10 Qualities of the Ideal Instructional Designer
May 11, 2009
People employed as instructional designers come from wildly varied educational backgrounds. I’ve met writers, teachers, media specialists, psychologists and programmers who somehow have ended up designing web-based and instructor-led courses.
For the past several years, blogger Cammy Bean has had an open survey asking her instructional design readership whether they have a degree in instructional design. Although the survey doesn’t use a scientific sampling method (basically, whoever happens upon the survey can respond), the results cannot be ignored.
Out of the several hundred people who have completed the survey:
- ~ 60% do not have a degree
- ~ 38% have a graduate degree in Instructional Design
- ~ 1% responded that they have an Instructional Design degree (level is unspecified)
This is where you can see the full survey results including the array of backgrounds from which instructional designers have entered the field.
Do Instructional Designers Need a Degree?
There is an ongoing debate within the US instructional design community as to whether a degree is needed to be most effective in this field. Sure, having a solid foundation in learning theory and cognitive science enables the designer to adapt learning strategies to varied audiences and content. On the other hand, there are degreed instructional designers who create poor learning products.
Perhaps what is most important is that the instructional designer is a self-didact. That the designer is motivated to read cognitive psychology, instructional design and eLearning textbooks, trade books, journals and blogs. That the person takes advantage of tutorials, podcasts and certification programs. That he or she can learn something in a completely different field and transfer this knowledge to instructional design. As professionals in a learning field, we should be able to get the knowledge needed to fill in our gaps as well as to grow and expand.
Top 10 List
So, what does it take to be an effective and innovative designer of online courses? Having been in the field for 20 years, I have managed, mentored, learned from, watched and analyzed the skills of many instructional designers. As a result, I have distilled the qualities, knowledge and skills I think the ideal instructional designer should possess or develop into a Top 10 List. This list focuses on instructional design for eLearning.
The successful instructional designer should:
- Conceptually and intuitively understand how people learn.
- Know how to connect with an audience on an emotional level.
- Be capable of imagining oneself as the learner/audience member.
- Be obsessed with learning everything.
- Brainstorm creative treatments and innovative instructional strategies.
- Visualize instructional graphics, the user interface, interactions and the finished product.
- Write effective copy, instructional text, audio scripts and video scripts.
- Meld minds with Subject Matter Experts and team members.
- Know the capabilities of eLearning development tools and software.
- Understand related fields—usability and experience design, information design, communications and new technologies.
What qualities would you add to this list? Comment below.
Related Articles:
35 More Qualities Of The Instructional Designer (An updated and crowd-sourced list)
Is This Instructional Design?
Three comments:
1. I was delighted to see this list. It made my day to go down the list, check off the items, and puff up my ego. I’ve been doing ISD for over 20 years and I’ve been told I have many of these qualities to a fault. While I don’t have a degree in Instructional Design, I do have an undergraduate degree in secondary education and a Master’s degree in communication (emphasis on organizational communication and empirical research design) which I have found VERY helpful. I’ve worked with many instructional designers over the years with master’s degrees in instructional technology who don’t have a clue when it comes to training needs assessment. That brings me to my second comment.
2. I notice your list did not contain expertise in Flash and other software tools. So many of the job postings I see for “Instructional Designers” these days want an MS in Instructional Technology with extensive background in authoring and graphics tools. In my experience, core aptitudes for designer/writers and multimedia developers are seldom both gifted to one individual. I have a great deal of empathy for individuals cast in this “one man band” role by employers and I wish employers would stop defining positions like this. Granted, a clear familiarity with the capabilities of mm tools is critical for good instructional design, but I have found that mastery of a particular tool often constrains and limits design ideas. 3. SMEs are not instructional designers and IDs are not SMEs. These two roles are required to balance each other in the instructional development process. SMEs often are unconsciously competent. They don’t know what they know. The role of the instructional designer is to extract information from SMEs, structure and organize it in a way that makes it easy to learn. SMEs cluster and sublimate knowledge and they have often forgotten critical links and paths that helped them make those associations. The ID has to ask these structured questions to forge the path from novice to expert. Too much of a mash-up of roles leads to a product that learners endure and disregard rather than retain.
Wow! Your insights are deep. Thanks very much. I actually do think it’s great to know some of the MM tools and personally, I love the production end of things. I see what you are saying that it can limit design ideas and this is something of which IDers should be aware. But still it’s great to know PhotoShop, Illustrator, Flash, Captivate, etc. if you have the inclinication. On the other hand, it didn’t make my top 10 list because there are so many designers who are not inclined in that direction and I don’t think it’s a requirement. I like your points on SMEs. We could write a book on how to work with SMEs!!
Love the article!!!! I have a M.Ed in Instructional Technology and have not been able to get an ID job. I decided to become a teacher because in 2006 when I graduated with the M.Ed many job postings wanted experience in the classroom. Now looking again many job postings say you need to know Flash, PhotoShop, Captivate, etc. So I’m taking refresher courses to update my technical skills. I also have created Instructor Led Training and have been a trainer. How do I prove that I can do this? I’m in the process of trying to create an ePortfolio. Not only do I teach, train, but I teach online courses which helps me understand the needs of the online learner. I’m not sure if my extensive experience in the classroom is hurting or helping me obtain an ID position. Any help or suggestions would be great!!!
I’m sure it will be helpful that you are updating your technical skills. You may know of these two sites that have job boards related to ID and eLearning, but just in case you don’t: the eLearning Guild (you may need to sign up as a free Associate member to access) and ASTD (free registration may be needed). You might also build up a portfolio by checking out the freelance ID jobs at eLance and possibly Bintro. Do any readers have other suggestions for Jess?
Great information. I have a have a MA in Instructional Design and find it very interesting that over 60% of the people who identify themselves as instructional designers do not have formal training.
I have discovered that to be effective in the field of online learning you need to be proficient in three areas; instructional design, instructional technology and project management. I always like to compare this situation to a three-legged stool— if one leg is missing or shorter than the other it is very difficult to remain seated.
Nice analogy! Thanks.
Love the Top Ten list (especially #4)! I’d add “be able to conduct research and synthesize information from a variety of sources.”
To Jessica: make sure you’re on LinkedIn. Check the job postings there and list yourself as a consultant. While you’re teaching, you could line up some consulting work to get a foot in the door and some ID “meat” on your résumé.
Excellent addition. Pretty soon we’ll need a Top 20 List.
Great list!
I’d add to your #4: Be obsessed with learning everything… but be prepared to take action before you have learned everything you might want to know, and be courageous about the choices you will have to make.
Also, to gain resources and influence decisions, it’s helpful for IDs to be skilled advocates for learning, for the audience, and for an effective process.
Chris you’re right! There is a certain amount of courage required to dive into the boiling pot of content and take action even before you really understand or know everything. Thanks. And being an advocate is also a good point. I’ll add these to the next 10 list (with proper attributions, of course).
When I came across this site, I was intrigued by the title, “10 Qualities of the Ideal Instructional Designer. After all that was the area in which I had planned to obtain my masters degree. I felt good when I saw the variety of backgrounds from which designers come, which includes my background of teaching. The advice is priceless to someone who is new in the field. The survey really opened up my eyes to the types of backgrounds people have who work in this field or who are pursuing degrees in this area. The top 10 list along with the comments from others gives a newbie like me an opportunity to see what it will take to be a successful instructional designer. I am looking forward to be being a regular reader of this site.
Welcome Karen! And good luck with your career. It’s an awesome one. You’ll never stop learning.
Hi,
Thanks for providing the list of top 10 qualities for an ideal instructional designer. I would like to add some more things to the list.
11. Good analytical skills.
12. Ability to write well-defined objectives based on the need of the learner.
I feel more than a degree in Instructional Designer, an ID should have some experience as a teacher and lots of experience as a learner. There should be a passion for learning and that will automatically translate to a desire to help others learn.
This is a really good list. I would add the ability to be an architect of training programs, products, devices, outcomes.
One point that may be worth considering is to ask if there is a difference between Instuctional Designers and Instructional Developers. If we were to specialize along those lines, then attributes 1, 2, 3, 5, 8 and 10 might most closely align with designers. Attributes 6, 7 and 9 may fit developers more closely. Attribute 4 probably fits everyone. Advanced degrees may be more necessary for the designer group. Regardless of sorts of degrees or degrees at all, skilled writers, editors, technologist/programmers and graphics folks can contribute greatly as developers of effective learning products. We’ve never been able to succeed without leveraging both sets of attributes.
It’s been my experience that large organizations can specialize along these lines. Smaller firms tend to need folks who can do it all. When possible to specialize, I’ve found it easier to attract team members who significantly contribute in a rapid fashion because it is fairly rare to find someone who comes to team with the total package of skills. It happens, but not often.
Thanks for adding to the list, Vijaykumar. I do plan to extend it with everyone’s comments. And Steve, it would be interesting to make two separate lists, one for designers and one for developers. You’re right, it’s difficult to find someone with all the design and development skills and a manager often needs to hire two, not one person to get it all. Both design and development skills and mind sets are important to have in a good team.
Hi Connie! I don’t know how many times I’ve read your post but I keep coming back to it. Well done! I agree with everything on the list, including the tech parts. As someone who has worked on a small team of IDs, we have always been responsible for developing our own interactions, graphics, etc. While I would agree that it is not the focus of the designer, using the technology has certainly given me an understanding of what is doable or not. A colleague and I joke around that we are the MacGyvers of e-learning!
As for adding to the list, I would say that any ID would need to be a facilitator at heart too. I don’t know how many times I’ve had to teach a SME how to use a technology or demonstrate a new technique. It also helps guide design choices when you know how to facilitate (either f2f or online, synch or asynch).
Thanks for the great post!
April
Excellent addition to the list. Thanks, April.
Very nice list and I wholeheartedly agree with them for they are at the core of the ID’s qualifications. Many of the experiences/jobs I get is a result of the combination of both my ID and authoring tool skills. These jobs are typically referred to me because a company has hired a web developer to produce a course. So, I’m then asked both to fix a course instructionally (sp?) AND technically. Very frustrating work at times… but it keeps the bills paid!
So… said and done, I believe having a background in education coupled with curiosity and a love/hate relationship with technology is a perfect marriage for successful ID career. Great post!
Great list! I’d add that any ID worth their salt needs to be able to put their ego aside when necessary and accept client feedback openly and non-defensively. It’s good to take ownership of our work but all too often I’ve seen IDs get far too argumentative about issues that sometimes shouldn’t matter. We need to stay true to good instructional design and explain to the client why, for example, it’s important to have well-constructed objectives in a lesson. But it’s also important to know when to give a little. If the client wants to change the phrasing, or omit graphics that don’t work for them, so be it. I guess, in a nut shell, I’m trying to say that we need to nurture good client relationships.
Based on the recent experiences I have had, I would like to elaborate on point which has already been mentioned — communication. All of you have given very valid aspects of communication that IDs need to have. I would like to mention — advocacy as an important competency for all IDs.
There are times when training sponsors want a ‘quick course’ or ‘a 2-hr course’ etc. We believe that the learning objectives and their levels should decide the duration of the course. Here is where advocacy plays a role. Being able to engage with the sponsor and enable him/her to see the importance of a certain duration of a course in order to achieve certain performance outcomes requires that one is assertive and clear and have the ability to advocate the cause of ID.
That’s all — thanks.
Yes, being an advocate for the learner can be a deep motivation for becoming an instructional designer. This is an important competency so thanks for adding it, Punam.