Creating a High Level Design

Setting out on a learning project can be like launching a rocket. Small errors in trajectory at the start can have you landing somewhere completely unexpected.

To avoid these errors, we complete a High Level Design for complex projects before we dive into the detail of storyboarding.  

What is included in a High Level Design?

We begin by making sure everyone is on the same page – this means we include: 

• We start by outlining the problem to be solved – we want to make sure we’re on the same page as our client about who the audience is and what exactly is in scope for the project, and what is out of scope (more on this here)  

• Next we outline the agreed solution – this could be as simple as a single eLearning module, or as complicated as a blended learning program designed to be delivered over several days 

• Lastly, we write down any key considerations for the design – this could be anything from:  

• Learner personas and how they’ll be used to inform the design 

• Relevant anticipated changes to the learner’s environment, role or responsibilities  

• Interconnected learning programs that need to be considered in the design 

• Any learning frameworks we’ll be using to inform our design decisions 

• Specific stakeholder requests regarding the approach to the design  

• And anything else that is relevant 

Once we’re sure everyone is on the same page about the bigger picture, we begin to narrow down our thinking. In the next section, we start looking at each of the learning deliverables in detail. The minimum details we’ll include are generally:  

• Learning objectives – using the ABCD format recommended by Patti Shank Ph.D (for more on this format, read the article here) 

• Pain points or desired outcomes – paying particular attention to the root cause of the pain – e.g. is it motivation, knowledge, skill or some combination of all of these? 

• Key messages – we document any key messages we know we need to capture within the training – these are often critical when learners are lacking motivation, or need to feel ready for a change that’s on its way 

Lastly, once we know we’ve caught all the important factors that will influence our design, we begin to document our proposed design itself. In this section we’ll address:  

• The planned structure of the learning deliverable including:  

• The topics we’ll cover 

• How long each topic will take 

• The degree of difficulty and any proposed activities 

• Where we’ll use multimedia  

• … and anything else that’s relevant 

The High Level Design is an important step in our process. It helps make sure we’re on the same page about everything from what we’re doing to why we’re doing it. We can also use it as a checkpoint to make sure we have everything we need to progress.  

We’d love to hear from you – what do you do to make sure everyone involved in your learning projects stays on the same page? Let us know in in the comments below.