“For now, just read through this SOP. Let me know if you have any questions.” When onboarding someone to a new task, do you find yourself saying this? To the person on the receiving end—staring at a dense, overwhelming file—it often feels like being abandoned. They end up in a passive, negative headspace: “I’ve been…

“We can only spare five minutes for training—ideally, just two.” “People these days won’t even look at the manuals we give them…” Sounds familiar? One of the most pressing challenges in modern training is the depletion of learners’ resources—specifically, their time and attention spans. It’s not simply about being busy. In an era of short-form…

“We should probably start converting our training to e-learning…” Even though you think that, you hesitate when it comes time to act. Or you face fierce resistance from advocates of in-person (analog) training, who argue things like “It’s meaningless without real social interaction” or “You can’t convey the passion through a screen.” Sound familiar? In…

Instructional Design (ID) helps organize the entry points and storage locations of learning.In other words, it’s about designing a system where learners never have to wonder who should learn what, when, or where. When training policies differ by department or role—and learning materials are scattered everywhere—sharing information becomes difficult, and measuring results becomes even harder.…

In the previous article, I discussed the tragedy where the “fun” of gamification overshadows learning objectives. So, does that mean “as long as gamification is fun, it’s fine”? Hold on. Is it fun for EVERYONE? In this article, let’s explore another deep pitfall: the clash between “engagement” and “accessibility.” The Trial Called “Intuitive Operation” An…

Trends do exist in Instructional Design (ID), and one prime example is “gamification.” We all know that there have been all sorts of efforts to make learning fun :), and even adults can get pretty absorbed in them (and sometimes so absorbed they miss their stop on the commuter train lol). However, ID is not…

“Done!” The final session of the training wraps up, and participants leave the room with satisfied smiles. You quickly tally the survey results, and there they are: a glorious row of “all 5s.” You pat yourself on the back: “Phew, finally finished! Good job, meeeee.” …Wait a second. Is that really the end? If your…

Last time, I discussed the pitfalls of taking on too much work. When heavy workloads lead you to cut corners in the design process, the consequences often come back to haunt you in unexpected ways. A prime example is a satisfaction survey where every response is a “5 (Highly Satisfied)”—a result of poorly designed evaluations.…

Last time I discussed AI utilization and collaboration with SMEs, but today I’d like to return to our long-awaited pitfalls series. One common pitfall for Instructional Designers (IDs) is taking on too many projects. Especially after holidays, are you overwhelmed by accumulated requests and unreasonable demands like “Can you just handle this for now?” because…

Both the development and integration of AI have been skyrocketing lately. Even within the instructional design (ID) field, the use of AI is rapidly expanding. In any creative work, the process of going from zero to one takes the most time. The struggle of creating something from nothing is such a challenge every ID faces.…