Photo by: SDI Productions via Canva
You’ve likely heard this phrase before: “Know your audience!” It is one of those truths in life that crosses over many disciplines. If you’re making a speech, you need to know your audience. If you’re writing a paper, you need to know your reader. If you’re selling a product, you need to know your consumer. So, if you’re designing training, you need to know your learners!
In the world of instructional design, we call this a learner analysis. We go through the process to find out who we are designing the training for. We want to find out as much information as possible about our future learner population because we know our courses will be more effective if they’re not a “one-size-fits-all” type of course. We can conduct a learner analysis in many ways; we can interview the learners themselves, interview their managers, research general hiring requirements for the jobs they hold, or conduct surveys.
A learner analysis can affect many of the design choices we make. Here are some examples of how information about our learners can impact the instructional design of a course:
1. The number and location of our learners will affect our choice of training strategy (i.e. e-learning vs. instructor-led vs. on-the-job).
2. Our learners’ experience and knowledge level will affect our activity choices.
3. The cultural mix of our learners will affect what we say and how we say it.
4. The presence of subject-matter experts (SMEs) in our future learner group will affect the structure of our class as we may want to use them in some way to help teach the novices in the group.
5. The knowledge of any physical disabilities of our learners will affect our choice of the training room and classroom layout.
We teach new designers all the time about the importance of conducting a learner analysis, but we also stress the process need not be as time-consuming as one might fear. We encourage trainers to get to know as much as possible about their fellow employees by being social. Talk with them before and after meetings, during your lunch breaks, and at any corporate events. When you design your next training for them, you’ll already know them!
In what other ways will a learner analysis affect the instructional design of a course? Please share your ideas with our readers! Happy designing!
Check out our Instructional Design for New Designers workshop where we focus on the most critical things you need to know about your learners, where to find this information, and the entire instructional design process.
