Training is considered successful only if it meets the learning objectives and adopts Instructional Design principles and best practices. Whereas the objectives of a practical training are based on a robust and in-depth needs analysis.

The needs and derived objectives collectively influence your course design, including the learning and visual design.

After objectives, the design and the content form the meat of the course. If you manage to blend the design and content effectively, you create a strong base for a successful training. However, this is where most courses start failing. One reason is the excess of tools, strategies, models, and theories you can choose from. Consequently, you can get deterred from the core design requirements and start thinking bigger than is required. If you slip at this stage of the course design, you are likely to:

  • Develop a patchy course
  • Have a scope creep
  • Miss the planned budget and timeline
  • Confuse the learners

To understand the significance of simplicity in design, pin up this quote from Steve Jobs.

“Design is not just what it looks like and feels like. Design is how it works.” ~ Steve Jobs

As Instructional Design professionals and course designers, we tend to follow as many trends as we can in our work. We aim to meet the client’s needs and deliver output that is better than our previous work. However, at times, this might not be what the customers or the learners need.

The customer may initially be happy with the course’s skin, appearance, beautiful interface, or ‘x’ number of branched scenarios and quizzes, but the training may not be practical. Consequently, as course designers, you are constantly walking a lean bridge, supported by the customer’s needs and guided by the training objectives. If you slip, you are likely to flow with the strong currents of tools, scenarios, skins, and all the razzmatazz.

Now, to consistently stay on the bridge: Keep a Simple Layout

Keeping a simple layout for the slides helps in avoiding distractions for the learners. It conveys the message and leaves an impact. For example, consider the following two slides. Both the slides explain an implementation process, but differ in their impact.

This tip is shared in all books discussing presentation techniques and slideware design. Whether you are designing a self-paced training or a classroom training, too much content in the slide is disappointing (lullaby) for the learners. For instance, think about any presentation that you have attended. Do you recall reading everything on the slides the presenter used? Or, did you listen to the presenter and occasionally peek at the slides?

If the presentation was good, I am sure you’d have preferred to listen to the presenter and occasionally review the slides.

Your customers and learners are similar to you and crave a good presentation. They want to learn. So, keep the content presentation tight, concise, and avoid filling course screens with text.

Focus on the Objectives

Stay focused on the objectives and the training needs and design strategies that will help you in achieving the learning objectives and meet the customer needs. At times, it is okay to be not so “cool”.

I must admit that the rapid authoring tools have come a long way and provide us great flexibility in course design. However, you must learn the tools to leverage its capabilities. In addition, if you understand the capabilities of various tools in the market, you will be able to choose the right solution for a particular training.

Key Note

Adding every ‘cool’ feature or template to a course will not ensure alignment with training objectives. Ensure that the design decisions are consistent, required, and feasible to implement in your current project. You need to understand and analyze, then select a strategy based on your experience. It’s easy to copy an award-winning course strategy or template in your training. However, if that’s not consistent, required, or feasible, the award-winning feature will be an ugly patch in the course.