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You are here: Home / eLearning Design / What Instructional

Designers Do

What Instructional
Designers Do
Starting a Career in Instructional
Design
by Connie Malamed

What is instructional design?

Instructional design involves the process of
identifying the performance, skills,
knowledge, information and attitude gaps of
a targeted audience and creating, selecting or
suggesting learning experiences that close
this gap, based on instructional theory and
best practices from the field.

Ideally, workplace learning improves

employee productivity and value and
enhances self-directed learning. As social
media technologies for learning become
increasingly important to organizations and
to individuals, instructional designers will
need to focus on broad learning events and
strategies that incorporate many approaches
rather than on individual courses. See A Look
into the Future below for more on this.

What is the instructional

design process?
Although the approaches people use to
design and develop online instructional
events vary widely, the common denominator
is that the process is systematic and iterative.
The process typically starts with some type of
analysis to define the requirements and
specifications. It goes through a design and
prototyping phase to communicate and/or
test out your ideas.

Following this, comes some sort of

development, such as writing storyboards,
test items, manuals, discussion questions,
etc. In eLearning, there is a time for
production that involves creating multimedia
and programming running lessons. The
process “ends” with Quality Assurance,
evaluation and more fine-tuning.

Generally, the instructional design process

results in a set of one or more learning events
or experiences. In the real world, it is more
an iterative than a linear process. For more
detail on this process, see A Framework for
Developing Online Learning and Best
Practices for Blended Learning.

The standard instructional design process can

be enriched by including design thinking.
Design thinking is a process used by people
who need to be creative on demand.

What does an instructional

designer do?
The tasks that an eLearning designer
conducts are so varied that it would be
difficult to list them all. Instead, I’d like to list
the Instructional Design competencies
identified by the IBSPI (International Board of
Standards for Training, Performance and
Instruction). These competencies are brief
and obviously do not include everything, but
it will give you a sense of what instructional
designers might do. Not every instructional
designer performs all of these tasks, as some
are for those who are more advanced in their
career.
Professional Foundations

1. Communicate effectively in visual, oral

and written form.

2. Apply current research and theory to the

practice of instructional design.

3. Update and improve one’s knowledge,

skills and attitudes pertaining to
instructional design and related fields.

4. Apply fundamental research skills to

instructional design projects.

5. Identify and resolve ethical and legal

implications of design in the workplace.

Planning and Analysis

1. Conduct a needs assessment.

2. Design a curriculum or program.

3. Select and use a variety of techniques

for determining instructional content.

4. Identify and describe target population

characteristics.

5. Analyze the characteristics of the

environment.

6. Analyze the characteristics of existing

and emerging technologies and their use
in an instructional environment.

7. Reflect upon the elements of a situation

before finalizing design solutions and
strategies.
Design and Development

1. Select, modify, or create a design and

development model appropriate for a
given project.

2. Select and use a variety of techniques to

define and sequence the instructional
content and strategies.

3. Select or modify existing instructional

materials.

4. Develop instructional materials.

5. Design instruction that reflects an

understanding of the diversity of
learners and groups of learners.

6. Evaluate and assess instruction and its

impact.

Implementation and Management

1. Plan and manage instructional design

projects.

2. Promote collaboration, partnerships and

relationships among the participants in a
design project.

3. Apply business skills to managing

instructional design.

4. Design instructional management

systems.

5. Provide for the effective implementation

of instructional products and programs.

A Look into the Future

There is now a trend toward greater
acceptance of alternative forms of learning in
the workplace. Thus, the role of some
instructional designers is beginning to
change. In addition to creating the structured
types of courses described above,
instructional designers will be asked to
enable learning by creating supportive
environments. This might include online
community management, promoting
collaboration and discussion through social
media technologies, curating content and
teaching experts how to generate and share
their own content.

Some practitioners currently think that the

label, “instructional designer” is too narrow a
title. Rather, they describe themselves as
“learning experience designers” or “learning
architects.” Instructional designers who keep
up with the rapid pace of change have an
exciting career to look forward to.

12 Lesson eCourse on
Breaking Into Instructional
Design
If you’re interested in learning more about a
career in instructional design, grab my free
eCourse at Breaking into Instructional Design.
You’ll get two lessons a week explaining what
instructional designers do, whether you need
a degree, the best places to network online
and in person, and instructional design books
 to read.

Comments

April Hayman says

January 7, 2010 at 1:28 pm

Hi Connie! Great post, as usual. The field is

open for social learning instructional design.
The broad type design you mention may need
to take some cues from serious games,
particularly scaffolded tasks (group and
individual quests) within boundaries (“you are
now leaving the battlefield” is my fav example
from Star Wars PS2 game). This type of design
almost requires that students learn from/with
each other and develop critical thinking skills
along the way. Your thoughts?

Take care,
April

Connie Malamed says

January 7, 2010 at 2:00 pm

Hi April,
I think you bring up a good point. I’d like to
see the game you’re referring to but I can see
how some structure, some boundaries could
be needed when thinking in terms of broad
strategies. The idea of designers setting up
scenarios where people NEED to learn from
each other to proceed, possibly through a
social technology or a real-time game, sounds
like an infinitely exciting approach to learning
(at least for some people). Thanks for your
insightful comment.

Best,
Connie
p.s. Congrats on moving your blog to a new
space. I like that you said “instructional
design” is too bland to describe what you do.
We do need a more exciting term, don’t we?

April Hayman says

January 8, 2010 at 11:08 am

Hi Connie!

You mentioned: setting up scenarios where

people NEED to learn from each other to
proceed…

Are there situations where people do not

need to learn from one another? Feedback
and discussion is an integral part of learning
as is leveraging prior knowledge. I’m not
saying that all ID needs to be story-based but
I think that social learning definitely has its
merits. Thoughts?
Take care,
April

PS I was thinking we could rename ourselves

SuperDesigners and capes would be part of
the uniform.

Connie Malamed says

January 8, 2010 at 11:52 am

Dear SuperDesigner with cape,

Oh yes, feedback and discussion is such an
important part of elaborating on and refining
concepts. All of this will help people construct
more accurate schemas. And this can be
implemented through social technologies as
well as other approaches. I was just kind of
excited about the idea of creating scenarios
where people need info from each other. But
that’s because I live a boring life.
Best,
Connie

Lauren says
January 25, 2010 at 6:53 pm

What is the going rate for instructional

design?
Thanks! (Love your site.)
 Cathy Tencza says
February 6, 2010 at 8:11 pm

Love your one-sentence definition of ID–

simple yet not simplistic:

Instructional design is the process of

identifying the skills, knowledge, information
and attitude gaps of a targeted audience and
creating or selecting learning experiences
that close this gap, based on instructional
theory and best practices from the field.

Connie Malamed says

February 6, 2010 at 8:55 pm

Thanks, Cathy. It probably took me 12 hours

to come up with it =)

Jann says
September 6, 2011 at 9:26 pm

Connie ~
Great post! I am new to your fabulous site
(just got the App too).
I am relatively new to instructional design
and my employer asked me to now focus on
eLearning. Very cool! I’ve been asked to assist
in the creation of my new job description. My
old job description never had anything about
design in it.

As they say timing is everything! Your detailed

explanation will be so helpful as I help define
the job responsibilities.
Thank you!Thank you!
Jann

Connie Malamed says

September 6, 2011 at 11:34 pm

Hi Jann,
Great that you can use this to describe your
new job. Don’t forget to keep things wide
open for future changes, such as that you’ll
support and enable informal learning
through a variety of technologies. This will
leave your job wide open to experimentation.
Good luck and thanks very much for your
comment.
Best,
Connie
 IDC@SPSU says
September 16, 2011 at 10:42 am

Hi Connie,

Always great to to get your insights on the

changing demands on instructional designers
and e-learning professionals. We’ve been
trying to address these issues through
changes in our graduate curriculum. Keith
Hopper has a recent article in Intercom that
discusses the need for more interdisciplinary
cross-overs between the worlds of
information design and instructional design,
for example. I think what you’re saying here is
spot on!

http://bit.ly/pAdQkD

Connie Malamed says

September 16, 2011 at 11:51 am

Thanks for the link. I’ve reviewed your

program and it does look very
interdisciplinary.

Tom Richard says

March 29, 2012 at 3:00 pm
As a professor of mine in the discipline
distributed on the first day of class … “To
pursue the career of an instructional
designer, the first thing to accept is the
burden you will carry of being right nearly all
the time in a world that all too often won’t
listen.” Of course, being naive, we thought he
was only joking!

Connie Malamed says

March 29, 2012 at 4:26 pm

Hi Tom,
Love what your professor said. Thanks for
sharing. It’s not easy to be right so often
(especially when I’m often wrong at home
Best,
Connie

Syed Asif Basha says

April 15, 2012 at 10:18 am

According to me Instructional Design is all

about arranging the given instructions
(subject matter) in a meaningful way to the
target audiences to meet their real world
goals and objectives.

We should design or arrange instructions in

such a way that learners should get
motivation towards learning by using
different tools and techniques i.e. strategies
to impart correct education or knowledge
transfer.

Connie Malamed says

April 15, 2012 at 8:15 pm

Thanks for adding your definition, Syed. I like

it.
Connie

Zuber Ahmed says

June 28, 2012 at 3:13 am

Hi Connie,

I agree to the above definitions mentioned

and my understanding are somewhat at the
same page as others. But as ID in India it only
means to do Story boarding and support IDs
globally. As concept of ID is very much new in
India, we don’t have a proper ID program to
value add our skills. I don’t think so ID in
India are made by will, they are made by
accident. I too have a computer science
background but I have landed up in such a
creative world which I never thought, I would
be. I agree to your point above that labeling it
as ID of what exactly we do at our workplace
is just limited.

Connie Malamed says

June 28, 2012 at 3:39 am

Hi Zuber,
Thank you so much for letting us know how
ID is commonly understood in India in your
experience. I also think there are some
workplaces that are similar to how it is done
in the U.S.too. Can others from India share
their experiences?
Thanks,
Connie

Lana Ludovico says

September 11, 2013 at 11:40 pm

Great description and the changing role of an

ISD. I find your article interesting, because I
am currently working on certification the
enter the field. As usual I gained more info
that I have gotten anywhere else so far.
 Connie Malamed says
September 12, 2013 at 7:56 am

Thanks, Lana. You might benefit from my free

12-lesson eCourse then. Here’s the link to
Breaking Into Instructional Design.

Shauna-Kay says
September 20, 2013 at 10:49 am

Hello Connie,

Great article. Where can get access to your

free eCourse please?

Connie Malamed says

September 20, 2013 at 11:10 am

Shauna, the link wasn’t underlined in the

above reply. The course is here:
http://breakingintoid.com.
It will come as 12 emails over 6 weeks. Best
wishes on your career journey.

Connie
 Gwendolyn J Simmons says
October 30, 2016 at 9:59 am

Hi Connie, great post! I can see one area of

interest you have left out, education. Most
IDT’s have a Master in Instructional Design
and Technology. A Bachelors degree is fine
but a Masters degree in IDT is what
employers are looking for.

Connie Malamed says

October 31, 2016 at 10:55 pm

Though many seem to get into the career

without degrees, you’ve got a good point
there!

Aashi Joshi says

January 31, 2017 at 3:04 am

Hi Connie

From the profile you have detailed above, it

seems that almost an entire book is created
by ID writers. As people in this job develop
original content, are they considered as
authors? Do they get credited for original
poems and stories or do they act as ghost
writers?
 Connie Malamed says
January 31, 2017 at 12:34 pm

It is true that instructional designers may do

a lot of writing in many job positions. I do not
think they are typically considered authors
though. I do think the career, in the correct
position, does help to improve writing and
could develop to being an author, in
particular, of non-fiction.

Charlie Wallace says

February 18, 2017 at 11:03 pm

Hope I’m not too late to this discussion. I

loved reading your post, a great insight into
what you need to enjoy/be good at to have a
fulfilling career as an instructional designer. I
became an instructional designer about 8
years ago after I moved from an
Admin/Project Coordinator role in a training
organisation. I decided it’s not the career for
me quite early on for many of the reasons
above and now I’ve decided to try and work
on a career change. My question is…What
else can you do with an instructional design
background? How do you approach a career
change not in to but from instructional
design.

Connie Malamed says

February 20, 2017 at 11:56 am

Great question, Charlie. As a competent IDer,

if you are willing to do more study to fine-
tune your knowledge of a new area, I think
you have the base set of skills for many other
careers, including: technical writer,
educational technology specialist or teacher,
communications and media specialist, user
experience designer, user interface designer,
interaction designer or quality assurance
specialist. Any career that requires
understanding how people understand, learn
and communicate would be good. I would
definitely recommend having a few
informational interviews in your potential
choices and then completing some practice
and study in your new possible career prior
to interviewing. If relevant, make a portfolio.
Good luck!
Best,
Connie
 June says
April 1, 2017 at 9:45 pm

Is it easier to become an Instructional

Designer than it is to be a Technical Writer?

Connie Malamed says

April 2, 2017 at 7:29 pm

Hi June,
I’m sorry, I don’t know the answer and it
probably depends on the person, their
knowledge and previous experience. Why
don’t you take my free course on having a
career in instructional design and perhaps it
will help you make a decision:
http://breakingintoid.com. Feel free to let us
know what you think. Someone else might
have the same question.
Best,
Connie

Brad says
April 6, 2017 at 9:59 am

I’ve been working as a Learning Designer and

Developer for the past five years. I even have
a Master’s degree in the field. I’m
disappointed in the career though. Most of
these jobs require you to “wear many hats”
and what results is expedient work that at
times results in lower quality output. I
actually regret pursuing this career path. I’m
now transitioning into the area of
infographics and data visualization projects?
Are there IDs who specialize in this specific
area?

Connie Malamed says

April 10, 2017 at 2:23 am

Hi Brad,
Thanks for your comment. I can see why you
were disappointed in this career and why it
isn’t a good fit. I do not know if there are IDs
who specialize in infographics and data
visualization, but I know people get into that
field with many different backgrounds. I think
your training in analysis and design will be a
real asset in your new field and I’m guessing
you will do well. Best of luck,
Connie

Pault says
April 25, 2018 at 8:47 pm
Great read. Try to read this one. It’s all about
elearning instructional design process
https://blog.weevur.io/5-ways-to-optimize-
your-elearning-instructional-design-process-
2a4b2a17a4a8

Connie Malamed says

April 26, 2018 at 7:16 pm

Hi There,
I’d appreciate it if you would just be straight
about it and say “here is an article I wrote or
that is on my site. Will you please link to it
and help me get more traffic?”
Connie

Tahira says
January 5, 2019 at 11:38 pm

Hi,
Thanks for sharing an informative post. I am
a teacher by profession. I am a teacher by
profession and interested in transitioning to
instructional designer. I see many elements
between teaching and instructional designing
are common. Do you think I need to take
additional course / certification to pursue
instructional designing. And are there any
scholarship or grants if I want to take course
work. Kindly guide…

Connie Malamed says

January 6, 2019 at 11:29 am

Hi Tahira,
You’re right that there are similarities
between the two fields. You can get a better
idea of the career by signing up for my free
12-lesson course: Breaking Into Instructional
Design. That will give you an idea of your next
steps. I would also suggest reading a few
books about instructional design. Best wishes
on a fulfilling new career.
Best,
Connie

Abhipsa Mishra says

April 17, 2019 at 11:43 am

Great post Connie!

I am a L&D professional and have experience

in the entire learning process: TNA, TNI,
Content development, Delivery and also TTT.
My question is all these are part of ID then
how is it different than what I generally do?
Second thing, if it is about developing
 eLearning modules, what kind of course
should I do to become an ID?

Regards
Abhipsa

Connie Malamed says

April 20, 2019 at 7:26 am

Abhipsa,
I think you already are one, LOL. Developing
eLearning modules is not the only career path
of the instructional designer. There are many
paths and it sounds like you are competent in
many aspects of ID. If you want to learn more
about developing eLearning in particular, I’d
look for online courses at ATD
(https://www.td.org/education-courses) and
sites like lynda.com or udemy.com or see if
there are professional development classes at
universities, such as certification courses.
Here’s my list of programs (scroll down for
the certification courses):
http://theelearningcoach.com/resources/instructional-
design-programs/. I hope this helps.
Connie

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value and enhances self-directed learning. As
social media technologies for learning
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designers will need to focus on broad learning
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