As an Instructional Designer, it is important to consider not only the content being developed, but also the usability of the content no matter the mode of delivery. Throughout the development process, may instructional designers complete the initial stages of development consisting of Needs assessment and task analysis. Following this initial process, the design, development, and implementation of the specific material begins.

 

Within my position as a corporate instructional designer, I have seen a shift in the way in how design and development of material is completed. Many of these changes are based on the LMS available to the designers as well as the mode of delivery. As a corporate designer, I design for ILT, e-Learning, Blended, and even paper, job-aid delivery. In each of these, I complete a needs and task analysis. Most recently I’ve reviewed both e-Learning and ILT programs, which I now maintain and design. Before reviewing and observing the programs, I complete and needs analysis first.

 

Needs analysis is crucial in the development phase of any program as it allows the Instructional designer intended audience, and stakeholders to evaluate the job expectations against the true output to identify gaps in the process. Within the insurance industry, which I work in, I complete Needs Analysis to identify the gaps in the competency achievement the company expects. Once a “gap” has been identified, I will complete a task analysis to identify where the gap develops whether in a given process, system, or individual knowledge and understanding. Upon completion of these two assessments, I can recommend how to proceed forward in the development process and the mode of delivery whether ILT, e-learning, job-aid, or blended.

Once development as started, it is important to review the design utilizing various frameworks and theories. In the development we utilize the ADDIE framework, however there was a lack of review due to a small staff and a very high volume of material. While developing and reviewing courses, I utilize Nielsen’s Heuristics of design, WCAG 2.0 Guidelines, and usability studies as initial QA evaluation. When completing Usability and User Experience testing, I utilized my expertise to focus on all aspects of the user from overall course function, the readability, aesthetics, design, color use, and typeface use to name a few. Utilizing these guidelines, and processes when reviewing a course allows for the designer to not only find areas in need of improvement, but also identify areas where development and engineering can improve from initial development.

 

Throughout this process, I have learned crucial processes needed to design and develop effective courses that are effective, user friendly, and help in closing the “gap”. In order to keep the best quality course, it is important to review the usability study data, while also completing user experience and usability surveys during the deployment of a course and at the completion to get further feedback in and effort to further strengthen the quality, rigor, and relevance of the course.