For Effective Instructional Designs Plan the Route Before You Begin the Journey

Developing course material before designing the overall plan would be like embarking on a journey without a roadmap or writing a treatise before the outline—you are likely to get lost or delayed by unexpected detours.

A good instructional design plan can save time, keep you on track toward the learning goals, and avoid unfulfilled expectations.

For a sound design, include these instructional design consulting best practice elements: 

1. A thorough understanding of the target learning audience
2. Discussions with subject matter experts, stakeholders, project team members and the learners themselves
3. Alignment of the purpose of the course with the design plan

Once you are clear on where you want to go and what learning and performance gaps that you need to close, then you can begin activity design and content development. And only then can you be sure to deliver the desired results with clarity of purpose, fewer “do-overs,” and the full support of all those who will be affected by the outcome.