Ways to Make Instructional Design Work More Productive and Efficient

If you’ve ever built a course from scratch, you know the drill. There are sticky notes everywhere, too many browser tabs open, a half-finished storyboard, and a deadline breathing down your neck. Instructional design is both rewarding and chaotic. The good news? With the right strategies and tools, you can streamline the process and enjoy your work instead of being overwhelmed by it. Here are some tested ways to make instructional design more productive and efficient.

1. Stop Reinventing the Wheel

Starting from zero is one of the most significant time sinks in instructional design. You open up PowerPoint or your authoring tool and face the dreaded blank screen. Instead, build a library of reusable assets. These can include slide masters, quiz formats, interaction layouts, and even voiceover scripts. Don’t underestimate old-school paper templates either. Sometimes sketching out a flow or interaction on paper before moving to digital tools saves hours of trial and error.

2. Chunk Your Workflow Into Sprints

Trying to design an entire course in one go is like trying to eat a six-foot sandwich in one bite. Break it down. Create short, focused design sprints using the following approach.

• Sprint 1 ¿ Content gathering and SME interviews

• Sprint 2 ¿ Storyboarding and flow

• Sprint 3 ¿ Visual design and prototyping

• Sprint 4 ¿ Testing and revisions

3. Get Ruthless With Prioritization

Not all content deserves a 5-minute animated interaction with custom illustrations and sound effects. Ask: What will help the learner achieve the objective? Strip away the nice-to-haves and focus on the core instructional moments. Use the 80/20 rule. 80% of learner success often comes from 20% of the content. Identify that 20% early, and design around it. Everything else can be simplified, summarized, or linked as optional resources.

4. Collaborate Like You Mean It

Instructional designers work with several subject matter experts, project managers, and stakeholders who all have opinions. If you don't establish clear communication early, you'll be overwhelmed by revision requests and contradictory feedback. Here are some tips that can help save sanity.

• Hold a kickoff meeting and define roles. Who approves what? Who provides input?

• Use collaborative tools (Google Docs, Miro boards, or review platforms like Articulate Review) so feedback is centralized.

• Never rely on vague emails like, “Can you make it more engaging?” Ask for specifics.

5. Automate the Boring Stuff

Repetition kills productivity. If you find yourself building the same drag-and-drop interaction repeatedly, consider creating a reusable module. If you're constantly formatting slides, build branded themes and master slides. On the project management side, work tracking solutions like Controlio can help you keep tabs on time spent across tasks and projects.

Bottom line

Instructional design doesn't have to be a messy, chaotic grind. With reusable templates, more intelligent workflows, collaborative habits, and the right tools, you can reclaim your time and energy. The goal isn't to crank out courses faster just for the sake of speed. You also need to design more intentionally so that your learners achieve results. Efficiency in instructional design isn’t about cutting corners. It’s about cutting clutter. Do that well, and you’ll have brain space left over for the creative magic that makes learning unforgettable.