L&D Shakers
ID Power Hour
by L&D Shakers
Journey dashboard
Day 1 / 60Week 1 · Introduction to Instructional DesignLesson

What is Instructional Design?

Learning goal

Explain what instructional design is — and what it is not — in your own words.

Estimated time

25 minutes · self-paced

Warm-up

Think of the worst training you ever sat through. What made it painful?

Main lesson

A working definition

Instructional design (ID) is the practice of designing experiences that reliably change what people can do. Not what they were told. What they can do.

  • Content delivery is not learning
  • The unit of success is behaviour, not completion
  • Design decisions are evidence-informed, not decorative

Where ID sits

diagram

IDs work between the business, the subject matter expert (SME) and the learner. Each pulls in a different direction, and your job is to hold the learner's side of the table.

  • Business → wants a measurable result
  • SME → wants accuracy and completeness
  • Learner → wants relevance and as little friction as possible

A short history

timeline

The field grew out of WWII military training, matured through the systems era (ADDIE), absorbed cognitive psychology in the 80s–90s, and today blends performance consulting, UX and learning science.

  • 1940s — systematic military training
  • 1970s — ADDIE and systems thinking
  • 1990s — cognitive science enters the mainstream
  • 2010s+ — performance consulting, UX, data
  • 2020s+ — AI-assisted design and rapid prototyping

Examples from practice

  • — A bank replaces a 60-minute compliance course with a 4-minute decision job aid — errors drop 30%.
  • — An onboarding programme is redesigned around week-one tasks instead of company history.

Interactive quiz

Which statement best describes instructional design?
A stakeholder says 'we need a 45-minute course on the new policy.' What is that?

Reflection

Write 3 sentences: what did you think ID was before today, and what do you think now?

Daily challenge

Find one job ad for an instructional designer and list the 5 skills it asks for most loudly.

Portfolio task

Create a portfolio folder (or Notion page) titled 'ID Journey' with a 'Day 1 — my definition of ID' note.

AI design tools

Ten assistants for this lesson

AI Mentor

Instructional design questions only

Hi! I'm your ID Mentor. Ask me anything about what is instructional design? — or instructional design in general.
Day 2