Instructional Designer vs Learning Designer vs eLearning Developer

Let's explore the differences and similarties

What's the difference?

Many organisations searching for a freelance instructional designer are actually looking for a combination of instructional design, learning design and digital learning development skills. This article explains the difference so you can select the most appropriate role for your requirements.

The terms instructional designer, learning designer and eLearning developer are often used interchangeably.

While there is overlap between the roles, they focus on different parts of the learning design process and support projects in different ways.

Understanding the differences can help when deciding what type of support your organisation needs, particularly when learning projects are under pressure and additional capacity is required.

Instructional Designer

An instructional designer focuses on how people learn and how content can be structured to improve performance.

The role is often concerned with analysing requirements, defining learning objectives, organising content and deciding the most effective way to help learners gain knowledge, skills or confidence.

Instructional designers frequently work with subject matter experts, stakeholders and learning teams before any classroom or digital learning content is developed.

An instructional designer manages the end-to-end design process through to evaluation, covering face-to-face training, virtual learning, eLearning, in isolation or a blended approach combining all three.

Typical activities

  • Learning needs analysis
  • Learning objective development
  • Audience analysis
  • Assessment design
  • Storyboarding
  • Working with SMEs and stakeholders
  • Structuring learning journeys
  • Training course or programme design
  • eLearning content design, where no eLearning developer exists

Learning Designer

A learning designer often works at a broader programme level.

Rather than focusing solely on individual courses or modules, learning designers look at how different learning activities fit together to create a complete learning experience.

This may include classroom learning, virtual learning, coaching, self-directed learning, digital learning and workplace application.

Typical activities

  • Learning pathway design
  • Programme and curriculum design
  • Blended learning design
  • Facilitator guide development
  • Learning architecture
  • Programme planning
  • Learning experience design
  • eLearning design, where no eLearning developer role exists

eLearning Developer

An eLearning developer is responsible for building the digital learning product.

Using approved designs, storyboards and learning requirements, eLearning developers create the final learning experience using specialist tools and platforms.

Depending on the project, this can include creating interactions, animations, assessments and responsive learning modules.

Typical activities

  • Articulate Storyline development
  • Articulate Rise development
  • Evolve development
  • Interactive learning creation
  • Assessment build and testing
  • SCORM packaging
  • LMS preparation and deployment
  • Quizzes and assessments

Where the roles overlap

In reality, the boundaries between these roles are not always clear.

Many experienced freelance learning professionals regularly move between instructional design, learning design and eLearning development depending on the needs of a project.

Smaller organisations often need one person capable of supporting all three areas, while larger teams may split responsibilities between specialists.

Which role do you need?

You may need an Instructional Designer if:

  • Your content is complex
  • Learning objectives are unclear
  • Subject matter experts need support structuring content
  • You need assessments and learning outcomes defined

You may need a Learning Designer if:

  • You're creating a programme rather than a single course
  • Multiple learning components need connecting
  • You need blended learning solutions
  • You're redesigning a learning curriculum

You may need an eLearning Developer if:

  • The design work already exists
  • Storyboards are complete
  • You need courses built quickly
  • You need Articulate Storyline, Rise or Evolve expertise

In reality, many organisations benefit from a combination of all three skill sets. This is particularly true for smaller teams, where one experienced freelance learning professional may support instructional design, learning design and digital learning development throughout a project.

In a nutshell

If you're trying to define learning objectives, structure content or turn expert knowledge into learning, an instructional designer is usually the right place to start.

If you're creating a wider programme or learning journey, a learning designer can help shape the overall experience.

If the design work is complete and you need digital learning built, an eLearning developer can create the final learning assets and modules.

In practice, many projects benefit from a combination of all three skill sets.

Need additional support?

Whether you need instructional design expertise, programme-level learning design or digital learning development support, bringing in freelance resource can help maintain momentum and deliver projects without adding permanent headcount.

You may find these services useful: