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A community that helps instructional designers create a more productive workforce.

Instructional Design

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A community that helps instructional designers create a more productive workforce. New to Instructional Design? Click below for an in-depth look.

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What is Instructional Design?

Get a monthly dose of the latest instructional design content, tools and templates, best practices, events, and more.

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Instructional Design Newsletter

As an instructional designer, you have the power to impact organizational results by designing learning experiences that give participants the knowledge and skills needed to perform.

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Certificate Program

Design and develop outcome-based learning using proven instructional design approaches, practical models and templates, and an iterative process that considers learner and stakeholder input.

Instructional Design Certificate

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Facilitation Styles and Techniques

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A Nuanced Learning Technique

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Surprising Storytelling Lessons That Instructional Designers Can Learn From Comedy Writing 

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Accommodating Learners

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The Potential of E-Learning Solutions

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Blended learning is proving to be an effective development strategy. According to ATD Research, 75 percent of organizations are expanding their use of blended learning, and 87 percent of employees value the flexibility it provides.This ATD Research whitepaper explains that implementing a successful blended learning program takes a variety of skills. Furthermore, both internal and external organizational resources need to be balanced.How to do that successfully depends on the organizational context as well as how to motivate your teams. Motivate Your AudienceWhat motivates adults to learn? Clearly, there are different learning theories out there. Everyone has a unique mix of intrinsic and extrinsic motivational factors. These factors range from perceived reward and social or contextual influences to the quality and flexibility of available training.The UK’s innovation agency for social good, Nesta, details how to design a program to meet your audience’s readiness levels. For example, if you have a group in the precontemplation stage with no interest in learning, you can promote a change in cultural norms.Blended learning can be particularly useful for this type of audience because you can emphasize the “fun” aspect. Gaming experiences or book clubs for greater team bonding are some examples. As mentioned in our blog about why companies are moving toward blended learning, another powerful motivator is to integrate learning into the flow of work. The more people see relevance and the less it disrupts their work, the more they’ll appreciate the learning.Other ideas to motivate your teams to engage with learning:Self-driven blended learning – With multiple learning approaches, it’s easier to let learners lead so they feel empowered. Only then does true curiosity and learning blossom.Digital and leadership champions – Not everyone will have the same digital literacy so it’s important to provide the right guidance. Moreover, make sure you get buy-in and advocacy from your leaders.Career guidance and coaching interventions – Learning needs to be as beneficial for the organization as it is for the individual. With coaches, individuals can better align their personal goals and needs to the overall organizational learning goals.How Does Context Play a Role?Implementing a successful learning program is both about the content and the organizational learning culture.Promoting a learning culture and implementing blended learning encourages flexibility and innovation because of exposure to various learning modalities. As such, people find themselves becoming more curious and they feel empowered as they choose what works for them. Not only do they bring this energy and mindset back to the workplace but they also bring new perspectives. As this article on blended learning and learning culture describes, blended learning offers varied viewpoints and different problem-solving approaches that also nurtures greater diversity.Book clubs are another transformational activity because they create a group setting that boosts collaboration and reflection as detailed in this whitepaper on what separates good teams from exceptional ones. How blended learning supports a learning culture and vice versa:Continuous improvement – With small continuous feedback loops and incremental steps, learners gradually shift their mindset to bring this approach to their everyday work.Knowledge sharing and collaboration – Through blended learning, various groups and forums are created, which naturally encourages cross-learning. As this behavior becomes instilled, conflict shifts into a natural sharing of ideas rather than a competition over who is right.Personalization alongside team focus – How to balance individual with team needs is a constant paradox. Blended learning provides another opportunity to explore this balance, which shifts mindsets back in the workplace.Maximize Your Blended Learning EffortsGone are the days of reading out slides to people in classrooms with the hope that they will improve their day-to-day work. With technology, we have an opportunity to make learning fun, personal, and relevant.Most importantly, blended learning creates a more memorable and meaningful learning experience. It also encourages collaboration and innovation because of the varied multimedia methodologies now available.Don’t forget to watch the ATD webinar recording with more tips for how to apply blended learning effectively. To learn is to evolve and embrace life, so let’s keep moving forward in how we learn.

How to Successfully Implement Blended Learning

If you’re looking to innovate your L&D products, processes, or practice, here’s a fun, engaging (and free!) hands-on activity that can get you started.

Beyond the Slice: How Making Toast Heats Up Innovation in L&D

In “Improve Retention With Drip-Feed Learning,” Shannon Tipton shares how to get started designing and implementing drip-feed campaigns based in spaced learning.

The Positive Sounds of Drip, Drip, Drip

Beyond completion rates, L&D teams need to know that training is actively engaging employees and helping them grow their capabilities.

L&D Masterclass: 7 Ways to Make Learning Content Relevant 

Scenario-based learning games are one of the most effective and creative ways to equip employees with the skills they need to thrive. These immersive experiences mimic real-world challenges, giving participants the chance to practice decision making and problem solving, all while receiving real-time feedback.At TiER1 Performance, we use scenario-based games to activate learning that truly sticks. Let’s dive into why these games are so effective and what skills they can teach employees.What does a game involve?Scenario-based games replicate real-world challenges within a safe, structured environment. They’re designed around specific goals, rules, and decision points where players must make choices and see how they play out. They focus on three key elements that work together to create engaging, meaningful learning experiences:Simulation lets learners interact with complex systems, giving them a hands-on way to practice skills without real-world consequences. Learners can master new techniques in a safe space, which builds confidence and deepens their understanding of the systems and processes they’ll encounter on the job.Narrative uses stories and characters to make the learning experience more personal and emotionally engaging. Storytelling helps make abstract concepts more tangible, and a well-crafted narrative can prompt learners to ask deeper questions and explore the material more thoroughly.Gamification combines fun with challenges, competition, and achievements to keep learners motivated. By offering rewards for progress and performance, gamification turns learning into a goal-oriented journey toward mastery.Together, these elements create a comprehensive experience that not only grabs attention but also equips learners with the skills they need to apply in real-world situations.Why do games work?Scenario-based games close the gap between theory and real-world action. Traditional learning methods can sometimes fall short when it comes to applying new skills on the job. But with games, learning goes beyond just memorizing facts—it helps reshape how we think and act.Here’s why: In a game, learning happens differently than in most other types of training. Learners are presented with a situation that challenges them and prompts questions. They use what they already know, along with the environment and system they’re interacting with, to make sense of the situation. Through exploration, they see how the system responds to their choices. This process allows for rethinking the problem and applying new understanding in the real world, transforming future approaches to similar challenges.What skills can games teach?Scenario-based games can teach a variety of skills, especially those that benefit from real-time decision making and hands-on practice. Here are some examples of where we’ve seen games work wonders:Problem solving and critical thinking: Games encourage players to explore different solutions and understand the consequences of their decisions. For example, we’ve designed games for the U.S. Department of Defense to train service members on complex skills such as missile defense planning and coordinating naval fleets.Leadership and management: Scenario-based games simulate leadership challenges such as managing teams and resolving conflicts. Our work includes everything from team-based board games exploring leadership qualities to digital role-play conversations for practicing employee coaching.Strategic thinking: Games focused on long-term goals and resource management help learners plan ahead and balance competing priorities. We’ve developed business simulations to help leaders think about how to best invest across their organization, balancing tensions of profitability, growth, and employee satisfaction.Ethical decision making: Simulations can present moral dilemmas, helping players think through the ethical implications of their actions. We’ve designed branching story-based simulations that challenge people to navigate situations across all organizational levels, prompting them to consider the long-term impact of their decisionsThese skills aren’t just beneficial for individual growth—they align employees with broader organizational objectives, making scenario-based games a powerful tool for strategy activation.How can you get started?A meaningful scenario-based game requires intentional planning. We designed our Game Design Canvas to help you structure a game in a way that aligns with your learning goals. Use it as a guide to plan each aspect of a game, including the game’s purpose and goals, players’ motivations and thought processes, gameplay mechanics and feedback, optimal delivery modality and development tools, and logistics and facilitation.

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