, Sr. Learning & Development
Program Manager
Bear in mind the differences
responsive design authoring
tools create in navigation on
different devices.
Tracy Burrell, Virtual Learning Designer and
System Coordinator
Develop skills in as many software
tools as you can because an
authoring tool alone is not enough.
Jeffrey Riley, Owner/Founder
Use technology platforms to get the
quiet, shy learners in F@F sharing
via polling, explainer videos, and
word clouds.
Liz Wool, Founder and Passionate Virtual
Trainer
The Hybrid Workplace: Best Practices & Tips From Managers | 26
FOSTER COMMUNICATION &
BUILD RELATIONSHIPS
Have a people-first mindset. Having
a people-first mindset means we
collaborate well, discover needs
early on, partner with others, and
communicate with stakeholders
regularly. That way, all of the best
practices we know about for adult
learning, instruction, and more
will be accepted, understood, and
adopted.
Jordan Hopkins, Education Program
Manager
Make sure you are
collaborating so the end
result meets the needed goal.
Better to ask questions, have
evaluation sessions, and revise
during the process when it is
easy to make changes with
the goal in mind than to have
a finished product that doesn’t
meet the goal according to the
client.
Jessica Hunsberger, Learning Specialist
Curate a group of people
who can help support you
along the way. Ensure your
supervisor is on board and
help them understand the
long-term benefits to the team
and the company.
Cheryl Lepatski, Advisor, Learning and
Development
Ask for examples. Sometimes what
stakeholders ask for seems straight
forward, but examples help to elicit
what they’re actually asking.
JR Dingwall, Learning & Development
Specialist
Get involved in the business.
Build relationships outside your
department. Learn how your
company’s business model works.
How do they succeed? Speak the
language of your company, not L&D
lingo.
Marilyn Goodwin, Owner/Principal
Consultant
Understand the client’s need
and how that weighs against
the actual need (gap).
Ray Allen
The Hybrid Workplace: Best Practices & Tips From Managers | 27
FOSTER COMMUNICATION &
BUILD RELATIONSHIPS
Be flexible and firm, especially when
co-designing learning experiences
with SMEs and managing multiple
projects with different stakeholders.
Take your time to build rapport
but be firm with specific tasks and
deadlines.
Belma Gaukrodger, Senior Learning
Designer
Have a good storyboard,
meet with the content creator,
and explain the process. If it
is a whole unit, work on one
module at a time rather than
trying to create storyboards
for all modules. The process
is easier once the content
creator understands the
process.
Jessica Hunsberger, Learning Specialist
Listen to understand, not to
respond. It’s really common
and tempting to jump to
solutions right away. If we
don’t take the time to listen,
what we propose as a solution
might not work anyway.
JR Dingwall, Learning & Development
Specialist
I write so much as part of my job
that I no longer read text word
by word. For this reason, I use MS
Word’s read-aloud tool to listen to
what I write as a step in editing.
Know your audience and
know how to write to them,
no matter what format is
used (script, on-screen,
print, etc.) Respect learners
by communicating in a way
that lets them know they are
respected—all workers deserve
respect.
Kim Lindsey, Lead LX Designer
Patty Myers, Senior Instructional Designer
The Hybrid Workplace: Best Practices & Tips From Managers | 28
FOSTER COMMUNICATION &
BUILD RELATIONSHIPS
Find someone on your team (or
elsewhere) who has a very good
grasp of grammar, punctuation,
etc. and a good eye for detail, and
have that person copyedit your
text before it is implemented. While
most learners may not notice or
care when you have mistakes in
your writing, those who do will
find your work less credible overall
because of those mistakes.
Laura Gillenwater
Don’t promise training! Once
you make promises to train
people, your customers won’t
let go of this approach. Invite
your clients/customers to
think outside of the training
box. Improving performance
can be achieved many
different ways and managers
are very much responsible to
ensure their employees are
successful. Make them become
part of the solution.
Ben Lucero, Senior Instructional Designer
Replace the words training
and learning with performance
enablement.
Bill Crose, CEO
When writing scripting for a
scenario, read it out loud so you can
make it sound more natural.
Melissa Dougherty, Senior Instructional
Designer
Unleash your creativity by
implementing storytelling around
your content. Everyone loves a
good story.
Helena Guimarães
The Hybrid Workplace: Best Practices & Tips From Managers | 29
WORKING WITH SMES
To optimize your workload, make
sure your subject matter experts
(SMEs) receive some support from
you in the form of templates and
some basic training (absolutely
avoid L&D/ID jargon!) This will help
ensure you get the content directly
from them in a relatively wellstructured format, and your work
on finalizing the learning content
will be much easier.
Nurture SMEs. Build good
relationships, take time to ask
them about themselves, and
give them a small gift during
the holidays if they helped
you. They will ultimately be
your greatest advocate for the
training.
Annie Chatterjee Deffley, PhD, Instructional
DesignerManag
Marjan Bradesko, Director, Conscia Center
of Excellence
Constantly hone and
develop your interview skills.
Communication with a SME
is essential to making any
training program successful.
Rachel Tease, Instructional Design Manager
Simplify instructional design for
SMEs to two questions: 1. What
tasks do you want your audience
to DO? (Answers will help the
group develop action objectives.)
2. What does the audience need to
KNOW to be able to perform each
task? (Answers will help the group
develop knowledge objectives.)
William Van Brunt, Retired Senior
Instructional Systems Designer
Model an expert thinking approach
for learners. SMEs sometimes model
the steps to a process, etc., but they
don’t model the thinking behind the
process.
Build a good rapport with your
subject matter expert(s).
John McCormick, Associate Director of
Learning Design, Brandeis University
Jill Bagley, Continuing Education Platform
Sr. Manager
The Hybrid Workplace: Best Practices & Tips From Managers | 30
WORKING WITH SMES
If you’re working with multiple SMEs
on the content of your course, have
them review the content together,
in the same room (in person or
virtual) so that they can fight out
any differences among themselves
rather than you being in the middle
and getting conflicting info.
Laura Gillenwater
Less is more … for you as well
as for SMEs. Let them avoid
doing their “brain dumps.” Ask
them to contribute the “three
most important messages”
they want to convey. You
can always ask some extra
questions if you feel the
missed some important piece.
Marjan Bradesko, Director, Conscia Center
of Excellence
Make it clear to your subject
matter experts that their input
is valuable and appreciated.
Eve Runnels, Senior Instructional Designer
Promote yourself as a subject
matter expert in instructional design
when working with SME groups.
Your objective is to assist the group
in determining exactly what they
want their audience to know and
do.
Build trusting relationships with
subject matter experts. No matter
what field you work in, they
should be a partner to you—not a
roadblock—in getting the most out
of their knowledge and delivering
content in coherent and engaging
ways. Communicate effectively,
explain your rationale, and meet
them in the middle where you can.
Ian Kollar, Sr. Instructional Designer
William Van Brunt, Retired Senior
Instructional Systems Designer
The Hybrid Workplace: Best Practices & Tips From Managers | 31
FOCUS ON RESULTS
Don’t discount summative
evaluations to determine how well
the training is performing. Ideally,
piloting training provides valuable
summative evaluation, but allowing
cycles of improvement after the
training is implemented should be
done to ensure the best learner
experience.
Gwendolen Mottern, Business Intelligence
Analyst - Corporate Instructional Technology
Use M. David Merrill’s First
Principles of Instruction for
instructional strategy design.
He recommends teaching with
real-world tasks and problems,
activating learner knowledge
and skills in regards to the
tasks, providing instructor
demonstration of the task,
then learner application and
integration of the tasks.
Max H. Cropper President & CEO
Focus on improving
performance, not on learning.
Use metrics to guide your
solutions; what has to be
changed and how much to
fix it? In learning emphasize
decisions; it’s not about
knowledge, it’s about applying
it to choose on courses of
action in context. The activities
you have your learners do
should reflect that. Don’t
ignore emotion: invoke the
WIIFM, keep the challenge
appropriate, keep anxiety at
bay, and build confidence.
Clark Quinn, Executive Director
Always identify your objectives—
must learn and learn on need
content upfront—this provides you
direction for your content. Always
ask: What do I want the learners to
do once done with the training?
Melissa Dougherty, Senior Instructional
Designer
The Hybrid Workplace: Best Practices & Tips From Managers | 32
FOCUS ON RESULTS
Don’t design with your gut feeling
or by following your intuition. Be
intentional about your designs,
draw from principles we know
work from the learning sciences,
and leverage data to inform your
design and subsequent iterations
of your learning solution. Track
your instructional design decisions
and be able to articulate your
reasoning for why you believe
that design decision contributes
to an effective learning solution.
We can’t just assume that our
instructional design decisions are
sound, lead to positive learning
outcomes, and support conditions
for learning. Collect data to validate
these assumptions, identify what’s
working and iterate on what’s not,
or else risk perpetuating designs or
instructional approaches that are
ineffective.
Kristin Torrence, Head of Learning Engineer
Use the backwards design process
to set yourself up to achieve
required outcomes. When you
understand the desired results and
know what is considered acceptable
evidence of success, this will drive
Make sure your learning
objectives are measurable. I
still see a lot of “understand”
and “know.” Ask yourself:
How can we measure
understanding and knowing?
We can’t. So when creating
design documents, we must
use measurable verbs.
Stephanie Dewa, ISD/eLearning Developer
Know the difference between the
business goal and the training goal.
Ensure the training goal focuses on
meeting the business goal. Don’t
start with content. Start with the
goal of what the learner needs to
know and be able to do in the end;
then add content, activities, and
assessments to achieve it. Design
the assessment at the beginning,
after you have determined what the
goal, outcomes, and objectives are.
That way, you ensure you test that
you have achieved the goals.
Jean Marrapodi PhD, CPTD, Chief Learning
Architect
the design.
Nancy Priest, Chief Experience Officer
The Hybrid Workplace: Best Practices & Tips From Managers | 33
FOCUS ON RESULTS
Don’t be afraid to blow up a design
if it’s not working. Is the product/
course/etc. fully supporting your
intended goal and outcome? If not,
blow it up and come back to the
drawing board. It can be frustrating
to re-do, but it will create a better
learning experience in the end.
Carolyn Kuhne, Principal Instructional
Designer
Evaluate your materials
re: impact on practice/
behaviour change. Use a
sound framework to do
this (e.g., Learning Transfer
Evaluation Model). Avoid
shallow analytics (e.g., Google
Analytics). They’re like empty
calories—satisfying for a
moment but have no lasting
benefit!
Measure everything! Level
3 and 4 evaluation is easier
than you think, and Level 1
evaluation is harder than you
think. For L3 and L4, identify
what the performance and
business KPIs are before
you start developing the
training and get baseline
measurements. Design your
solution to map to those
desired outcomes and then
measure the results after
(using control groups if
needed). For L1, think carefully
about what information
you need to collect and the
questions you need to ask
to help you pinpoint how
you can improve the learner
experience.
Emma Klosson, Learning Evangelist
Keith Quinn, Consultant
The Hybrid Workplace: Best Practices & Tips From Managers | 34
BUSINESS CONCERNS
Track your time. Even if it’s just
for yourself, it really helps when
it comes to providing estimates
on different aspects of the whole
ADDIE process, plus you’ll have
exemplars you can point to and
provide an estimate for.
JR Dingwall, Learning & Development
Specialist
Training development is
often an expensive solution,
and it behooves training
professionals to be wise
stewards of corporate funds.
Look for cheaper (and likely
more effective) solutions first
before rushing to develop
training.
Richard Presley, Education Program
Manager
Focus on solving problems
and then design solutions that
solve those problems. Look
for non-training interventions
first. They cost less and can be
delivered much faster!
Ben Lucero, Sr. Instructional Designer
Collect learner metrics. Use
variables to track user actions and
submit them to Google sheets
(free) for analysis.
Create systems, routines,
templates—you name it—then
automate or standardize them
wherever you can. It’s a huge time
saver and allows for consistency
across your work! New, generative
AI features can help but there are
also many free resources and tools
available.
Ian Kollar, Sr. Instructional Designer
Domenic Caloia, Learning Solutions
Engineer
The Hybrid Workplace: Best Practices & Tips From Managers | 35
BUSINESS CONCERNS
Every business in the world has
just one goal: To grow profit as
quickly as possible. Learning
is not a business goal. Every
business in the world has just
three objectives that lead to the
one goal. They are to a) enable, b)
assure, and c) continuously improve
performance. Your job is to enable,
assure, and continuously improve
performance, not to enable, assure,
or continuously improve learning.
Over-estimate development
time but deliver early.
Rochelle Barker, Learning Experience
Designer
Bill Crose, CEO
The Hybrid Workplace: Best Practices & Tips From Managers | 36
PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT
Join a professional organization.
Keep on top of industry trends.
Attend to your own professional
development regularly.
Kerri Nussbaum, Instructional Designer
Be well rounded—get certified
on adult learning, design, and
software yearly.
Read “Agile for Instructional
Designers” (Torrance) and
“Design for How People Learn”
(Dirksen). Attend DevLearn
at least once in a three-year
period. Subscribe to and
review frequently the user
forums for whatever tools you
use. Always seek feedback.
Joe Hauglie, Instructor Sr
Allyncia Williams, Learning Experience
Instructional Design Architect III
Be a life-long learner when it comes
to L&D.
Kristin Bogren, Learning and Development
Specialist
Take some type of
instructional design course
every week. I at least try to
read the eLearning Heroes
newsletter every week.
Find inspiration in unlikely
places like billboards,
magazines, commercials,
and AI. Join a Facebook,
LinkedIn, or Slack group
specifically for IDs. These
groups provide support and
invaluable resources you
would otherwise not know
about, and it’s also a good
place to hang out when you
are looking for employment.
Bonita Hayes, Senior elearning Design
Specialist
Annie Chatterjee Deffley, PhD, Instructional
Designer
The Hybrid Workplace: Best Practices & Tips From Managers | 37
PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT
Flex your creative muscles. Even
if you don’t show off what you
worked on, it helps you to come at
problems in different ways. Read
and listen to others in your area of
ID (corporate, non-profit, highered), but also those elsewhere.
JR Dingwall, Learning & Development
Specialist
Constantly expose yourself
to outside knowledge. There
are SO many resources,
free webinars, conferences,
cohorts, and learning
opportunities that expand
your creativity. Try to utilize
these to help yourself grow as
a designer and professional.
Instructional design is a
dynamic field, with new
technologies, methodologies,
and research emerging
regularly. Stay updated
with the latest trends, best
practices, and research in
instructional design through
professional development,
conferences, webinars, and
industry publications.
Z. Gunjevic, Sr. Learning & Development
Program Manager
Make it enjoyable for yourself
by always learning. If I add new
ID tools and technologies to my
arsenal, it keeps it fresh for my
learners and myself!
Carolyn Kuhne, Principal Instructional
Designer
Annie Chatterjee Deffley, PhD, Instructional
Designer
Never stop learning and borrow
from the best.
You don’t know what you
don’t know! Be open and
willing to learn something new
every day.
Maurice Coleman, Principal
Rachel Tease, Instructional Design Manager
The Hybrid Workplace: Best Practices & Tips From Managers | 38
PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT
Transition from an L&D professional
to a performance consultant,
becoming a partner with decision
makers in improving performance.
Max H. Cropper, President & CEO
Sign up for any relevant
webinars even if you can’t
attend them because they are
usually recorded. I have had
to do this many times due to
conflicts and it is nice to go
back and watch at your leisure.
Bonita Hayes, Senior elearning Design
Specialist
It is time to have an additional
channel of expertise for IDs—
this is virtual live training, and
hybrid training for the ID.
Liz Wool, Founder and Passionate Virtual
Trainer
The Hybrid Workplace: Best Practices & Tips From Managers | 39
ADDITIONAL TIPS
Observe and follow patterns over
hard and fast rules. This is especially
important when it comes to best
practices. Don’t let best practices
become your albatross.
JR Dingwall, Learning & Development
Specialist
Don’t assume connections.
Develop learning that builds
the prior connections to allow
for additional connections to
grow and increase learning/
application of the knowledge.
Diane McRandal, Instructional Coach
Microlearning is great but
it’s not appropriate for
everything. Complex content
may require more traditional/
longer-durational instructional
methods. Would you want
a surgeon operating on you
who got all of her training via
microlearning?
Laura Gillenwater
Consider a blended learning
approach to lesson design with
self-directed learning outside of the
virtual classroom (VC) for a portion
of the lesson (e.g., pre-reading,
knowledge-check questions,
preparatory work for VC activities
to follow, etc.) followed by learning
in the VC (more complex materials,
exercises, case studies, peer-topeer presentations and learning,
and facilitator-led discussions) to
complete the lesson.
James Woo, Senior Technical Specialist
Use the Learner Intelligence
Adaptive Design Model to create
adaptive courses. Each page/slide
has controls (navigation) to change
how content is delivered (modality,
complexity, job role, etc.) It’s a great
way to design inclusive courses that
address the needs of everyone.
Domenic Caloia, Learning Solutions
Engineer
Stop thinking about eventdriven solutions and look
at the need for learning
reinforcement over time.
Mark L. Sheppard, Principal Consultant
The Hybrid Workplace: Best Practices & Tips From Managers | 40
ADDITIONAL TIPS
There are two essential best practices for instructional design
success: Alignment and Authenticity.
Alignment. The key to effective instructional design lies in ensuring
alignment at multiple levels. While most people understand
alignment as connecting course goals, learning objectives,
instructional activities, and assessments, there’s another crucial
aspect. As instructional designers, we must also establish a strong
connection between the learning process, real-world work, and the
broader business goals.
Best Practice for Alignment: To organically achieve alignment, it’s
essential to link the training or learning experiences with real-life
job tasks that learners are expected to perform. By doing so, we
establish the relevance of the training in the context of the business.
This approach automatically aligns the goals of the business
with the training practices, resulting in better knowledge transfer
and improved job performance. When learners see the direct
applicability of what they are learning to their work, they are more
engaged and motivated to acquire the necessary skills.
Authenticity. Authentic learning is defined as learning that is
seamlessly integrated or implanted into meaningful, “real-life”
situations (Jonassen, Howland, Marra, & Crismond, 2008). As
instructional designers, our responsibility is to create learning
interventions that are authentic and meaningful to the learners’ realworld experiences. When learners can apply what they’ve learned
directly in their job context, it enhances their understanding and
retention of the material.
Best Practice for Authenticity: To ensure authenticity, we need to
ground the learning experiences in relevant occupational contexts.
This involves using genuine workplace materials and resources that
learners encounter in their day-to-day work. The ideal approach
is to embed learning into work, blurring the lines between work
and learning. When training is designed to mimic the real-life work
environment, it facilitates the transfer of learned skills to the job,
resulting in increased efficiency and proficiency. By focusing on
alignment and authenticity, instructional designers can create more
meaningful and impactful learning experiences.
Taruna Goel, Learning & Performance Strategist
The Hybrid Workplace: Best Practices & Tips From Managers | 41
As much as possible, try to
make the learning fun. Fun isn’t
“unprofessional,” and studies have
repeatedly shown that people
learn better and retain more when
they’re having fun. And, chances
are, you’ll enjoy building fun
instruction more, too!
Laura Gillenwater
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