Instructional Design
What is Instructional
Design?
Instructional design is the discipline of creating learning experiences that actually change behaviour. It's not about making PowerPoints look pretty — it's about applying evidence-based principles to help people learn, retain, and apply knowledge.
8 min readTL;DR
Instructional design sits at the intersection of learning science, user experience, and content strategy. It's how organisations turn subject matter expertise into structured learning that changes behaviour — not just transfers information. Think of an instructional designer as an architect for learning: they don't build the house, but nothing works without the blueprint.
More than making slides
Instructional design is often confused with graphic design or content writing. In reality, it's a strategic discipline. An instructional designer analyses what learners need to do (not just know), designs the structure and sequence of learning, selects the right delivery methods, and builds in assessment that measures actual capability — not just completion.
The value isn't in making content look good (though that matters); it's in making sure learning actually works. A beautifully designed slide deck that doesn't change behaviour is just an expensive distraction. A well-designed learning experience might not win design awards, but it closes performance gaps.
At its core, instructional design is about solving performance problems through learning. Sometimes the answer is a course. Sometimes it's a job aid, a coaching program, or a restructured onboarding process. The discipline is in knowing which approach fits the problem.
The ADDIE framework
ADDIE is the foundational methodology most instructional designers work from. Five phases, each building on the last — though in practice, the process is rarely linear.
Analyse
Who are the learners? What's the performance gap? What does success look like?
Design
Learning objectives, assessment strategy, content structure, delivery method.
Develop
Building the actual content — storyboards, scripts, interactions, media.
Implement
Deploying to learners, facilitator guides, LMS configuration.
Evaluate
Did it work? Kirkpatrick's levels — reaction, learning, behaviour, results.
ADDIE isn't always linear. Most modern ID work is iterative — prototyping, testing, refining. The framework gives you a map, but the terrain decides the route.
Common misconceptions
"It's just eLearning"
Instructional design applies to instructor-led training, blended learning, job aids, coaching programs, and more. eLearning is one delivery method, not the discipline. Choosing the right modality is part of the design process — not a foregone conclusion.
"Anyone who knows the subject can teach it"
Subject matter expertise does not equal teaching expertise. An SME knows what to teach; an instructional designer knows how to teach it. The gap between knowing something and transferring that knowledge effectively is where most training fails.
"More content = better learning"
Cognitive load research shows the opposite. Less content, better structured, with practice opportunities beats information dumps every time. If learners are overwhelmed, they're not learning — they're just scrolling.
"It's just common sense"
Learning science has decades of research that often contradicts intuition. Spaced repetition, desirable difficulty, and retrieval practice are evidence-based — not obvious. What feels like effective learning (re-reading, highlighting) often isn't.
When you need an instructional designer
Not every training need requires a specialist. But there are clear signs that your project has moved beyond DIY territory. If any of the following apply, it's worth bringing in someone who designs learning for a living.
Compliance training with regulatory consequences — where getting it wrong has legal or safety implications
High-stakes skill development — where learner performance directly affects outcomes
Training that's been delivered before but isn't working — completion rates are fine but behaviour hasn't changed
Complex behaviour change — not just information transfer, but shifting how people think and act
Anything that will be deployed at scale — where the cost of poor design is multiplied across hundreds or thousands of learners
My Approach
How I approach instructional design
Good instructional design starts long before anyone opens an authoring tool. It starts with understanding the problem, the people, and what success actually looks like.
01
Discovery
Performance gap analysis, learner research, stakeholder interviews. Understanding what needs to change before deciding how to change it.
02
Strategy
Learning architecture, assessment design, content structure. Mapping the right approach to the right problem — not defaulting to a click-through course.
03
Delivery
Complete learning solution with facilitator materials, learner resources, and an evaluation plan. Not just the content — everything needed to make it work.
Related resources
Effective eLearning Components
The building blocks that make eLearning actually work.
Instructional DesignWriting a Training Brief
How to brief an instructional designer for the best results.
Brand StrategyBrand Foundations
Purpose, vision, values, and positioning — the strategic bedrock.
Ready to start?
Ready to discuss your project?
If you're planning a training initiative and want to make sure it actually works, let's talk about what good instructional design can do for your project.
Get in touch