Design documents are like the architectural concepts, “plans” and “blueprints”. In the design and development of training and educational products, we often refer to these two concepts as High Level Design Documents (plans) and Detailed Design Documents (blueprints). The high-level design document is produced after, and as a result of, the analysis phase of instructional development. In part one of this tip, we will look at high-level design documents and in part two, we’ll take a look at detailed design documents. Part 3 will illustrate their benefits, when to use them and when they may not be needed.
A high level design document is defined as an overview of the instructional program that shows how all the elements fit into the appropriate delivery system. The design document gives the big picture. It specifies the training materials you are about to develop to such an extent that others can determine the sequence of instruction and envision what the learner will experience in each component of your program.
The purpose of this document is to present the initial instructional analysis for a course or program. The aim of this analysis is to establish a shared set of principles and standards for the course or program. This analysis looks at the course or program from these three cascading perspectives:
Other items to include would be:
In part 2 of this 3-part series we will discuss how and when to use Detailed Design Documents.