Instructional Design Services for Corporate Training
For L&D, HR and compliance teams that need training people can apply on the job, not just click through.
IKHYA's instructional designers analyze the performance gap, write measurable learning objectives, storyboard every screen and turn your experts' content into courses that run in your LMS.
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- Since 2010Delivering eLearning
- 500+Projects
- 40+Countries with clients
- 120+Specialists
What are instructional design services?
Instructional design services plan how people will learn a job skill before any course is built. A designer studies the audience and the performance problem, sets measurable learning objectives, chooses practice activities and assessments, and writes the storyboard. IKHYA does this for organizations worldwide, then builds the course in your authoring tool as SCORM or xAPI.
Why L&D teams choose IKHYA for instructional design
Design and build in one team
Our instructional designers work alongside the developers who build the course, so the design you approve is the course you get. We have delivered eLearning since 2010 and completed 500+ projects.
Your authoring tool, your LMS
We design and build in Articulate Storyline 360, Articulate Rise 360, Adobe Captivate, Lectora, iSpring Suite, dominKnow ONE and Elucidat, and publish to SCORM 1.2, SCORM 2004, xAPI or HTML5.
Designed for global teams
We have clients in 40+ countries and localize courses into 40+ languages with human or AI voiceover, so the design can plan for translation from the start.
Accessible from the first storyboard
We build accessible eLearning to WCAG 2.1 AA and Section 508, so needs such as captions, keyboard use and color contrast can be planned in the storyboard instead of added at the end.
Not sure which option is right for you?
Send us what you have and we will tell you what we would do with it.
In-house, freelance or an instructional design company: which should you hire?
If you are deciding how to get instructional design done, these are the three common routes. Each one fits a different situation.
| Question | In-house instructional designer | Freelance instructional designer | Instructional design company |
|---|---|---|---|
| Best when | Training need is constant and close to your business | One clear project with a short scope | Several courses, tight deadlines, or design and build needed together |
| Skills covered | One person's skills | One person's skills | Designers, developers, media, voiceover, QA and LMS testing |
| Who manages the work | You | You, including any other specialists you hire | The company's project team, with your reviews |
| Capacity | Fixed headcount | Depends on the freelancer's availability | Can add people when scope grows |
| Watch out for | Hiring time and fixed cost | Single point of failure, gaps between design and build | Make sure you see real examples and meet the people doing the work |
An instructional design consultant usually advises on strategy and design. An instructional designer and eLearning developer role combines design with building the course. A company like IKHYA covers both, which matters when the course must work in your LMS on day one.
What our instructional design services include
Analysis
- Stakeholder and SME interviews
- Audience profile: roles, prior knowledge, devices, languages
- Performance gap analysis: what people need to do differently and why they are not doing it now
- Recommendation on whether training is the right fix, and in what format
Design
- Measurable learning objectives linked to on-the-job tasks
- Design document: structure, approach, activity types, assessment strategy
- Screen-by-screen storyboards with on-screen text, narration script, visual notes and interaction details
- Scenario and branching designs for decision-based practice
- Knowledge checks and scenario-based assessments
- Evaluation plan built on the Kirkpatrick levels
Build and launch Design and build projects
- Course built in your authoring tool, with alpha and beta review versions
- Voiceover scripts ready for human or AI voiceover
- LMS testing before handover
- Source files, so your team can update content later
| Category | What IKHYA works with |
|---|---|
| Output formats | SCORM 1.2SCORM 2004xAPIHTML5 |
| Authoring tools | Articulate Storyline 360Articulate Rise 360Adobe CaptivateLectoraiSpring SuitedominKnow ONEElucidat |
| LMS testing | We test every course in your LMS. LMS platforms we have delivered courses to include Moodle, TalentLMS, Docebo and Cornerstone. |
Planning a whole program rather than one course? Our guide to eLearning content development explains how content moves from SME knowledge to a finished course.
ADDIE, SAM or action mapping: which design approach fits your project?
These are the three design approaches buyers ask about most. They are not rivals: many teams use ADDIE as the overall structure, SAM-style prototypes to test ideas early and action mapping to decide what goes into the course.
The ADDIE model has five phases: Analysis, Design, Development, Implementation and Evaluation. Its roots are in instructional systems development (ISD) for military training. A 1975 model written by Florida State University's Center for Educational Technology for interservice training used five phases named Analyze, Design, Develop, Implement and Control.
SAM (the Successive Approximation Model) is described by its developer, Allen Interactions, as an agile model with three phases: Preparation, Iterative Design and Iterative Development. It uses early prototypes so stakeholders agree on the design before changes become expensive.
Action mapping starts with a measurable business goal, then asks what people need to do, what makes it difficult and whether training is part of the solution at all. Practice activities come first, and learners pull information only when an activity needs it.
| Question | ADDIE | SAM | Action mapping |
|---|---|---|---|
| Starts with | Analysis of needs and audience | A short preparation phase and a brainstorm | A measurable business goal |
| Shape | Phases in sequence, with evaluation | Short repeated cycles of design and review | A map linking goal, actions and practice |
| Strength | Clear sign-offs and documentation | Problems show up early in prototypes | Cuts content that does not change behavior |
| Watch out for | Late surprises if no one sees a prototype | Needs reviewers available for frequent feedback | Needs stakeholders who agree on the goal |
| Good fit | Compliance, regulated content, large programs | New formats, uncertain requirements | Behavior change, sales, service and safety skills |
How IKHYA uses them: we use ADDIE as the backbone of every project, so you get clear sign-off points. Within it, we use action mapping in the analysis to decide what the course must make people do, and we prototype one key interaction before full development, the way SAM recommends.
How we write learning objectives that change performance
A learning objective states what a learner will be able to do after the training, in a way you can observe and measure. Good objectives drive everything else: the practice activities, the assessment questions and the evaluation plan.
Weak: "Understand the refund policy."
Strong: "Process a customer refund request in the order system, applying the three refund rules, without supervisor help."
The weak version cannot be tested. The strong version names an action, the conditions and the standard, so the course can give people practice at exactly that task.
Many designers use the revised Bloom's taxonomy to pick objective verbs. Its six levels run from remembering, understanding and applying to analyzing, evaluating and creating. For workplace training, most objectives should sit at "apply" or above, because the job asks people to act, not recite.
Two research findings shape how we turn objectives into practice:
Testing helps people remember. In a 2006 study in Psychological Science, students who took recall tests remembered much more after 2 days and 1 week than students who restudied, although restudying looked better after 5 minutes.
Timing matters. A 2006 review of 317 experiments in Psychological Bulletin found that the best gap between study sessions grows as the period people need to remember for gets longer. That is why refresher questions and microlearning follow-ups work well for skills used months later.
How an instructional design project works
- 01
Discovery call and scope
Who: you and IKHYAWe learn your goal, audience, existing content, LMS and deadline.
- 02
Needs and task analysis
Who: IKHYA, with your SMEsWe interview SMEs and, where possible, people who do the job, and define the performance gap.
- 03
Learning objectives and design document
Who: IKHYA drafts, you reviewWe set the objectives, structure, activity types and assessment plan.
- 04
Storyboards and scripts
Who: IKHYA drafts, you reviewEvery screen is written and specified before the build starts. Your sign-off here locks the content.
- 05
Prototype
Who: IKHYA builds, you reviewWe build one key interaction or scenario so you can test the look, feel and difficulty.
- 06
Development with alpha and beta reviews
Who: IKHYA builds, you reviewWe build the full course in your authoring tool. Two review rounds are included.
- 07
LMS testing and launch
Who: IKHYA, with your LMS adminWe test tracking, completion and scoring in your LMS before go-live.
- 08
Evaluation
Who: IKHYA and youWe measure against the plan agreed at the start, from quiz results to on-the-job behavior.
New to the first steps? Read our guide to training needs analysis, or see what a good storyboard contains in our eLearning storyboard template guide.
What drives the cost of instructional design?
Every project is quoted on its scope, so there is no standard price. These are the factors that move the number most:
What to send us for an accurate quote
Send us
- Existing content: slides, manuals, ILT guides or old courses
- Your brand guidelines
- LMS name and the standard it needs (SCORM 1.2, SCORM 2004 or xAPI)
- Sample of a course your team liked, if you have one
Tell us
- The business problem the training must solve
- Who the learners are, how many, and in which countries and languages
- Who your SMEs and reviewers are, and how much time they have
- Your deadline and any compliance or accessibility requirements
Instructional design results
B2B SaaS sales onboarding
Sales onboarding for 20 new reps a quarter: 91% product-knowledge average
- The project
- A UK B2B SaaS company was onboarding about 20 sales reps every quarter with PowerPoint decks and manager shadow time. We designed a 4-part blended program, eLearning plus virtual instructor-led sessions, covering product features, objection handling and upselling. The new hires averaged 91% on the product-knowledge assessment, 29 points higher than the previous launch, and ramped up faster in Q1.
- The build
- The 4 parts: a product tour with software simulations, objection-handling branching scenarios, upsell playbook microlearning and a certification quiz. Built in Storyline 360 in 8 weeks. Days to first closed deal fell from 64 to 47.
Insurance claims, design only
A needs analysis that turned 40 hours of SME slides into a 6-hour role-based curriculum
- The project
- A US insurance company's claims department needed better training for its 600 adjusters. We ran SME interviews and a job-task analysis, wrote action-mapped learning objectives and delivered a design document and storyboards for 9 modules, which the client's in-house team built. Time to competency for new adjusters fell from 14 weeks to 10.
"We asked for more training and got a better question first. The needs analysis showed us what our adjusters really needed, half the slides became job aids, and our own team could build the courses from IKHYA's storyboards."
Other IKHYA projects include a compliance overhaul that raised completion and pass rates from 61% to 82% across 1,200 employees, and a safety simulation that reduced near-miss incidents.
Instructional design services: frequently asked questions
They usually cover needs analysis, learning objectives, a design document, storyboards and scripts, practice activities and assessments, and an evaluation plan. With IKHYA you can also have the course built, tested in your LMS and localized.
ADDIE is a five-phase framework for designing training: Analysis, Design, Development, Implementation and Evaluation. It gives a project clear stages and sign-off points.
A consultant is usually one person who advises on strategy and design. A company brings designers, developers, media, QA and LMS testing, so it can take a course from analysis to launch.
Learning objectives state what a learner will be able to do after training, in terms you can observe and measure. They decide the practice activities, the assessment and how you evaluate success.
We work in Articulate Storyline 360, Articulate Rise 360, Adobe Captivate, Lectora, iSpring Suite, dominKnow ONE and Elucidat, and publish to SCORM 1.2, SCORM 2004, xAPI or HTML5. LMS platforms we have delivered courses to include Moodle, TalentLMS, Docebo and Cornerstone.
Yes. We have clients in 40+ countries and localize courses into 40+ languages with human or AI voiceover. Designing with translation in mind from the start means text space, voiceover and visuals are planned for every language version.
Every project is quoted on its scope. Course length, interactivity, media, languages, the authoring tool, review rounds and LMS testing drive the cost.
It depends on the depth of analysis, course length, interactivity, media, languages and how quickly your reviewers respond. Share your deadline in your quote request and the timeline is planned around it.
Yes. We convert PowerPoint decks, classroom (ILT) material and older courses into eLearning, and work with your SMEs to check accuracy.
Ready to design training that works on the job?
Tell us what your people need to do differently. We will send a scoped proposal and a free quote.
Working to a formal process? Submit an RFP Email: info@ikhya.com
