6

Design

The design element of the ISD process contains the majority of the work in most projects. By the same token, and it is sometimes confusing, many of the separate components of the instructional design process occur in the other four elements and are simply managed by the design function.

Using a systems approach view, the process resembles a five-part diagram (Figure 6-1).

Figure 6-1. Diagram of the Instructional Design Process

The ISD process is design centered, and each element of the system is managed by the design function. Each project will have a somewhat different delegation of the process and product, which will affect the work done in each element. However, what never changes is the control of the design function over the other elements in the process.

This centralization of the instructional design process evolved from the coordinating and managing role of the instructional designer in the process of curriculum development. This becomes obvious if you attempt to allow analysis, development, implementation, or evaluation to have the controlling interest in the process. All are important, but a single function needs to have ultimate authority and responsibility. This places the design function and the instructional designer in the central, coordinating role.

Design Element Functions

If you agree that the design functions in the ADDIE model are the center of the process, then it is easy to see that everything must flow through design at one point or another, and that is certainly true in most situations. Sometimes it is extremely important to visualize the design functions in a project management context to the degree that design requires coordination and the staging of assets. Without at least a conceptual foundation of coordination and timing, design loses it value as the nucleus of ISD. This is true if a designer works alone on a project or works with a team of many designers and SMEs—it all requires the same processes.

General functions within the design element include:

• coordinating analysis, development, and evaluation processes

• centralizing control and staging of assets, including design staff, development staff, and subject matter experts

• writing design plans

• writing lesson plans

• writing objectives

• writing evaluation tasks

• coordinating between and among affiliate design project interests, including clients, sponsors, and other controlling interests

• managing quality control of all processes and products

• coordinating pilot testing

• designing and implementing analysis and evaluation instruments.

Another critical aspect of the design phase is the somewhat subtle art of providing leadership throughout the process. There are a number of analogies that might fit for this key design role, but the most obvious is the traffic cop at the busy intersection. From every direction arrive challenges and decisions that must be addressed, sometimes with very little time for reflection. The designer-leader role shows itself most prominently when the fog is thickest, and the depth of a great instructional design is often tested at these moments. This is where a systems approach pays off handily as the emotion of key decisions is banished to the periphery and the logic of the choices sets in and becomes obvious.

There are very few designers who are not leaders, too, and this is the real strength of the design process. In this phase, the decisions are those relating to choices within a range of possibilities. In course delivery, it might be a choice between online and blended learning and choosing content is aided by criticality and other ISD tools. The seasoned designer in this environment facilitates decisions and designs within the boundaries of the data and choices. In ADDIE, the design phase is central to project success and our chief design goal of learner mastery.

In Conclusion

More than any other element of the ADDIE model, design is the nucleus of the entire instructional design process. This element directs the activities and processes in analysis, development, implementation, and evaluation. Every aspect of ISD is controlled and influenced by the design element. Without design, there is really no unique instructional design process: the term instructional design itself is based on this key ADDIE step.

Discussion Questions

1.  Do you believe that the design phase of ISD is the most challenging part of being an instructional designer?

2.  What element of the design process requires the greatest skill from an instructional designer?

3.  In your view, is the design element the center of the ISD process?