Have you ever felt like your courses are packed with facts and figures, yet your learners just aren't retaining the information? Why do you think that is? Could it be that the way we're presenting information just isn't sticking?

Creating a course that fails to resonate with its intended audience is an exercise in futility, isn't it? Nonetheless, it is not uncommon to find eLearning designers crafting courses that, bewilderingly, appeal to no one. These are courses that even the designers themselves can't pinpoint who might desire to take them. This approach, however, ought to be completely inverted. Before anything else, designers must cultivate a deep understanding of their target audience. They need to construct content that speaks directly to the audience's needs, circumstances, limitations, preferences, and desires. This requires transcending the superficial descriptions provided by subject matter experts (SMEs), managers, or even clients. Consequently, this article will delve into the concept of empathy mapping, a potent and intuitive framework that employs a series of targeted questions to put you firmly in the shoes of your audience. This tool not only facilitates effective engagement with SMEs but also proves invaluable in conducting independent research.

As an instructional designer, your primary goal is to develop effective eLearning courses. You should address the objectives for each lesson, use the correct instructional method to meet the needs of the learners, and ensure the content and all its related activities are meaningful and relevant. After all, adult learners are not interested in completing "busy work" with no real-world application toward achieving their academic goals.

The quality of instructional design is often gauged on three things: effectiveness, efficiency, and cost. Effectiveness has to do with how well the instruction enables learners to achieve stated goals or expected outcomes. Efficiency deals with the energy and time invested to complete the instruction while cost covers all expenses incurred for its design and delivery. These are good points, to begin with. It's equally important, however, to zero in on the details involving the design and development of quality instruction. As with any other good design principles, there are human characteristics deeply involved here. Richard Buchanan, a professor of Design, Management, and Information Systems, said it best: “a good design can be defined not only to be creative, stylish with an extraordinary visual look, but it must consider human engagement in its activities.” Follow these five golden principles to help you achieve high-quality instructional design:

A lot of eLearning professionals, especially those who have just started with their practice, often ask about the need for theory. Why bother with an instructional design theory at all? Isn't practice enough?

If you’re new to eLearning, then understanding and following instructional design best practices from the beginning is crucial to your success. The eLearning niche is vast, and you will find numerous theories, models, and resources that have worked for different experts. Leave them for later. Begin with the basic, most widely used models that eLearning designers acknowledge and use to structure and plan their training: ADDIE Model Merrill’s Principles of Instruction Gagne’s Nine Events of Instructions Bloom’s Taxonomy Note: This overview doesn't intend to evaluate the models. Each framework has its own advantages and disadvantages, and the choice of which to use will depend on which model works best for you, your company, and your learners. Also before start learning about these models, here are some very practical and clear points to show your boss and help your team understand the 'why' of good instructional design and give it the respect it deserves. How Do I Get My Company to Take Instructional Design Seriously?

Did you know that Instructional Design (ID) began in the Second World War to improve military training? This goes to show that ID isn't some new, smoke and mirrors concept; it's an evidence-based, rigorous discipline. And if your company isn't using instructional design effectively, they're losing out. This article should help set them straight.

As eLearning professionals we want to take our students on a learning adventure where they come out on the other side brimming with knowledge, inspiration and staggering awe for their superhero-like trainer. Ok, maybe these goals might be a tad unrealistic. Even the best eLearning designers can sometimes drop the ball when it comes to training because we forget that what comes easily to us might not come easily to our students and maybe, just maybe we might even overestimate our students’ abilities and interest level. In order to effectively train, we have to evaluate how we present information and make it easily accessible to both novice and expert learners. The trick is though; we can’t dumb down information to the point that it sounds condescending. Remember, at one point there was a time even you didn’t understand the techniques you are now training, keeping that in mind will help direct your training style.