I created a job aid to guide instructional designers through initial client consultations when starting a new course development project.The tool consists of structured question sets organized into six key categories: Goals and Learning Objectives, Project Timeline, Deliverables and Scope, Design Elements, Course Organization and Structure, and Institutional or Departmental Constraints. Each question includes a stated purpose to help the ID understand why that information is critical for project planning.
The job aid was designed to solve a common challenge in our workflow. Course design involves many moving pieces that clients need todetermine upfront for us to create something they will be satisfied with. Early in my career as an instructional designer, I found that our team did not have a standardized question list, which sometimes led to consultations where we realized afterward that we had missed important questions. This tool ensures more comprehensive information gathering during Step 2 of our process (Consultation), which leads to better project proposals and fewer misunderstandings later in development.
This was originally built as a course assignment, but it addresses a real need I have experienced on my team. I plan to refine it and potentially introduce it as a reference tool for standardizing our consultation process.
The job aid is organized into six consultation areas, each addressing a different aspect of course planning:
This job aid directly supports the development of high-quality and engaging learning environments by ensuring that all foundational course elements are identified upfront. By systematically gathering information about learning objectives, audience needs, deliverables, and constraints during the consultation phase, the instructional designer can align the course design with clear goals from the beginning. This prevents misalignment later in the development process and ensures that the final product meets both learner needs and institutional requirements.
The job aid demonstrates project management skills by providing a structured framework for information gathering that leads to more accurate project scoping and proposal development. By asking targeted questions about timelines, milestones, deliverables, budget constraints, and institutional policies, the ID can coordinate effectively with all stakeholders and set realistic expectations from the start. This tool helps prevent scope creep, missed deadlines, and miscommunication by ensuring that critical project parameters are discussed and documented during the initial consultation. It supports effective collaboration between instructional designers, subject matter experts, clients, and other team members.
Creating this job aid helped me reflect on the importance of thorough upfront planning in instructional design projects. Early in my design career, I noticed that consultations sometimes felt scattered or incomplete because we did not have a consistent set of guiding questions. This resulted in gaps in our understanding of client needs, which surfaced later during development when changes became more costly and time-consuming.
By organizing these questions into logical categories and including purpose statements, the job aid not only serves as a checklist but also as a teaching tool for newer team members who might not yet understand why certain questions matter. For example, asking about institutional accessibility policies early on ensures compliance is built into the design from the start rather than retrofitted at the end.
While this was created as an academic assignment, I see clear potential for adapting it into our team's workflow. Before implementing it broadly, I would want to refine it based on feedback from colleagues and test it in a few real consultations to ensure the questions flow naturally in conversation and capture all necessary information without feeling overly scripted.