Janet Perez (PHR, Prosci, DiSC)

Ya know, one of the biggest misconceptions folks have they’re new to eLearning development...especially when it comes to the visual design and creative side of things...is that we're granted a ton of creative freedom in our work. Honestly, that couldn’t be further from the truth. Let's say you've been tasked to design a course at work or for a client, for example. Will you get to choose your own fonts, colors, graphics, layouts, and all the fun design elements? Nine times out of ten, the answer is…not really. The real skill isn’t about creating your own brand standards or style guides from scratch. It’s about learning how to work within your company’s or client’s brand guidelines...and still finding ways to be creative within those boundaries. In fact (shameless plug coming your way), that’s exactly why we structure our monthly eLearning challenges the way we do. Each one asks you to design a solution that aligns with the brand standards of a hypothetical client. Why? Because that’s what real-world work looks like. It’s not about unlimited freedom; it’s about solving problems creatively within constraints. So, if you want to see this in action, check out this oldie but goodie video from my YouTube channel. I walk you through how I transformed a real client’s style guide into a custom eLearning template in Articulate Storyline...step by step. 🔗 Watch the video: https://lnkd.in/gEikDSUT And, of course, if you want to try it yourself...grab a style guide from one of our past eLearning challenges and push yourself to build a custom template based on it: https://lnkd.in/g-iJW4yT I’d love to hear your take...how have you found ways to be creative within design constraints? Drop your thoughts in the comments! Tim #eLearning #InstructionalDesign #LearningAndDevelopment

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🎙️ What happens when experienced L&D pros meet cutting-edge AI? You get smarter, faster, and more impactful eLearning! In this episode of our Baby Podcast, Grace and Leo dive into the real advantages of partnering with an AI-enabled eLearning vendor. From voiceovers in multiple languages to lightning-fast multimedia development and learner-first strategies—it's a game-changer you can’t afford to overlook. ✅ Download this handy checklist to make vendor selection foolproof: https://lnkd.in/gPxz4pUN #eLearningVendors #InstructionalDesign #AIinLnD #DigitalLearning #CorporateTraining #CommLabIndia

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Most new instructional designers overthink their portfolios. They either try to cram in too many projects, or they feel paralyzed and don't publish anything at all. After reviewing hundreds of portfolios over the years, here's what stands out: 1. A cluttered, unfocused portfolio can hurt you more than having no portfolio. 2. Hiring managers don't want "everything you've ever made." They want 1-3 strong projects that highlight how you solve problems. 3. The most effective portfolios are simple, polished, and easy to navigate. And since your portfolio is the most important part of your application when applying to jobs, it's time for some updated best practices. That's why I recorded a new guide on how to create your instructional design portfolio. It covers the 3 core elements that every portfolio needs, the top myths around portfolio-building, and what you should avoid at all costs. You can check out the video with the link in the comments. Please let me know what you think, and if you have any portfolio-building tips, we'd love to hear them. #LinkedInWithDevlin #InstructionalDesign #eLearning #PortfolioBuilding #Learning

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Articulate RISE eLearning Course Glossary Popups 🔴 𝗘𝗱𝗶𝘁 05-10-2025: Glossary Editor App link: https://lnkd.in/dW7gnKmU 𝗠𝘆 𝗻𝗲𝘅𝘁 𝗰𝗼𝗻𝘁𝗿𝗶𝗯𝘂𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝗹𝗮𝘂𝗻𝗰𝗵𝗲𝘀 𝗻𝗲𝘅𝘁 𝘄𝗲𝗲𝗸 ⚡ for the eLearning development and instructional design community! You’ve probably seen those handy 𝘄𝗼𝗿𝗱 𝗺𝗲𝗮𝗻𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗽𝗼𝗽𝘂𝗽𝘀 on 𝗪𝗶𝗸𝗶𝗽𝗲𝗱𝗶𝗮. I’ve built the same interactive experience for eLearning courses. 🔗 𝗣𝗿𝗲𝘃𝗶𝗲𝘄 𝗟𝗶𝗻𝗸: https://lnkd.in/d9hQqDsT 👉 This is not limited to Articulate Rise elearning course, it’s a versatile tool. You can build one central glossary, export it as a JSON file, and connect it to any eLearning authoring tool package. With a single link, your glossary content becomes interactive inside any Rise course (and other tools as well). 𝗧𝗼 𝗺𝗮𝗸𝗲 𝗴𝗹𝗼𝘀𝘀𝗮𝗿𝘆 𝗰𝗿𝗲𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝗲𝗮𝘀𝗶𝗲𝗿, I also developed a Glossary Editor (a companion utility). It allows eLearning developers and instructional designers to build and manage glossaries, add definitions, images, reference links, and quickly import/export JSON for integration. ✨ 𝗡𝗼𝘁𝗮𝗯𝗹𝗲 𝗙𝗲𝗮𝘁𝘂𝗿𝗲𝘀: ✅ 𝗔𝗰𝗰𝗲𝘀𝘀𝗶𝗯𝗶𝗹𝗶𝘁𝘆: ● ARIA labels ● keyboard navigation ● Focus management ● Screen reader support ● High contrast mode ● Reduced motion support ✅ 𝗠𝗼𝗯𝗶𝗹𝗲 𝗥𝗲𝗮𝗱𝘆:  ● Touch detection ● Responsive centered popups ● Large tap targets ● Viewport awareness. I hope this contribution helps the eLearning development and instructional design community by making it easier than ever to add interactive, accessible, and responsive glossaries to eLearning packages. #instructionaldesign #elearningdevelopment #elearning #instructionaldesigner #elearningdeveloper #articulaterise #articulate #rise360 #elearningcommunity #risepopup #riseglossary #nrzmalik

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What’s your biggest eLearning bugbear? (That one thing that makes you roll your eyes every time you see it…) I’m often called in to review courses, and the same issues show up again and again. Instead of helping people learn, they leave learners sighing, clicking aimlessly, or muttering “why am I doing this?” Here are some of the common offenders 1. No recognition of prior learning (RPL). Learners forced to repeat content they already know. “Why am I doing this again? Didn’t I already cover this last year?” 2. Hidden time commitment and lack of progress indicators. Nested sections and unclear navigation mean people can’t see how long the module really takes. “If I’d known this was going to take an hour, I would’ve planned my time. Now I just feel stuck.” 3. Poor structure. No headings (or titles that are too vague or too long), making content blur together. 4. Cognitive overload. Ten examples dumped on one page. Fourteen elements crammed into a diagram. No grouping, no icons, just too much to process. “This is way too much to take in at once. Where am I supposed to focus?” 5. Walls of bullet points. Sometimes even paragraphs forced into bullets. Learners need variety — icons, frameworks, or just clean text. 6. Images that add no value. Stock photos of people smiling at laptops distract instead of support learning. 7. Unnecessarily confusing quiz formats, such as: “What does OHS stand for?” A. Occupational Health and Safety B. Operational Health and Safety C. Occupational Hazard and Safety D. Organisational Health and Safety Every option looks plausible. It’s more about spotting typos than testing knowledge. 8. Obvious or patronising questions. Sometimes the answer is literally baked into the question: “Which of the following is an electrical hazard: a faulty light switch, a leaking chemical drum, or poor posture at your desk?” “Do they think I’m stupid? This isn’t teaching me anything.” 9. Punishing feedback. Get a True/False wrong? You’re forced to retry with the wrong answer still selected. Get one question wrong in a quiz? Redo the entire thing. That’s not feedback — that’s punishment. 10. Unclear question types. Multiple choice and multiple response look identical. Without radio buttons vs checkboxes, learners are left guessing. 11. Bad UX. Writing “Exit” instead of a simple ❌. Tiny breaks in standard design conventions that make everything clunky. Each of these mistakes chips away at motivation. Together, they turn eLearning into a box-ticking exercise instead of something people actually learn from. But here’s the good news - it doesn’t have to be this way. Well-designed eLearning can respect learners’ time, build on what they already know, and use clear structure, visuals, and assessments that actually help people grow. That’s the kind of learning people don’t just complete, they remember. So I’ll ask again: What’s your biggest eLearning bugbear? Drop it in the comments 👇

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In L&D, we do a lot of measuring completion and satisfaction rates, but not a lot of tracking our impact. I think a lot of instructional designers would like to have better measures of impact. We know we should do better, but we’re not sure what to do. It’s often tricky to even figure out what to even measure. iSpring’s recent report “The ROI Shift” asked several experts in the field for useful business metrics for L&D. Many of these are metrics that organizations may already track. If you can tie your training initiatives to data that already exists in your organization, that removes a significant barrier. It’s also a sign that you’re aligning your training with business goals and outcomes that the organization values. 1. Time to proficiency 2. First Contact Resolution (FCR) rate 3. Error rate reduction 4. Revenue per employee 5. Employee retention rate 6. Manager-rated behavior change 7. Customer satisfaction score 8. Productivity increase 9. Internal mobility rate 10. Compliance deviation reduction Of course, all of these metrics are affected by many other factors besides training. That’s part of the challenge too. We can’t easily isolate the effects of training on those factors. Manager support, available resources, time to practice, luck, and other factors affect those business metrics as well. But, if you can at least start with proactive alignment with metrics that matter to your organization, you’re already on the right track. For more on these metrics and insight on how to show the value of your training, get the full report here: https://ispri.ng/zxlNV #iSpring #InstructionalDesign #ROI

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Want to make great training, don’t have the time? ⏱️ Here’s what you might not realize: 👇 Most instructional designers are pouring time into tasks that don’t help. In fact, some of those tasks are outright engagement killers. In my latest video, I share 5 time-wasting habits that you should stop doing today. This video will help you: 🧠 Cut the fluff 🎯 Focus on what matters ⏳Reclaim your time 👉 Watch the video here and get your hours (and your creativity) back: https://lnkd.in/enjZg3iX

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