Instructional Designers Buried by Vague Expectations

“Thanks you for sharing this framework, I think I will do something similar, hopefully it'll help! ദ്ദി ˉ꒳ˉ )✧”

“Rant/advice needed: We just wrapped up a 6-month project with an instructional design consulting firm and it was a disaster. They promised custom solutions but delivered generic templates, didn't understand our industry, and their ""learning experts"" clearly had never worked in corporate training. Now I have to go back to leadership and ask for more budget to fix this mess. The worst part? This bad experience has made everyone skeptical about instructional design consult”

“"Most creative problems are brief problems, not creative problems" is the whole thing right there. The upgrade I'd add to your framework: force one asset = one objection. When a brief lists three things the image must "make them believe", first-draft accuracy tanks again - the designer splits focus. One asset, one job.”

“Last idea is to have shape tracers available for students to trace as a support! Especially with the littlest ones, they sometimes get frustrated with their fine motor abilities. It’s a really easy way to provide differentiated support by giving the option to use the tool (“There are tracers you can choose to use or you can choose to draw your own!” and be sure to demo both ways- how to use the tracer vs drawing the shape with confidence).”

“I have a BA in English earned in 2004, and I've spent the last 10 years at one software company, creating technical documentation, training programs, and setting up an LMS from the ground up. I mostly used Camtasia, and LMS' like Brightspace, etc. I was laid off this past June, and I'm starting to feel my lack of formal instructional design training. I don't have any portfolio to speak of. Can anyone make recommendations on a graduate certificate in ID that focuses heavily on por”

“i’m currently mapping out a strategy for some of our digital training materials and the topic of content security keeps coming up. we’re trying to find a middle ground i know we can’t stop every single workaround, but we want to make it less casual for people to just copy/screenshot sensitive pages. i’ve been testing out tools like maipdf that restrict capture tools on the device, and i’m curious if anyone here has implemented similar "view-only" security for their own materials? do yo”

“So uhh were currently tasked to write an innovation proposal about what innovation general PT clinics needs. Like for example a website for ehr or whatever. We were planning to focus on like tracking patient home exercise progress incase that they are not actually doing it. But then we got hit by a roadblock cause of physitrack and other websites that already has an application. So yeh we are currently stuck cause all were searching already has good innovations. It also has to be something feasi”

“I’m nearing completion of my first e-learning course and I could use some insight as I’m brand new to all of this. For context, I’ve been the lead animator at my company for the past 7 years. In that time, my role has grown from 2D/3D animation to include graphic design, photography, video production ( scripts, storyboards, filming, voiceovers, editing ), technical writing, and now e-learning development. I’m enjoying it and I want to deepen my understanding so I can further improve. I just have”

“Wanted to see if anyone is on the more purely writing-front for curriculum and instruction. Teacher here. Doing a self paced ID sorta course and not sure if I have the gusto for all of the design elements, researching tools, and dealing with tech, but I enjoy planning and writing. Thannnkkssss!!!! submitted by /u/Zansponytail [link] [comments]”

“I’m looking for advice from people already working in Instructional Design. I recently joined a SaaS company as a BDR. While onboarding, I discovered an internal Instructional Designer (Digital & AI-Enabled) opening. Reading the job description surprised me because it closely matches my background: - Broadcast journalism - Video production - Script writing - Explaining complex topics to audiences - AI-assisted content creation - SaaS product knowledge (currently building this as a BDR) The C”

“Hello all! I’m a program director for an online only program at a regional comprehensive in the USA. We have a mix of online and in-person programs. My department chair has a large focus on physical presence in the office, especially during the school year. Typically M-F 10-5. Admin in other departments are in much less, but are still visible. Personally, I like working at the school and hold pretty regular hours. It has become the norm that I am there pretty much everyday. What is the norm at y”

“I'm currently an elementary teacher planning to transition into corporate learning within the next year or so. My goal is to become an instructional designer, but I'm hoping that by pursuing instructional design I'll also open doors to other roles in Learning & Development if that's ultimately a better fit. I've been researching different programs and am seriously considering the UCI Instructional Design Certificate. From what I've read, I know I'll still need to”

“Hello~ So I am an artist with a scientific illustration degree. I would like to 'put myself out there' and work on illustration for educational purposes. Problem: I don't know how or where... I emailed a bunch of publishers but no bueno. The best I'd get is, you have been thrown into the talent pool, we'll keep you in mind if the need arises." So here I am on Reddit. Any advice? I would love to help a researcher out by making a diagram for their publication. Or a profess”

“I have been working as an ID for almost 10 years in the corporate/humanitarian/startup environment, and I love it. I am at a point now where I want to get into more senior roles, and every path I see for senior roles narrows down to L&D or HR leadership,,, you know,, the Head of L&D, etc. That's not the journey that excites me. I am thinking of getting more into ID (I don't know what more is there) and Edtech. Some things I'm trying to figure out: Has anyone moved from ID int”

“I'm relatively desperate to get out of my current role and into the instructional design (ID) industry. I moved from content management (marketing sector, ~3 years) to content development (eLearning development for a SaaS product, ~1 year W2 temp contract) and much prefer the latter to the former. But I think the shift and the job market after my contract made it really hard to secure another job in the field. That's kind of how I got stuck as a library clerk which isn't aligned with”

“So seeing portfolio’s of other people and just being in this sub quite a bit made me realize I should probably add some of the material I am allowed to share with some of the companies I have worked for somewhere. That being said, I kinda just fell into doing a lot of ID work for non-profits and for startups. Video content, voiceover, a handful of motion graphics, articulate storyline, managing LMS, creating surveys, measuring and managing engagement and all that fun jazz. That being said, that”

“I am transitioning from teaching 2nd grade into a career in instructional design. I would love to start applying in February, and my goal is to have a job by next July. I have learned some of the instructional design basics and some adult learning theory, but I am worried about when I go back to the school year. I'm needing a course that can guide me through some of the basics, but support me when learning how to create storyboards and using software. If anyone has had this experience, I wou”

“i have a bachelor degree in management, i have few experiences in Sales and Social Media marketing. I genuinely love this field and i see myself in it, i just don't know if it's possible and if yes, how to enter it? I found many online certifications and courses, but I don't know if these are really gonna help Can anyone help ? i would really appreciate it submitted by /u/theveiledstrategist [link] [comments]”

“I guess this is tech. I am developing a new online class, and the school I am teaching at uses a third-party instructional design firm to collaborate with us. My full-time gig (another school) has in-house designers who teach seminars and will do light work, but they aren't sold as (and they would not have time to) full-on collaborate with us the way these designers apparently do. So, two questions: Any idea what to expect? And what's the best way to maximize their usefulness? I can alre”

“Hi everyone! long-time reader, first time poster here! I'm one of the many educators attempting to pivot into ID. I have a phone screen coming up for a Content Development/ Instructional Design Specialist position in the charlotte metro area. Wondering if anyone has advice for salary expectations I should give? Along with normal ID expectations (Storyline, Camtasia, LMS admin experience, etc.) the JD also says they are looking for someone with 2+ years’ experience in training content develop”

“Does anyone have experience with the HIPPO education bootcamps? I'm most interested in FM, but would be interested in any feedback/experiences others have had. submitted by /u/Northern_optimist_6 [link] [comments]”

“I'm a faculty development coordinator at a regional university and we're in crisis mode. Our online course quality is all over the place - some professors are amazing, others are basically uploading PowerPoints and calling it "distance learning". Administration finally approved budget for instructional design consulting but I have no idea how to evaluate potential partners. We've never worked with external instructional design consulting before and I'm honestly overwhel”

“Agency aside, redesign projects without clear objectives usually turn to vanity projects. Most likely few good tweaks on the existing design can outshine ROI on a massive redesign. Have you gone through an exercise what you're actually lacking today? That should guide the conversation.”

“This in combination with getting experience in the job is all I can recommend. Courses tend to get boring and you won't memorize everything that's being mentioned anyway. They are useful though if you want to get certifications because those expect you to know everything. I'm working 20 years in IT and never got certified but still working as a senior sysadmin with a bit of networking and cloud (Azure).”

“Hey all, to give some background; I'm C, a 27m master's degree holder in Graphic Design as of this past January. I'm looking for my next steps and trying to get a foot in pretty much anywhere in my career. A short summary of where I'm at; after my journey through masters I ended up a little conflicted with where to go next. I found myself falling in love with writing rather than making (which I know seems rather uncommon in my field) and spent most of my time in my masters doing”

“We’re hiring for an internal role. Both of these candidates are SMEs and trainers, but neither have a background in instructional design. Spoiler alert - neither do I, but here we are. We’ll need to teach both of them the science of effective learning as well as design basics. I’m torn on which person would be a better fit. Candidate A has a creative eye and puts a lot of thought and effort into making training fun. But it was also a bit of style over substance and she’d need to learn how to mak”

“Any RTA training (UK based) that folk would recommend? Mixed-methods PhD candidate in psychological medicine. submitted by /u/Huxleyansoma1 [link] [comments]”

“Does anyone currently work in instructional design? Looking into masters level programs in this area. I’ve been a RD x nearly 15 years and I’d like to start something new and different. submitted by /u/coffeeandkefir [link] [comments]”

“My college, like many, has recently told faculty that all course materials, including slides, and readings need to meet new standards for compliance. This seems to have the effect of making it very difficult to assign any electronic readings (PdFs), not because of issues with the accessibility of the text, but because of formatting, headers, and alt text for images. Here's a question: What are the origins of this enforcement? It seems to come from the Justice Department--is that correct? But”

“Hi! I’m new to Instructional Design. I was lucky enough to land an ID role just last month after transitioning from being a Corporate Trainer. The company I’m with now relies heavily on AI specifically Claude. As a new ID, I want to build a strong foundation and not become too dependent on AI, especially when it comes to designing courses. Here, almost everything is created with the help of AI. My concern is that if I rely on AI too much, I might struggle in the future if I move to another compa”

“Should I take this Ul/design course in 2026? I'm not sure if this is what I should pursue or not. I want to learn skills that will help me get a job and have high value in the future, whatever that might be (except coding stuffs) Any senior's please guide me with market conditions and tell me please that how can I do it? (Currently, I am 12th passout with PCM. But don't know what to do) submitted by /u/New_Explanation_438 [link] [comments]”

“For those of you in instructional design, IT, or admin roles who actually decide what tools get used: What's your actual criteria before adopting a new tool? Cost? Evidence it works? Ease of integration? Student demand? What would make you say NO to something like NotebookLM even if it looked promising? Have you seen AI study tools actually improve learning outcomes? Or is it mostly hype? What's the biggest barrier to adoption right now? Teacher training? Privacy concerns? Skepticism? If”

“I'm planning to work on my portfolio by Q3 of this year, hopefully after I sort out matters with my initial job to help me free up my schedule. As someone who wants to transition into instructional design for corporate, what portfolio catches your eye? Are you looking for a variety of options in a portfolio or do you focus more on the quality of each? Thank you for your insight! submitted by /u/TannieBantootz [link] [comments]”

“Hello, so I recently started a position as an instructional designer and honestly I feel very out of my depth when it comes to creating storyboards on dense material. Storyline and Rise are my jam and definitely have a lot of fun and interest in using the software, and I have a graphic design background so creating assets is not a problem for me. But storyboarding has become this insurmountable task and I was wondering if anyone had any advice on creating learning material from documents that it”

“Hello, so I recently started a position as an instructional designer and honestly I feel very out of my depth when it comes to creating storyboards on dense material. Storyline and Rise are my jam and definitely have a lot of fun and interest in using the software, and I have a graphic design background so creating assets is not a problem for me. But storyboarding has become this insurmountable task and I was wondering if anyone had any advice on creating learning material from documents that it”

“How much of your prep time goes into making class interactive vs. just delivering content and what stops you from doing more of the active stuff? submitted by /u/georgenursing [link] [comments]”

“Hey everyone! I'm an L&D manager at a mid-size tech company and we're drowning trying to redesign our onboarding program in-house. Our team is stretched thin and honestly, we don't have the expertise for this level of work. We've been looking into instructional design consulting but got burned by a few freelancers who missed deadlines and delivered cookie-cutter solutions. Has anyone worked with instructional design consulting firms that get it and can handle complex corporat”

“One example: "This course is being created in response to the growing demand for luxury-specific training from our industry partners, particularly those in high-end resort and event settings. As the Wasatch Area Resort Management (WARM) program expands, there is a clear need for a course that prepares students to meet the service expectations and workplace culture of luxury environments. This course will be required for students in both the Hospitality Management and Event Management majors”

“Hello, I was wondering if anyone has experience finding free, high-quality accessibility training? I would like to make a list in this post for those of us looking to improve our skills. submitted by /u/aminmachine [link] [comments]”

“I'm looking for a little perspective and maybe some optimism from other instructional designers. Without getting too specific, like many organizations, we're starting to see more discussion and rollout of AI tools. So far, AI has not directly impacted our jobs, and leadership has generally framed it as a tool to support our work rather than replace it. That said, morale among some of my instructional design colleagues has definitely taken a hit. There are a lot of concerns about long-ter”

“Hello, I am currently in a Master's program for Instructional Design and Technology. For my final project, I am expected to design an instructional design model of my own, but I'm posting here to see if anyone knows of any free sites I can use to put my model together. I have a barebones sketch/outline on paper, but it has to be completed digitally for submission. Thanks in advance! submitted by /u/Mobile_Power8825 [link] [comments]”

“Hi! I am considering this career path and I would love to talk to someone who’s already doing this career, whether it’s through comments on this post, or personal DMs (I’d love to have a conversation with you about what your job is like!). I am an Art educator with a bachelors degree in art education. I imagine I might have a more unique skill set, given my background in visual design/communication, and teaching, and art background. Here are my questions: -Are ID “boot camps” online worth it to”

“Hi everyone, in my previous post, I asked what were the group’s thoughts on entering into the field. I applied to a Masters program and everyone has wisely advised me to stay away from the field because it is very very bad right now. What other in demand alternative careers exist that are translatable? I do have an eye for design, I have been told I am a natural teacher, and I am tech savvy. I’ve built courses, I can learn the frameworks naturally. Any suggestions or referrals I would greatly ap”

“I know there have been a lot of posts like this lately, but I’m feeling genuinely excited about the possibility of transitioning into Instructional Design. At the same time, I’m aware of the realities: market saturation, AI changing the landscape, and the role itself evolving quickly. The short version: I’m completely burned out in sales. I’ve spent most of my career in sales-heavy roles, and while it’s given me strong experience in communication, relationship-building, project coordination, and”

“I started a major compliance project yesterday and I am running into the issue of adapting the text, because I need to maintain the necessary academic rigor without boring employees who need clear and applied information, so I decided to work with them to achieve that perfect balance. How do you handle this process of simplifying complex academic concepts without losing the authority of the information in front of a corporate audience that just wants to tick off the course as quickly as possible”

“Question for educators, trainers, and technical content creators: If a platform could reliably convert your notes, lesson plans, or source material into learner-ready guides, assessments, presentations, and learning content in under 5 minutes, what would make you trust it enough to use it in production? I'm less interested in whether AI can do it and more interested in what would make you adopt or reject such a workflow. submitted by /u/sowmyalr [link] [comments]”

“I was a Learning and Development Trainer and I was blessed with the opportunity to create eLearning courses. The company allowed me to work with other trainers and team members to get the subject matter content needed to translate it into an eLearning course on their Learning Management System. I really feel I would be a great fit to the field despite the influx of designers. I also took some time to try out Applied Behavioral Analysis Behavioral Health Tech work for a year to experience the sch”

“One of the recurring challenges I run into is working with subject matter experts who genuinely believe every detail they know needs to be in the course. You go into a content review meeting hoping to trim the module down, and you walk out with three new sections added to the outline. I get it. These people are experts and they care deeply about their subject. But from an ID perspective, cognitive load is real, and learners do not need to know everything the SME knows. They need to know what hel”

“I'm a few weeks into a Director of Technology role at a high school after teaching computer science at the college level. Alongside the job I'm working through an EdD in Instructional Design and Educational Technology. Posting partly to introduce myself and partly to ask for direction from people who live in the ID and course development space. Here's my situation. The new role is heavy on the operational side: networks, identity, SIS, accessibility, vendor management. I'm comfor”

“I bring over 10 years of experience in education, training, content development, and technical writing. My background combines creating instructional materials and learning experiences with managing complex documentation in highly regulated environments (Department of Energy), Brick and Mortar and online education (teaching) I still have no luck breaking into this field as an instructional designer and/or curriculum devloper. What am I doing wrong? submitted by /u/Super_Bus_162 [link”

“Hi there, Simple question, when you get training, what makes an education session fun and what makes it boring to the point you’re not even paying attention and becomes a waste of time? I want some advice as an educator how I can make my training sessions more exciting. I’m currently teaching on Nebulisers such as Aerogen and want some advice! submitted by /u/Ok_Letterhead_3848 [link] [comments]”

“Hi Everyone! I’m currently researching and reflecting on potentially transitioning into instructional design (for context: I have BA in psychology). I want to understand the reality of this field. I’d love to get your thoughts on any of these questions: What are the pros/cons of being an instructional designer? What is “one” hidden skill you’ll use daily that’s not taught in your ID program or certification? When looking at entry level portfolios, what is a “red flag” that tells you the person d”

“My company has a hiring process where the applicant has to show how they would storyboard a sample narrative. We don’t ask them to storyboard something that’s actual work. As an applicant in your case, I’d be worried they would take what I designed and then not hire me. But if this is a good job, I would take a look at the content, storyboard pieces and parts just to show them what you would do. Don’t storyboard the whole thing.”

“I applied for a gig and they sent me a file and asked me to create a sample slide deck so they can get a feel of how i would structure and design the content. They mentioned it’s 20 modules and if the initial sample aligns with what they’re after, they’re hire me. How do i create this sample? How do you usually make this, in ppt? Also is it fine for clients to asks for this? Usually the clients ive worked with before tell me what they want exactly and i do that, but im a beginner. submitte”

“I was an English teacher before. Got my masters in Learning Design and Technology. Spent time upskilling in tools such as articulate storyline but it has become too expensive so I’m looking for alternatives. Have been job searching at least for entry level or contract but have had no success.”

“They revealed to me what tool they wanted the candidate to have knowledge in after they stopped asking questions.”

“Check out Mager and Pipe’s “Analyzing Performance Problem.” Reading the sub you would think this line of work is entirely e-learning content development. I don’t think the future of learning and development is going to be that much different than the past. There may be some shiny new tool that gets implemented, but at the end of the day, it’s finding out what’s the performance problem, What’s causing it, and how to fix it. That may or may not involve e-learning or training. Pitching your ideas w”

“Do you have an area in ID of specialization? Have you kept your skills sharp? Taken classes? Attend conferences, which is especially important for networking, and learning? Have you thought about looking into an Internship? Finding a Mentor? Joining a professional organization?”

“While I'm not officially in ID per credentials or formalized training in any way, it was nonetheless a massive component of my position for 14 years. Some might fight me on the definition of it and all, but I heavily considered myself a hybrid of both operations and L&D equally. Became tight with our VP of Organization at my last company, was a pilot for our LMS launch. I left last year to try and relocate and pivot and start a new chapter/industry after getting my PMP and CSM certs. 5 w”