As instructional designers, we often talk about budget constraints. We want to know how to do more with less money. But for many of us working in corporate, government, or higher ed environments, time, not money, is the real limitation.
Stakeholders want results yesterday. SMEs are busy. And…. your to-do list is growing by the minute.
So, how do you deal with the challenge and design high-quality learning fast.
This isn’t about rushing or cutting corners. It’s about being strategic with your time and making smart design decisions that protect both the integrity of the learning experience and your sanity.
Here’s how high-performing instructional designers move faster without losing quality.
1. Start With the Finish Line
Before you build anything, ask the most important question:
“What should learners be able to do by the end of this course?”
Not “what should they know,” not “what content do we have.” Instead, focus on behavioral outcomes – the skills, actions, or decisions the training needs to influence.
When you clarify this up front, you eliminate hours (or days) spent trying to guess what to include, how to structure the course, or how to measure success.
For example:
Instead of:
“This course teaches cybersecurity awareness.”
Clarify:
“After this course, employees should identify and report phishing emails using the internal system.”
Here is my recommendation: Create a one-sentence outcome statement before touching your authoring tool.
2. Design the Assessment First
Designing faster starts with designing backward.
Once you know the behavior you’re targeting, map the assessment before you write a single module.
- What would prove learners can do the thing?
- What would they need to recognize, choose, or demonstrate?
- What mistakes should they avoid?
This immediately shapes your content. No more bloated information dumps. Just focused learning tied to the desired outcome.
For example, if the goal is “choose the correct escalation procedure,” your assessment might be:
- A decision-making scenario
- A drag-and-drop workflow
- A timed case study with multiple outcomes
Here’s a time-saving tip: Use the assessment format to double as a practice activity during the course and a final checkpoint at the end.
3. Use a Lean Storyboarding Process
Detailed storyboarding is important, but it can also slow you down. The key is to find the minimum level of fidelity needed to get SME/stakeholder approval before development.
Use:
- A 1-page course map that outlines modules, objectives, and media formats
- A low-fidelity storyboard with slide titles, voiceover snippets, and interaction notes
- An optional sample screen to show tone/visual style if needed
Once that’s approved, move into development confidently without circling back to fix misaligned content.
Here’s a tip for you: Turn your storyboard into a reusable template. This cuts planning time in half on every future project.
4. Reuse and Adapt Existing Materials
You don’t need to start from scratch. Great instructional designers look for ways to reuse and adapt existing materials before creating anything new.
Check for:
- Past trainings with similar goals
- Internal documents or SOPs that can be chunked into learning points
- SME emails, job aids, or slide decks that contain raw content
Then apply your learning strategy to shape them into training components such as scenario prompts, quiz items, summaries, or voiceover content.
Here is an example of a repurpose strategy: One 30-minute webinar can become:
- 3 microlearning modules
- A set of flashcards
- A “What would you do?” scenario
- A voiceover script + downloadable guide
5. Standardize Your Interactions
Custom interactions are time-consuming. Instead, create and reuse interaction patterns that are:
- Easy to build
- Familiar to learners, and
- Effective at reinforcing key skills
Here are some examples:
- Click-to-reveal “best practices”
- Scenario > decision > feedback
- Tabbed walkthroughs
- Drag-and-drop workflows
Build a personal template library with layouts, character images, and interaction types ready to go. This avoids repetitive formatting work and allows for faster development.
Tools like Rise, iSpring, and Storyline all support templating, so use this to your advantage.
6. Batch Production Tasks
Multitasking kills productivity. Instead of switching constantly between writing, building, editing, and testing, try task batching.
Structure your design week like this:
- Monday: Script or outline all modules
- Tuesday: Record all voiceovers
- Wednesday: Build all interactions/screens
- Thursday: Run accessibility/QA checks
- Friday: Package and prep for review
This keeps you in flow and reduces errors from context-switching.
Use time-tracking tools like Toggl to identify where you’re spending the most time and optimize for future projects.
7. Pre-Empt SME Bottlenecks
SMEs don’t mean to cause delays, but waiting on content or feedback can stall your timeline fast. To keep momentum:
- Use content prompts instead of open-ended requests
(“Can you give me 2 mistakes employees make during onboarding?”) - Provide multiple-choice feedback options during review
(“Which of these 3 examples is most accurate?”) - Set a review schedule in advance—and stick to it
I recommend sending SMEs a short, bullet-point storyboard or video walkthrough rather than a full deck. It’s easier to digest, and easier to approve.
8. Accept “Done and Effective” Over “Perfect and Delayed”
You want quality, but perfectionism is the enemy of speed, and often, it doesn’t improve learning outcomes.
The best IDs aim for clarity, usability, and alignment with learning goals, not flawless animations, 10 color variations, or endlessly revised narration.
Before revising anything, ask:
“Will this improve how the learner thinks or performs on the job?”
If the answer is no, keep moving.
As a rule of thumb- If you wouldn’t notice it on your third course of the day, your learner won’t either.
Final Thoughts
Time is the invisible budget in every instructional design project. And often, it’s even more restrictive than money.
With the right strategy, however, you can move quickly and deliver effective, learner-focused courses that make a difference.
Here’s the mindset of a time-smart instructional designer:
- Plan with purpose
- Design with outcomes
- Reuse with intention
- Build with simplicity
- Review with structure
- Launch with confidence
Want More Time-Saving Design Strategies?
If this resonated with you, you’ll love my book,
eLearning Design on a Shoestring.
It’s packed with:
- Strategic frameworks for lean design
- Templates to speed up your process
- Real-world examples of fast, effective training under pressure
- Tools and shortcuts that help you create impactful learning—without the overwhelm
Grab your copy here and design smarter—no matter the timeline.
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