Peer Pod Coming Soon: “New to Instructional Design” — Who’s Joining Us?
We’re kicking off a brand-new Peer Pod for anyone who’s new to instructional design and you’re invited! 🎉 Peer Pods are 4-week learning groups where community members explore a topic together through weekly prompts, curated resources, and shared discussion. Whether you’re a few days or several months into your role, this is your chance to connect with peers, reflect on key topics, and build confidence together. Here’s what we’ll explore: ✨ What to focus on as you get started 📦 Intro to Articulate 360 + course design best practices 🤝 Tips for working with SMEs 💻 Best practices for incorporating AI By the end, you’ll walk away with a stronger foundation and a group of peers cheering you on. 🗓 Start Date: Monday, January 12, 2026 Participants will be added to the private Peer Pod group about a week before we begin. 👉 Want to join? Fill out the registration form. 💬 Your turn: What Peer Pod topics do you want to see next? If you could join a focused 4-week learning group, what topic would you choose? Drop your ideas below so we can build pods around what you want most. 🙌How does your organization support different ways of thinking and working?
For the neurodivergent folks in L&D… Lately I’ve been thinking about what it’s actually like to build learning experiences with a neurodivergent brain, ADHD in my case. Not just how it influences my design decisions (as mentioned in my previous post), but how it shapes the experience of doing this work inside a team. For me, neurodivergence shows up as a kind of heightened sensitivity to flow, clarity and cognitive load. It helps me spot moments where a learner might lose their place, or where a step needs more framing to feel safe and predictable. That part has become a real strength. But there’s another layer I don’t see discussed much in our field: How well do our teams understand the way our brains work? Not in a clinical sense, more in the everyday reality of collaboration, feedback, expectations, and creative problem-solving. Things like: having time to process before diving into solutions getting clear checkpoints instead of vague “keep going” feedback having tools and structure that reduce mental friction balancing flexibility with predictability For some of us, these aren’t preferences. They directly affect how well we can design. So I’m curious to hear from others who identify as neurodivergent, in whatever way that shows up for you: Do you feel like your strengths and challenges as a neurodivergent designer are understood in your team or workflow? And how does your neurodivergence influence the way you approach learning design itself? Share only if you feel comfortable. I know these conversations can be personal. But I also think they make our craft stronger, because the more we understand our own brains, the better we design for everyone else’s.Passport Challenge: Badge Updates, Highlights & Upcoming Events
Great news, travelers! ✈️ All badges earned so far (except Voyager — those will be added at the end) should now appear on your profiles. If anything looks off, just let me know, and I’ll get it sorted. Remember, the Passport Challenge runs through January 5th, so there’s still plenty of time to level up and earn those badges! 🎉 This Week’s Highlights A huge shout-out to our badge earners so far! Tier 1 Members who’ve earned 3+ badges: JudyNollet Nedim Silverfire Seb_Daubert elizabeth ThierryEMMANUEL JHauglie HillaSchlegel jveedubs SandyMyers LeeMillardButlr Kate_Golomshtok KayleneWance ClaireBogue-155 Stephanie BarryHollembeak SMcNicol FelixFranke DanThornton ChelseaYoung-6f samxuan Caitlin_B jeremykelley78 Emily02 BorgCube RonPrice JodiSansone larryvanwave-ff HoneyTurner JenniferThom012 BenjiLukas Mb06 hannahrad22 DaisyWoods-2947 RamonTalavera-0 CydWalker_mwh RehanTT JulieBaker-ad32 RhondaRolf-1090 TamaraCraft-62f RomanieRoach-e9 SyedAmjad-Ali Tier 2 Members who’ve earned 5+ badges: Emmanuel_Kegler Lori_Morgan GolfPrincess AbigailVettese PaSchl Jonathan_Hill Michelle_Brooks MrugeshJani Marie-Pierre701 DanBoylandUK Ekaterina_V MeeraLynn-UK VickyAttridge 🌟 Most Badges Earned (so far!) Emmanuel_Kegler is leading the way with 7 badges — just one more to reach Globetrotter status! 🎁 Prize Reminder Tier 2 = Entry into our Articulate swag drawing Tier 3 (Globetrotter) = A chance to win our Grand Prize: a Fujifilm Instant Film Camera! 🚀 Keep the Momentum Going Here are a few ways to earn more badges this week: Weekly Challenge: Share Your 2025 E-Learning Challenge Highlights Upcoming Webinars: Overview of AI Assistant in Rise - Dec 16 Edit AI Images Using Free Windows Tools - Dec 16 Quick Tips & Tricks: Episode 120 - Dec 18 Join the Conversation - Jump into these recent discussions and share your insights: How does your organization support different ways of thinking and working? by smous Help with multiple packages that make up one course by RachelDavis-7dd Welcome Center: Say hi to a new member! Share Examples Hub: Post a project — and remember, sharing your challenge submissions is a great way to earn badges and contribute to the community! 💡 Weekly Pro Tip: Check out the latest Made by Members featuring portfolio examples. Participating in the Passport Challenge is a great way to sharpen your portfolio and showcase your skills! 💬 Join the Conversation What’s one badge you haven’t earned yet but plan to tackle this week?How do you evaluate the flow of a course?
Hi everyone, I’ve been thinking a lot about flow in Storyline and Rise courses. Not the visuals or interactions, but the way ideas move, build and connect for the learner. When I review courses, flow is often the first thing I look at, because so many issues trace back to it. A course can be beautifully built, but if the flow is unclear, the learner has to work harder than they should. Here are a few questions I often ask myself: Does each screen naturally lead to the next? Does the learner know why they’re seeing this information now? Is anything arriving too early, too late or without enough context? Are we building on what the learner already knows, or jumping around? Is there a moment where the pace suddenly gets heavier? These small checks often reveal more than a long checklist ever could. I’d love to hear how others approach this. When you evaluate the flow of a course, what do you look for? Are there signals or questions you rely on to check whether the experience “moves” the way you hoped? Always curious to learn from different perspectives.Screen focus
I’m curious how others approach screen focus during reviews. Lately, when I’m looking at Rise courses, I keep coming back to one question: What is the learner supposed to do differently after this screen? When that’s hard to answer, I usually find the screen is: trying to cover more than one idea mixing purposes (teaching + explaining + assessing) or using an interaction that doesn’t really support an action I’ve started using a simple constraint to guide decisions: one screen supports one outcome one interaction supports one decision or action It’s helped me simplify reviews more than tweaking layouts or adding features. How do you decide when a screen is “doing too much”? Would love to spark a conversation on how other learning professionals check for screen focus during review.Need help with a error 153 embedding youtube videos into articulate storyline.
Need some help, I am trying to embed a youtube video into my Articulate Storyline and I am getting the error 153 for the player. I looked up all the fixes....and it says to clear the history and disable add-ons. I did all that, but the issue remains. Any help would be greatly appreciated. Thank you. here is the code I am trying to embed using insert video from website. <iframe width="560" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/dMauWKPy1hM?si=kUKoQBqniQFjHtSH" title="YouTube video player" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" referrerpolicy="strict-origin-when-cross-origin" allowfullscreen></iframe>Generate Phonemes using AI and a Dictionary
Pronunciation is a challenge at times, especially when the same word is pronounced differently depending on its "use." We use a combination of IPA phonemes and basic phonetics (phonics). I use an AI chat to generate the SSML code, then place it in a SharePoint library for when I need it again. The same voice may get it right one time, but not the next, so I never know when I'll need the phoneme. Given that the Articulate voices don't allow emphasis on syllables, this is the best method I've found so far. If anyone has a better way, it would be most appreciated if you would share, thank you! This is very basic, but it does work when needed. Here is an example of the AI prompt: Please generate the phoneme SSML code for the word "<word>" and use https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary to obtain the phonemes. Example for "use" as a noun: <speak> <phoneme alphabet="ipa" ph="ˈjuːs">use</phoneme> </speak> Example for "use" as a verb: <speak> <phoneme alphabet="ipa" ph="ˈjuːz">use</phoneme> </speak>How being neurodivergent shapes my work in learning design
Hi everyone, Something I do not talk about often is how being neurodivergent, specifically ADHD, has shaped the way I approach learning design. For a long time, I thought of it as something I needed to manage quietly. Over time, I realized it has actually helped me see learning experiences in a very unique way. It makes me pay close attention to clarity. It makes me sensitive to moments where a learner might lose their place. It helps me notice when information is doing too much or arriving without enough context. And it reminds me that people process ideas in many different ways. When I build or review a Storyline or Rise course, I often think about: What helps someone stay oriented • What reduces unnecessary cognitive effort • What keeps the experience predictable enough to feel safe • What gives the learner room to pause and understand These are things I learned because I needed them myself. I have come to see neurodivergence as something that sharpens my awareness rather than something separate from my work. It helps me design with more empathy, more structure and more intention. Did you know that ADHD is over-represented in creative and human-centered fields? It often shows up as strengths in structure awareness, flow and learner perspective. If you feel comfortable sharing, I would love to hear how who you are influences the way you design. Which parts of your own lived experience shape your approach to learning?Mentors PLEASE!
What advice can you give to a lonesome Instructional Designer at a mid-size company that is a unicorn at her company, meaning, I don't really have anyone to bounce ideas off of, check usability or practice new skills with. Other than online communities (which are amazing) what are some other tis and tricks you could share to help me boost my skills and try new things that will help me progress as an ID but also give my company what they need/want?
