Instructional Designer Enablement Framew

Design Team Enablement

Instructional Designer Enablement Framework

Creating a structured support system to improve consistency, confidence and quality across instructional design practice.

A connected enablement framework designed to support instructional designers from onboarding through to ongoing delivery. The system brought together Foundations of Production, a Style Guide and a Process & Admin Guide to improve consistency, reduce ambiguity and support high-quality learning outcomes.

Audience

Instructional Designers

Format

Online modules & PDF guides

Duration

6-modules & ongoing reference

My Role

Designed the framework, guides and support resources from structure through to implementation.

There was no single, structured system to support designers from onboarding through to ongoing practice.

THE PROBLEM

Instructional Designers needed clearer guidance on how to work consistently across learning products, internal processes and stakeholder expectations.

Without a central support system:

New designers relied heavily on informal guidance and one-to-one support.

Design expectations were not always documented or applied consistently.

Branding, styling and accessibility decisions could vary across products.

Internal processes and administrative requirements were difficult to navigate.

Stakeholder management practices were not always clear or consistent.

Knowledge was spread across people, documents and systems rather than one connected framework.

THE GOAL

Create a practical enablement framework that helped Instructional Designers work consistently, confidently and to agreed quality standards.

This solution was designed to:

Support new designers through a structured onboarding experience.

Clarify production expectations, processes and responsibilities.

Provide clear design boundaries for branding, layout, accessibility and style.

Reduce reliance on informal support and repeated guidance.

Improve consistency across learning products and documentation.

Support stakeholder management and administrative processes.

Create reusable guidance that could evolve with team needs.

A connected support system that helped designers produce consistent, high-quality learning while reducing ambiguity and rework.

MY APPROACH

1. Reframing the problem

This was not just an onboarding need. It was an opportunity to create a sustainable support system for instructional design practice.

The focus shifted from answering repeated questions individually to building clear, reusable guidance that supported designers at every stage of production.

2. Enablement strategy

The framework was structured around the key areas designers needed to work effectively and independently.

Foundations of Production for onboarding and role expectations.
Style Guide for branding, visual design and consistency.
Process & Admin Guide for workflows, stakeholder management and internal processes.

3. Key design decisions

Several design decisions shaped the framework.

Separated onboarding, style and process guidance into distinct but connected resources.
Designed content to be practical, searchable and easy to maintain.
Included examples and standards to support consistent decision-making.
Created resources that could support both onboarding and ongoing performance.

Stakeholder and team alignment

It was reviewed and aligned with key stakeholders before implementation to confirm the resources were practical, accurate and suitable for ongoing use by Instructional Designers.

Clear onboarding pathway for Instructional Designers

KEY OUTCOMES OF THIS APPROACH

Consistent design standards across learning products

Practical process guidance to support administrative requirements

Aligned with leadership expectations and team priorities.

Validated against internal production and process requirements

Designed to support consistent practice across the Instructional Design team

EXPERIENCE PREVIEW

Foundations of Production

Six online modules introducing team processes, tools and production standards.

01 | Foundations of Production: Team Processes

Course | 9 Lessons

Team Processes

Introduces team roles, expectations, key workflows and core production processes.

04 | Foundations of Production: Canva

Course | 7 Lessons

Canva

Introduces core Canva features and how to create visually consistent learning assets.

02 | Foundations of Production: Rise 360

Course | 9 Lessons

View Sample Module

Rise 360

Introduces core Rise 360 features and how to create responsive eLearning content.

05 | Foundations of Production: Vyond

Course | 5 Lessons

Vyond

Introduces core Vyond features and how to create simple animated learning content.

03 | Foundations of Production: Storyline 360

Course | 5 Lessons

Storyline 360

Introduces core Storyline 360 features and how to begin building interactive content.

06 | Foundations of Production: Camtasia

Course | 4 Lessons

Camtasia

Introduces core Camtasia features and how to record, edit and produce screen-based learning content.

FOUNDATIONS OF PRODUCTION

STYLE GUIDE

Colour and Accessibility

Accessibility

Colour accessibility enables people with visual impairments or colour vision deficiencies to interact with digital experiences in the same way as their non-visually-impaired counterparts.

The Training Team aims to achieve an AA standard for accessibility.

To check if your colour palette meets accessibility standards, visit Adobe's Colour Contrast Checker site.

A high colour contrast makes words easier to read.

A low colour contrast makes words more difficult to read.

View EXTRACT

THE SOLUTION

A connected enablement framework supporting onboarding, design consistency and ongoing instructional design practice

Structure

Foundations of Production for onboarding and role expectations
Style Guide for branding, layout, accessibility and design boundaries
Process & Admin Guide for workflows, stakeholder management and internal processes

Support model

Foundations of Production > Design Standards > Process Guidance > Ongoing Practice Support

Practical Integration

Reusable guidance for new and existing designers
Practical examples to support consistent application
Centralised resources to reduce reliance on informal support

PROCESS & ADMIN GUIDE

Peer Review Process

Writing Feedback

There are two types of feedback that can be provided:

Actionable feedback: Clear, required changes such as style guide corrections, spelling updates or grammar issues.
Suggestions: Optional improvements that may enhance the product, such as design, flow or information layout.

View EXTRACT

Actionable feedback

“This list style does not align with the Style Guide. Update it to use the approved bullet format.”

Suggestions

“Consider adding a grey box to highlight this section and make the key information easier to scan.”

2. Creating Consistency Across Design Outputs

Learning products needed to feel consistent while still allowing designers to make appropriate decisions for different audiences and formats

Developed a Style Guide to clarify branding, layout, accessibility and design boundaries

3. Reducing Reliance on Informal Support

Designers often needed answers to recurring process, admin and stakeholder management questions

Created a Process & Admin Guide to centralise key workflows, expectations and stakeholder practices

4. Supporting Ongoing Practice, Not Just Onboarding

The resources needed to remain useful beyond a designer’s first few weeks

Designed the framework as a searchable support system that could be revisited throughout the production cycle

Supported 10 new Instructional Designers through a structured onboarding pathway since implementation

Provided ongoing guidance for 18 Instructional Designers through centralised style, process and production resources

Created three core enablement resources where no formal onboarding or reference system previously existed

Improved design consistency across 650+ learning products through documented standards, style guidance and production expectations

Reduced ambiguity by centralising onboarding, design standards, process guidance and stakeholder management expectations

1. Supporting New Designers Without Overwhelming Them

New designers needed enough guidance to get started confidently without being overloaded with every process detail at once

Structured the framework into clear guides that supported staged learning and ongoing reference

CHALLENGES & KEY DECISIONS

OUTCOME & IMPACT

Reflection

This project reinforced that strong learning design teams need more than good individual designers. Consistent, high-quality work depends on clear standards, accessible guidance and practical support systems that help people make confident decisions throughout the production process.