Why We Need Good Instructional Design

Design is now part of all our daily lives. Just like architecture, literature, art, music and film, design is now a regular subject in magazines and newspapers. The names of designers or companies famous for their product design are now commonly known. And even if they are not particularly famous, virtually every item we handle or see in our daily lives has been designed by someone, somewhere.

But why are things “designed”? How many times do we look at something and remark that it is “badly designed” since it is unfit to do the job for which it was originally intended. Sometimes the design is beautiful to the eye but as a consequence of this, it is not fit for purpose – a chair that is uncomfortable to sit on or a car that is unreliable.

When it comes to a program of instruction, the same rules apply. Whatever the delivery platform, whether week long instructor-lead courses or a five minute chunk of web delivered performance support, it has to be designed correctly. This paper discusses just what good design means in this context and what research exists to back up these claims. Click here for full paper.
By Vaughan Waller