Once you have a clear understanding of the why you can then start to work on the what.

Understanding the What

The biggest question at this stage is “What problem are you solving?”

The end goal of any learning experience should be to solve a problem. The reality is that people don’t want to buy your course. They want to buy the solution that your course provides. They want a solution to the problem they have. That is the “what” you need to be clear on. What is the solution you are providing?

People don’t want to buy a drill bit, they want a hole. Focus on the problem to be solved when designing learning.

I can’t stress enough how critical this part is in the course design process.

If you do not have a clear understanding of the problem you are solving, then you will not be clear on the solution.

If you are not clear on the solution then you will not be able to articulate the desired performance outcomes. It’s critically important, as part of any sort of learning experience to have a clear understanding of the performance outcomes. It’s about what we want people to be able to do at the end of the learning. It’s understanding the end goal.

If you don’t have an understanding of the end goal, the desired performance outcomes, then you cannot create the appropriate learning journey to move people from where they are to where they need to be.

If you don’t have an appropriate learning journey, the course structure will be off, you may struggle to engage the learners and they may not be motivated to complete if they can not see what is in it for them.

You should not progress any further with your course development until you understand the problem and how your course delivers the required solution.

Questions to consider:

• What is the problem you are solving?
• What is the solution?
• What are the desired performance outcomes?
• What does a successful outcome look like?