As an instructional designer (ID), you’ll know all too well that what we learn doesn’t always reflect real-life circumstances. And the world of training and development is no exception to that.
You can start your ID journey equipped with all the right knowledge, but you’re still going to be thrown a bunch of curveballs.
In fact, the mistakes I cover in this article are ones that even experienced IDs slip up on every now and then. The key to optimizing your performance is to recognize them early on so you can adjust your course of action before you’re thrown off track.
Here are the top ten errors we see happen most often:
1. Thinking that training always solves the issue
One of the biggest mistakes that beginner instructional designers make is diving straight into the design process without first questioning if it will actually have the desired outcome.
Picture this:
Your client – a well-established healthcare clinic – has come to you with a problem and insists that training is the solution.
Recently, there has been a surge in patient complaints about long wait times and miscommunication regarding follow-up care. To solve this, management wants to train staff to improve customer service and patient communication.
But, are the staff actually the problem? Or:
- Could outdated scheduling software, unable to accommodate modern patient flow, be the culprit?
- Maybe an increase in patient volume due to local population growth is straining resources?
- Perhaps the clinic recently introduced double booking to maximize efficiency, inadvertently overwhelming the staff.
If these underlying factors are at the root of the problem, training is not the answer and no amount of it will help the situation.
2. The client is always right. Or are they?
This leads to the second top mistake; agreeing with the client, even if their proposed solution doesn’t make sense or is (quite frankly) a bad idea.
Remember, you are the expert in training design and your job is to bring the client real solutions that address the issues brought forward. You are not being paid to nod along and comply with everything that is said.
This can be challenging (especially if you’re new in the space) because you’re often up against the head of a company who believes they are always right.
Spoiler alert! They aren’t.
A good client will respect your experience and expertise and listen to your ideas. If you find yourself up against someone who won’t take no for an answer, then it’s possible they are not the right individual to be working with.
3. Forgetting the audience
When you design training for clients, you chiefly work and consult with its stakeholders and subject matter experts (SMEs). Often, those who will undertake the training (the audience) are overlooked.
This is an error because stakeholders are typically focused on high-level goals, like efficiency and ROI. In contrast, the learners will have different needs and motivations that, if ignored, can have a severe impact on the outcome of the project.
Imagine you are designing customer service training for a retail company:
- Stakeholders want to increase speed and efficiency and reduce average call times.
- However, the customer service reps (your audience) feel the real challenge is managing frustrated customers and need proper tools and knowledge to resolve issues on the spot.
Here you can see that ignoring these learner needs could lead to a program that prioritizes speed but significantly reduces the customer experience in the real world.
So, listen to your audience. Find their pain points and bring these to your stakeholder’s attention so they – and you – can look at things from a wider perspective.
4. Separating objectives from outcomes
Another common beginner mistake is placing too much focus on the objectives of designing a course and not thinking about the outcomes.
I know what you’re thinking. Aren’t they both the same thing?
No. Not really:
- Objectives are the specific goals that learners are expected to meet during the training program. In other words, what the learners are supposed to achieve in the learning environment.
- Outcomes are what happens as a result of the training. Changes in behavior, knowledge, skills, etc., that benefit both the learners and the organization.
This means you have to work backward and start with the desired outcomes before you determine the objectives of the course.
Otherwise, if you don’t know what learners need to achieve, how can you design a learning path to get them there?
5. Cramming in content
The more information learners have, the better supported they are, right?
While it’s tempting to give students all the information, doing so has the opposite effect of being helpful.
Our brains can only handle so much information at a time. Otherwise, we suffer from what’s known as “cognitive overload.” When we are bombarded with content, our brains get completely overwhelmed, which reduces our ability to retain or process any of it.
Definitely not what you want your students to get out of a learning experience.
A few ways to avoid content overload are:
- Conceal extra information behind dropdowns or “read more” links.
- Chunk information into bite-sized pieces.
- Use visuals and infographics instead of walls of text.
- Focus on “need to know” only.
6. Repetitive formats
“Oh great. Another quiz!“
Said no one, ever.
Yes, it’s very important to reinforce knowledge, but mix it up a little. Use a variety of formative and summative assessments to help learners retain the knowledge and keep things engaging.
Also, don’t keep repeating the same messages over and over. If your training is designed well, there should be no need to do this. Apart from boring the audience to tears, if you keep using the same formats and repeating messages excessively, you risk disengaging learners entirely.
Aim for diversity in activities to keep learners motivated and attentive throughout the experience.
7. Distracting visuals
This sounds in contrast with what was outlined above, but an error we frequently see is the overuse of distracting visuals.
You want learners focused on the material, not sat there wondering why a particular image was chosen.
Similarly, zany animations, “funny” fonts, and messy page designs do absolutely nothing for the learning experience but do a great job of distracting students.
Yes, use visually appealing content but keep the themes consistent, make sure it’s relevant to the subject matter, and that it ultimately enhances the experience.
8. Placing interactivity in the wrong places
In the same vein, overusing interactive elements can be just as distracting (and incredibly annoying).
Is learning improved if someone has to constantly click to advance a slideshow or reveal the next piece of content?
Surely not.
But, an interactive scenario based on a real-world situation will.
Several studies have confirmed this. For instance, a 2007 Woo and Reeves study 1 concluded that:
- Mindlessly clicking is unlikely to lead to substantive learning even though learners are interacting. AND
- Interaction must stimulate the learners’ intellectual curiosity and engage them in productive instructional activities.
Therefore, use interactive elements wisely and ensure they are engaging the learner’s brain instead of their right index finger. ALL interactivity must have an objective attached to it that further supports a learning purpose. If it doesn’t, ditch it.
9. Unclear instructions and navigation
An extremely important aspect of designing e-learning is the user experience.
Your students should be concentrating on the content, not searching the page to find out how to advance or what to do next. Remember, we all look at things differently. What may be obvious to you can be confusing to another.
Make it make sense by:
- Including a short introductory guide or video that explains navigation and course layout to first-time users.
- Providing clear instructions within each lesson on what is expected of the learner and how they achieve it.
- Keeping page layouts clean and uncluttered. Consistency is also key – don’t keep changing up the design for the sake of it.
- Using visual cues like arrows or icons to direct learners’ attention to important actions or sections.
- Placing essential buttons or links in obvious places. Buttons must be clearly labeled to indicate what they do.
- Making navigation straightforward. Learners should have the freedom to explore the content but must still be guided in the right direction.
10. That training stops when the course ends
The course is over and your students have gone out into the real world, freshly equipped with their new knowledge and skills.
You can pat yourself on the back and congratulate yourself on a job well done.
Except that instructional design doesn’t end when the last assignment has been handed in.
The error in thinking that it does means you miss the chance to confirm whether it actually worked.
Without gathering feedback or assessing the long-term effectiveness of the training, how are you going to understand its impact? Or, crucially, whether additional training needs to be designed.
Are learners applying new skills? Has behavior improved? Is performance better aligned with goals?
These are the questions you must answer, so:
- Collect feedback to understand learner experiences and identify any potential knowledge gaps.
- Track metrics like performance data and on-the-job improvements to see if the learning outcomes were met.
Above all, use this information to improve and adapt your material continually to ensure it is serving its original purpose.
Final thoughts
As an instructional designer, you’re bound to make a few mistakes along the way. However, now you know the most common errors, you’ll be able to spot them more easily before you make them.
And, if you do slip up, remember that each misstep is an opportunity to refine your skills. Most importantly, stay open to feedback and keep learning and building your expertise!
By Janette Bonnet
Janette Bonnet is an experienced L&D professional who is passionate about exploring instructional design techniques, trends, and innovations.