The ADDIE model is one of the most popular processes that instructional designers and training developers use. It represents a guideline for building effective training and performance support tools in five phases.

Analysis

This is the most important step in the process. Identify your audience, problems and objectives, the learning environment, and the audience’s existing knowledge and skills.

Design

The Instructional Design process deals with learning objectives, assessment instruments, exercises, content, subject matter analysis, lesson planning, and media selection. Create the course with the information obtained from the previous Analysis step.

Development

During Development you build the potential program or course. There are many steps including within the development including initial drafts, reviews, re-writes, and testing. For eLearning courses, you may need additional assistance for managing the technology-side of things also.

Implementation

The processes for Implementation vary based on the size of the organization, the complexity of the program or course, and the distribution of the materials. This includes test pilots, train-the-trainer sessions, and other methods of presenting the materials.

Evaluation

Evaluation objectives reflect many of the findings in the Analysis phase, including the objectives and expectations of the student. Remember the ADDIE model is a continuous circle of steps, so this ties directly back into the first phase.

The ADDIE model is an Instructional Systems Design (ISD) model. Using this type of model can save time and money by catching problems while they are still early and easy to fix. While there are variations of this model, the concepts are all the same. Many eLearning professionals use this model as a blue print for success.