Technology is constantly evolving and changing. What can we learn from the buzz and new tools appearing in the consumer and corporate environments, and how can we take advantage of them to help our users succeed? 

Course design is a partnership between subject matter experts (SMEs) and instructional designers (ISDs). The process has a technical side and a “people” side. Although the technical component can be rigorous, the people issues require SMEs and instructional designers to work together and produce a result. SMEs know their area of expertise, but they are not always familiar with the learning process. Likewise, instructional designers are well versed in the science of learning but often unfamiliar with the subject matter for which they are designing a course. Creating a common language between SMEs and instructional designers is possible if you have the right techniques to combat issues that arise.

What went wrong? The decision to roll out the new company policy by using eLearning instead of traditional training sessions should have been a success. Instead, the completion rate was far less than expected and management couldn’t understand why. Most people have probably experienced one too many mandatory “Information Security Policy” eLearning courses. It lands on them when they least expect it and when they have more important things to do, like work. Someone telling them to learn does not necessarily motivate them. How do you, as a learning provider, make sure people are engaged and actually learning something? What do you need to move from just-in-case training to just-in-time learning that fits into the busy schedules of today’s workforce?

As an eLearning professional, it’s easy to become so focused on developing that perfect course that you forget to consider the systems you use to deliver your content. Whether this takes the form of a commercial learning management system or a custom application, designers often don’t take the time to consider how their courses fit into these systems and how their designs can play a large role in how effectively students can learn. While proper instructional development is important, good UX design is just as important. Both disciplines seek to minimize the cognitive load on extraneous factors so that the curriculum itself can take center stage. This is why considering user experience (UX) design during the instructional design process is important.

Training that increased confidence in job and product knowledge, and that improved productivity and application time of learning by both new and current employees, was paramount. The past training had proved ineffective—it consisted of manuals of overwhelming information, along with inconsistent knowledge delivery by assigned mentors. The learners were not engaged, which inhibited learning satisfaction and retention, and their ability to apply knowledge productively on the job was a serious management concern. The business partner, in preparation for a new wave of learners, needed an effective solution to make sure the job and product knowledge was easily accessible, retained, and applied correctly just in time. Learning needed to occur independently of any classroom environment and at the learner’s own pace—within designated time allocations.

Learning is not a one-time event; however, performance support professionals are often challenged to deliver successful outcomes via individual event formats. Learning pathways in an LMS help to bridge the gap and create a road map, but business team members may not invest sufficient time to complete the pathways, which don’t always suit the context of the learner.

Stories have long been touted as powerful, effective tools for learning, but very little has been published on how to design a story so that it impacts learners and aligns with performance objectives—leaving the instructional designer at a loss for how to tell a story effectively in training. Storytelling impacts design on the most basic level of engagement: emotion. It also impacts the delivery of training. Games, microlearning, virtual reality, and scenario design all benefit from strong storytelling skills. Yet the problem remains: How do you design a fitting story that teaches? That’s where story design provides practical guidance.