Six Strategies for Designing Instruction Fast

I have been designing training and instruction for several years, now. Over the years, I have learned a few strategies that have helped me to design instruction faster while still maintaining quality.

Six Strategies for Designing Outstanding Instruction

1. Build it Now - Just start storyboarding, prototyping, and building your instruction. Getting the design out there quickly will allow your creative mind to start piecing things together. Building now helps you discover future obstacles, and because the development tools available are easier and easier to use, a "rapid prototyping" approach can yield some great benefits.
2. Focus on the Goals - Make sure you are focusing your energy on the goals of the organization you work for and the goals of the instruction. It can be easy to get distracted by the "coolness factor" and start creating "ultra-shiny stuff." Some of this is probably okay, but it will probably not have much influence on learning. Keep your eyes on the goal and don't get distracted!
3. Use Your Intuition - As you continue to design, you start to develop patterns for designing instruction. Just like every quality house has the same foundational components, good instruction also has foundational components. Trust your intuitive mind to help you frame those components and piece things together for you.
4. Follow the Research - Be sure to balance your intuitive design with what the research confirms really works in instruction. There is a lot of great research out there that can enhance your ability to design effectively, so sharpen your design knowledge with current research, theories and models. Merrill's First Principles of Instruction is one model that is research-based and provides clear direction on how to design instruction.

Previous Post: Applying Merrill's First Principles of Instruction

1. Get Feedback Early and Often - Make sure you get feedback from many people as you design. Feedback can help you break off the rough parts and begin to smooth out your design quickly and effectively. Talk with other designers, students, peers, family, friends until you feel like your instruction is of a sufficient quality.
2. Be Happy With Good Enough  - If you are and instructional designer, you probably love what you do and often find yourself working to create a perfect product. Unfortunately, you probably find that you often do not have enough time and resources to really build the perfect piece of instruction. To be successful, you have to learn to be happy with instruction that is good enough. Instruction must be quality enough to reach its goals. The Pareto Principle (80/20) applies - if you focus on the essentials in your design, you will produce an effective product without wasting energy.

Previous Post: The Problem of Perfection in Instructional Design

I hope this list is helpful. Feel free to share it with your colleagues and friends!

New Video: What Instructional Designers Do

It can sometimes be difficult to explain what an instructional designer does. I made this video which describes clearly (I hope!) what most instructional designers do. I hope it is helpful.

What do you think? If you are not an instructional designer, does this explanation help? If you are an instructional designer, does this description make sense?

What is Instructional Design? part 2

In my last post (What is Instructional Design? part 1), I explained my idea of what instructional design is. In this post, I want to explain a little further the kinds of tools an instructional designer uses to create worthwhile learning experiences. Instructional designers use 3 main types of tools in their work: (1) instructional theory, (2) instructional design processes, and (3) instructional technologies and tools.

This video explains how these are used. (You can also continue reading below for more details).

The Activity of the Instructional Designer

The picture below demonstrates the activity of an instructional designer as it relates to these tools. First, I want to clarify that the tools designers use are either abstract or physical. Abstract tools are those that instructional designers use to guide their thinking and actions. I categorize them as instructional theory and instructional design processes. Physical tools are those that are used to actually develop instructional materials, which I categorize as instructional technologies and tools.

So, in our picture, the instructional designer uses physical tools and technologies to manipulate content and create materials that the learners will interact and learn with. These physical tools can be a computer, software, a camera, a Learning Management System (LMS), etc. These tools are used to develop physical materials.

A good instructional designer also works with abstract tools as they design instructional materials. He or she considers what is known about good instruction, which should include awareness of current instructional theory. For example, Merrill's First Principles of Instruction is a set of research-based prescriptions for how to create effective instruction. Instructional Designers also think about specific instructional design processes as they develop the material. For example, the ADDIE process walks students through the basic steps of instructional design to help ensure that quality instruction is created. The abstract tools are used to guide the development of the physical materials and help ensure the materials adhere to abstract concepts of what works in instruction.


The important thing here is that instructional design is an activity that involves the use of tools to create instructional materials. If you have any additional thoughts on the activity of an instructional designer, I would love to read them. This view is based on my experience and thinking, and I am sure that others have additional insights to share.