Yesterday I was looking into the 10-minute yeast sponge of my pizza dough starter when I realized my pizza process is like my eLearning process, developmental and honed from years of practice.
During my discovery phase, I relied on subject matter experts (Paul Kunkel, Rick Rosenfield and Larry Flax, Alton Brown) to help me know what I needed in order to be successful.
Then, I followed a project development process, or should I say, pizza development process. I plan everything out by following an instructional design comprised of written recipes, in-person instruction, and countless videos. Utilizing the design, I assemble all of my assets (ingredients and cooking tools). Now it’s time to produce the physical product (the pizza). Once production is complete, it’s time to test the product on my audience. During the testing phase, I apply careful analytics coupled with beer or wine (depending on the audience). Finally, I review my data to see if I need to modify my design, more thyme less asiago until my results become predictably consistent.
Just as I have tested new recipes and new tools to hone the perfect pizza pie, I have spent the better part of a decade testing a content development process that produces predictably consistent eLearning results.
The Learning Carton Development Process
Discovery Phase
In the discovery phase of the project, we will get to know you and your needs and develop a relationship with you and your team. We’ll have some fun along the way, too. Whether it’s sharing photos of our pets or discussing the latest sports scores, we want you to feel comfortable working with our team. We’ll do this over the course of four calls:
- Initial call
- This is an initial meet and greet where we learn about each other, discuss your content need and start a needs analysis process. Next: set up our next meeting.
- Exploratory call
- We’ll review your needs analysis tool and discuss the need to gather information for a formal proposal. Next: set up our next meeting to review the proposal.
- Proposal call
- We review the terms of the proposal for services through a screen-sharing call. We share the proposal in PDF form after the call and offer you time to review it in greater detail. Next: set up our next meeting.
- Decision phase
- This step of the process is really for you to have the time to talk internally about the proposal. Please use the time to carefully review the terms and strategy. Next: accept the proposal as is, suggest modifications and accept the proposal, or decline the proposal and stay connected via our Unpacked newsletter to continue learning for the next project.
If you decide to move forward with the project, we practice a proven development process that has been refined from years of making content.
Project Development Process
The project development process blends instructional design theory with agile project management practices. A dedicated project manager maintains a connection with your team from the kick-off call through testing and localization.
- Kick-off Call (Week 1)
- Introductions between your project manager (PM) and any Subject Matter Experts (SMEs) and our project manager, instructional designer, and visual producer
- Call agenda: review the project plan, initiate the Design Document, review communication protocols, establish a timeline
- Instructional Design (Week 2-5)
- Instructional Designer (ID) writes the Design Document with two review cycles with your PM and SMEs
- The ID uses the Design Document to write the Storyboard with two review cycles that include your PM and SMEs
- Preliminary visual planning begins during weeks 4 and 5
- Visual Design Phase (Week 6 – 11)
- PMs plan for on-screen graphics, animations, narrations, and videos
- The creative team produces the necessary assets: video, images, and audio narration; edits the production assets and shares them with the developer
- Development Phase (Week 12-13)
- PM and Developer create the course with two review cycles that include your PM
- Distribution and Testing of the course on the Learning Management System (LMS)
- Localization (Week 14-19)
- Translate the course(s) into needed languages
Once the project development process is complete, don’t forget to think about the audience as I do when I serve them a homemade pizza. Gather feedback and data reports on how your audience of learners responds to your new course. Respond to their feedback and improve the existing course. By reflecting on your developed course you will achieve “good eLearning course” status.
Interested in learning more about the cost of custom eLearning, check out our Guide to Custom eLearning Cost
Need to justify to your team or your manager why online learning is advantageous for your business? Check out Five Business Advantages of Online Learning
