What Is Instructional Design?
Instructional design is the process of turning information into a structured learning experience that changes what people can do at work. It covers needs analysis, measurable learning objectives, course architecture, practice activities, and assessment - decided before a single screen is built, and grounded in how adults actually learn.
Instructional Design vs eLearning Development
Instructional design is the thinking layer: analysis, learning objectives, and course architecture that decide what goes in the course and why. eLearning development is the building part - turning that blueprint into a working, SCORM-ready course in tools like Storyline and Rise. We do both, so nothing gets lost in the handoff.
Who These Services Are For
L&D managers with more courses than bandwidth, HR and compliance teams facing an audit deadline, training and consulting companies white-labelling course builds, and subject matter experts sitting on deep knowledge with no way to teach it at scale.
CONTACT FOR A FREE QUOTE - WITHIN 3 BUSINESS HOURS
Get Your Free Proposal
Send a message or book a 30-minute discovery call directly below. We'll introduce you to a Learning Advisor with experience in your industry - no obligation, just mutual fact-finding to confirm we can help.
What To Expect
Fill out the form
Share your project scope and a Learning Advisor will be in touch within 3 business hours.
30-minute discovery call
We align on learner profile, content, target locales and timeline - no sales pressure.
Proposal in 24 hours
You receive a fixed-price proposal with a committed delivery window - no hidden fees, no surprises.
NDA before files move
We sign a mutual NDA before you send a single source file. Encrypted transfer as standard.
No time works for you? Email venchito@rainmakermastery.com and we’ll arrange a schedule.
Instructional Design That Goes Beyond Slides
Most course design out there is just formatting content into a nicer-looking slide deck. Real instructional design starts with how people actually learn and builds every eLearning course around that.
We Start With the Gap, Not the Content
Before we design anything, we figure out what learners can’t currently do and why - a focused needs and learner analysis, not a guess based on the source material. The result is a course aimed at a real performance gap, so you’re not paying to train people on things they already know.
Every Course Is Built on Clear Objectives
We define measurable learning objectives before any screen is built, using proven frameworks like ADDIE and SAM. Those objectives drive the content, interactions, and assessments - nothing goes in unless it moves a learner toward them. That makes success measurable instead of a matter of opinion.
Interaction and Scenarios That Earn Their Place
Passive click-through courses don’t change behavior, so we design for active practice: decisions, scenarios, and real-world application. Learners make choices, get consequences, and build judgment they can use on the job. The goal is competency, not just completion.
Assessment That Proves It Worked
We design assessments alongside the course, not as an afterthought. Knowledge checks and scenario-based questions tie directly to your objectives, so you can show what learners retain - and connect training to on-the-job results.
The Learning Science We Actually Apply
Adult Learning Theory
Andragogy: adults learn when the content is relevant to a problem they have right now, and when they can bring their own experience to it.
Cognitive Load
We strip out anything that competes for working memory - no decorative animation, no narration that reads the screen aloud, no wall-of-text slides.
Retrieval Practice
Learners are asked to recall and apply, not just recognise. Pulling information out of memory is what makes it stick, not reading it again.
Bloom’s Taxonomy
Objectives are written at the level the job actually demands - apply and evaluate, not just remember - so the assessment matches real performance.
Our Instructional Design Services
Pick the piece you need right now, or hand us the entire project. We cover the full instructional design lifecycle, whatever shape your content is in and wherever your team is in the process.
Needs & Learner Analysis
We pin down the real performance gaps, who your learners are, and what they actually need to do differently - so the course is built on evidence, not assumptions. Covers training needs analysis, task analysis, content analysis, and competency mapping.
Learning Objective & Curriculum Design
Clear, measurable objectives mapped into a logical learning path. The blueprint every eLearning course is built on, using the ADDIE and SAM frameworks.
Custom eLearning Course Design
Our full course design service - turning your existing content into SCORM-ready, WCAG-accessible courses built around objectives instead of reformatted slides.
ILT to eLearning Redesign
We don’t just convert classroom decks to screens - we re-architect them for self-paced learning, so nothing gets lost when the instructor disappears.
Scenario-Based & Microlearning Design
We craft decision-driven scenarios and bite-sized modules that build real judgment and fit learning into the flow of work.
Assessment & Evaluation Design
Knowledge checks and assessments tied directly to your objectives, plus evaluation that connects training to on-the-job results - so you can prove it worked.
Job Aids & Performance Support
Not everything needs to be a course. We design quick-reference guides, checklists, decision trees, and software walkthroughs that sit in the workflow and cut the need for training in the first place.
Blended, VILT & Mobile Design
Where self-paced eLearning isn’t the whole answer, we design the blend: facilitator guides and participant workbooks for ILT and VILT, plus mobile-first modules for frontline and deskless teams.
AI-Assisted Instructional Design
We use AI to accelerate drafting and storyboarding without cutting corners on learning science - faster builds with the same instructional rigor.
Need the build as well as the design? See custom eLearning development, rapid eLearning, gamification, legacy content conversion, localization and translation.
What You Actually Receive
Instructional design is easy to talk about and hard to pin down, so here is exactly what lands in your inbox. Every item below is a real file you own at the end of the project.
Learning Design Document
Target audience, performance gap, terminal and enabling objectives, module map, instructional strategy, and assessment plan. Signed off before build starts.
Storyboard
Screen-by-screen: on-screen text, narration script, visual direction, interaction behaviour, and developer notes. Your SMEs approve the content here, before it costs anything to change.
Assessment Bank
Knowledge checks and scenario questions mapped one-to-one against your objectives, with feedback written for every option - not just the right one.
Published Course Package
A tested SCORM 1.2, SCORM 2004, xAPI or cmi5 package, ready to upload to your LMS. Tracking, completion rules and scoring configured and verified.
Editable Source Files
The Storyline or Rise project files, so your team can update the course in-house later without coming back to us. Flag it at proposal stage and we scope it in.
QA & Accessibility Report
A written record of the functional QA pass and the WCAG 2.1 AA check - keyboard navigation, colour contrast, alt text, captions - so your compliance team has evidence, not a promise.
A Proven Process Behind Every Course
We follow established instructional design methodology - not a make-it-up-as-we-go approach - so every project runs on a predictable path from raw content to results-driven courses.
Grounded in ADDIE and SAM
ADDIE (Analyze, Design, Develop, Implement, Evaluate) gives every project a clear backbone, so nothing gets skipped between understanding the problem and proving the course worked. SAM layers in fast, iterative review cycles so you can shape the course as it takes form.
From Content to Course in Four Steps
Send your content - PowerPoint, PDF, Word, or a webinar recording - with no extra prep on your end. We run a discovery call to align on goals, learners, and timelines, then build the course with two review checkpoints. You receive a tested, WCAG-accessible SCORM package ready to upload.
Built and Tested With Industry-Standard Tools
We build in the tools the eLearning space runs on - Articulate Storyline and Rise. Every course is SCORM 1.2, SCORM 2004, or xAPI compliant, and passes QA plus an accessibility check against WCAG 2.1 AA before launch. The result is tested, compliant, and accessible on day one.
The Five Stages, And What Happens In Each
1. Analyse
Performance gap, audience, source content audit, LMS and delivery constraints, success measures.
2. Design
Objectives, module structure, instructional strategy, assessment plan, interaction design. Checkpoint 1.
3. Develop
Storyboard, visuals, voiceover, build in Storyline or Rise, functional QA and accessibility pass. Checkpoint 2.
4. Implement
Publish, upload to your LMS, test tracking and completion end to end, hand over source files.
5. Evaluate
Completion and score data, learner feedback, and where you want it, on-the-job impact against the original gap.
Tools, Platforms & Standards
Design decisions are made with your platform in mind from day one, so nothing breaks at upload. Here is the stack we build in and the standards we publish to.
Authoring Tools
Articulate Storyline 360 and Rise 360 as standard. Adobe Captivate, Lectora, Camtasia, Vyond and Canva where a project calls for them.
LMS Platforms
Courses are tested against the LMS you actually use - Moodle, Canvas, TalentLMS, Docebo, Cornerstone, SAP SuccessFactors, Workday Learning, Open edX, or your LXP.
Content Standards
SCORM 1.2, SCORM 2004 (2nd to 4th edition), xAPI and cmi5. We confirm the right one during discovery rather than defaulting and hoping.
Accessibility
WCAG 2.1 AA checked on every course, aligned with Section 508 expectations. Keyboard navigation, screen reader labels, contrast ratios, captions and transcripts.
How We Prove the Training Worked
Completion rates prove attendance, not learning. We design evaluation against the Kirkpatrick model so you can answer the question your stakeholders will actually ask: did anything change?
Level 1 - Reaction
End-of-course survey built into the package: relevance, clarity, confidence to apply. Included in every build.
Level 2 - Learning
Scored assessments mapped to objectives, with optional pre and post comparison so the gain is visible. Included in every build.
Level 3 - Behaviour
Manager observation checklists and follow-up prompts at 30 or 60 days, designed alongside the course. Scoped on request.
Level 4 - Results
We tie the course back to the business metric named in discovery - error rates, ramp time, audit findings, conversion. Scoped on request.
Where you publish to xAPI or cmi5, we can also design the statements your LMS or LRS captures – so you get data on what learners did inside the course, not just whether they finished it.
Industries We Design For
Instructional design is the same discipline everywhere, but the constraints are not. Regulated industries need audit trails. Frontline teams need mobile. Distributed teams need translation. We design for the constraint, not around it.
Healthcare
Clinical protocols, patient safety, and regulatory training where completion records have to stand up to an audit. Healthcare eLearning solutions.
FMCG & Retail
High-turnover, distributed frontline teams who need short mobile modules and fast product refreshes. eLearning for FMCG.
Training & Consulting Firms
White-label course design for firms productising their IP or scaling delivery beyond the classroom. Solutions for training companies.
Manufacturing & Industrial
Safety procedures, equipment operation, and SOP training where getting a step wrong has physical consequences.
Financial Services
Compliance, AML and product training that has to be current, provable, and dull-proof enough that people finish it.
Technology & SaaS
Software onboarding, partner enablement, and customer education built around the tasks users actually get stuck on.
Training Programs We Design
The same design discipline, pointed at the programs L&D teams are most often asked to fix.
Employee Onboarding
Structured first-90-days paths that cut time to competency instead of dumping policy documents on week one. Onboarding eLearning.
Compliance Training
Scenario-led compliance that survives training fatigue and still produces the completion record you need. Compliance training.
Safety Training
Hazard recognition and procedure training designed for recall under pressure, not recall in a quiz. Safety training.
Sales Training
Branching conversation practice where reps rehearse objections and get feedback that teaches. Sales training eLearning.
Product Training
Modular product knowledge that can be updated per release without rebuilding the whole course. Product training.
Blended Programs
Programs that mix self-paced modules, live sessions and on-the-job practice into one designed path. Blended learning.
Pricing
Simple. Transparent. No surprises.
Fixed pricing. Fixed timelines. Every price is per course (30 to 60 minutes of seat time). You always know exactly what you’re getting before you commit.
Rapid Build
Clean, guided courses for essential knowledge
$2,999
per course
• 30-60 min seat time
• Limited interactivity: click-to-reveal, tabs, drag-and-drop, scored quizzes
• Custom, on-brand visuals
• AI / Human voiceover
• SCORM 1.2 / 2004 or xAPI / cmi5
• WCAG 2.1 AA accessibility check
• Kirkpatrick L1-2 built in
• 2 review rounds
• 5-7 week delivery
Recommended
Professional Build
Full interactivity with a named on-screen facilitator
$4,500
per course
• 30-60 min seat time
• Full interactivity: branching scenarios with real consequences
• Custom animation + named on-screen facilitator
• Feedback that teaches after every decision
• AI / Human voiceover
• SCORM 1.2 / 2004 or xAPI / cmi5
• WCAG 2.1 AA accessibility check
• Kirkpatrick L1-2 built in
• Priority project manager
• 3 review rounds
• 6-8 week delivery
Enterprise Build
Maximum depth: simulation and fully custom design
$7,500
per course
• 30-60 min seat time
• Simulation: adaptive branching + software / process sims
• Fully custom design + motion graphics
• Named facilitator + scenario storytelling
• AI / Human voiceover
• SCORM + xAPI / cmi5
• WCAG 2.1 AA accessibility check
• Kirkpatrick L1-4 evaluation design
• Priority project manager
• 3 review rounds
• 8-10 week delivery
What moves the price: seat time, depth of interactivity, number of branching scenarios, human versus AI voiceover, translation into additional locales, and how many review rounds you need. Running several courses? Bundle pricing brings the per-course cost down. For a full breakdown of what drives cost across the industry, see our eLearning development costs guide.
Three Ways To Work With Us
Not every team needs the same thing. Some hand over a project and disappear. Some want a designer sitting inside their sprint. Pick the shape that fits.
End-to-End Project
You send the raw content, we return a finished course. Fixed price, fixed timeline, two review checkpoints, and a package that uploads clean.
Multi-Course Program
A curriculum rather than a course. Shared design standards, a reusable template, and bundle pricing that drops the per-course cost.
Staff Augmentation
An instructional designer working as an extension of your L&D team - in your tools, on your standards, filling a bandwidth or skills gap without a headcount req.
Get Your Free Proposal
When you fill out this form, we’ll introduce you to your personally selected Learning Advisor with experience in your industry, who will book a meeting with you to discuss your potential project.
There’s no obligation – just mutual fact-finding and information gathering to ensure there is mutual fit and that we can help you. That’s where the conversation starts.
We will get back to you within 3 business hours.
No time works for you? Email venchito@rainmakermastery.com and we’ll arrange a schedule.
Frequently Asked Questions
Some of the most common questions we get asked about our instructional design services.
Services, Pricing & Process
Instructional design is the thinking layer: analysis, learning objectives, and course architecture that decide what goes in the course and why. Development is the building part – turning that blueprint into a working, SCORM-ready course in tools like Storyline and Rise. We do both, so your course is grounded in learning science and looks professional.
Fixed per-course pricing starts at $2,999 for a Rapid Build (30-60 minutes of seat time), $4,500 for a Professional Build with full branching interactivity, and $7,500 for an Enterprise Build with simulation. Price is tied to scope: seat time, level of interactivity, number of scenarios, voiceover type, locales, and revision rounds. You’ll know the exact price before any work starts. For L&D teams with multiple courses, bundle pricing brings the per-course cost down. Standalone pieces like a storyboard or a learning design document are quoted separately and cost less than a full build.
A Rapid Build runs 5-7 weeks, a Professional Build 6-8 weeks, and an Enterprise Build 8-10 weeks from kickoff to a tested package in your LMS. A single microlearning module can be faster. The biggest variable is not our build time – it’s how quickly your SMEs turn around the two review checkpoints.
You don’t need polished content. We can work from your existing PowerPoints, PDFs, Word docs, webinar recordings, and SME interviews. Part of our job is turning messy, scattered source material into structured courses.
We treat your SMEs as the source of truth. After an initial knowledge-gathering session, we handle the instructional design heavy lifting and bring your SMEs back only at review checkpoints to confirm accuracy.
Yes. Plenty of teams have developers but no designer. We can deliver the learning design document, storyboard and assessment bank on their own, and your team builds from it. We can also review a course you have already built and tell you what is working instructionally and what isn’t.
Tools, Platforms & Standards
We publish to standards, not to a single platform, so the course works wherever you host it – Moodle, Canvas, TalentLMS, Docebo, Cornerstone, SAP SuccessFactors, Workday Learning, Open edX, or an LXP. Tell us your platform during discovery and we test the package against it before handover rather than after.
All of them. SCORM 1.2 and SCORM 2004 for standard LMS tracking, xAPI where you want richer data on what learners did inside the course, and cmi5 where you need structured delivery with xAPI-level reporting. We confirm the right one in discovery so you don’t discover a mismatch at upload.
Every course passes an accessibility check against WCAG 2.1 AA before launch, aligned with Section 508 expectations – keyboard navigation, screen reader labels, colour contrast, alt text, captions and transcripts. You get a written report, not just a claim.
We use AI to speed up the mechanical parts: first-draft storyboards, restructuring messy source content, drafting distractors for assessment questions, and generating alternate scenario branches. Every learning decision – objectives, sequencing, what counts as competent – stays with the instructional designer, and a human reviews every screen before it reaches you. AI-generated voiceover is available if you want it, and human voiceover if you don’t.
Yes. Because we design with localization in mind – text kept out of images, layouts built to expand – adding locales later doesn’t mean rebuilding. See eLearning localization and translation.
Engagement, Ownership & Maintenance
Both. You can hand us a complete project end-to-end, bundle multiple courses, or bring us in as an extension of your L&D team to design alongside your in-house staff. We help fill the specific gaps you have – bandwidth, specialized skills, or both.
We design assessments and evaluations alongside the course, tied directly to your learning objectives. Kirkpatrick Levels 1 and 2 – learner reaction and scored learning – are built into every course. Levels 3 and 4, behaviour change on the job and business impact, are scoped on request and designed around the metric you named in discovery.
You fully own the finished courses and the content outright once the project is complete. Source-file access (editable Storyline/Rise files) can be included so your team can make future updates in-house – just flag it up front so we can scope it in.
Yes. Policies change, products evolve, and compliance rules get revised – so we refresh existing courses rather than rebuilding them from scratch. Teams that expect frequent updates often work with us on an ongoing basis.
We sign a mutual NDA before you send a single file, and transfer is encrypted as standard. Your content is used for your project only – not as training data, not as a portfolio piece, unless you explicitly agree to it.