ADDIE Process of Instructional Design

ADDIE Phases

The ADDIE Process (sometimes called the ADDIE Model) is a tool that many instructional designers use when creating instructional materials. This process follows five distinct phases and is used to help ensure quality instruction is created. The idea is that a designer should progress systematically from one phase to another as the instruction is conceptualized and created.

In this post, I will provide a basic overview of the ADDIE Process. Click the title of each phase to learn more about each of them.

1. The Analysis Phase-The analysis phase is the foundation of the instructional design process. In the analysis phase, the designer (along with others) identifies the problem or need, clarifies who the target audience is for the instruction, establishes instructional objectives, and creates a list of the tasks, knowledge, and skills that will be taught.
2. The Design Phase- The design phase should build directly upon the results of the analysis phase. In this phase, the designer plans instructional activities to meet the instructional objectives and teach the tasks, knowledge, and skills being taught. Designers plan for acquisition activities in which students acquire new knowledge and skills and application activities in which students expand and solidify their knowledge through experience.
3. The Development Phase- In the development phase, the instructional designer gathers or creates all the materials that will be used as part of the student learning experience. This includes web-based materials, multimedia, worksheets, activity descriptions, and anything else that will be used as part of the instructional experience.
4. The Implementation Phase- In the implementation phase, the instruction is implemented in the setting it was designed for. The purpose is to teach the tasks, knowledge, and skills that were identified in the analysis.
5. The Evaluation Phase- In the evaluation phase, the instruction is evaluated according to its usefulness and effectiveness. There are typically two types of evaluation: (1) formative evaluation, which is typically used before the implementation phase and is used to improve the instruction, and (2) summative evaluation, which evaluates the effectiveness of the unit of instruction.

It is important to note that these steps are not totally linear. As I design instruction, I find that I often move fluidly between each of the phases depending on the situation. I follow the general sequence of the process, but move regularly between the phases. Here


There are many other instructional design processes that reflect some or all of these general phases or steps. These other processes include (among many more) the following:

• The Dick and Carey Systems Approach Model
• Rapid Prototyping.
• The Pebble-in-the-Pond (Merrill, 2002)
• The OAR Model 

There has been some critique of the ADDIE process in the recent past- people seem to think that this process is outdated, too slow, or useless in the "real world." And while I agree that the way this model is used may differ depending on the designer or the context, I believe that following each "phase" at least in part is essential to an effective unit of instruction.

What do you think? Does ADDIE seem useful to you in your work?  Or is the systematic design of instruction "dead?" I say no, but welcome additional views.