Frameworks > Instructional Design Process

Instructional Design: Our Approach to Building Transformational Learning

Creating educational content that delivers real learning outcomes

Design Education That Delivers Business Impact

Not all content is educational, and not all education drives results.

What separates generic training content from transformational education is a structured instructional design process, customized to your SaaS business.

At SaaS Academy Advisors, we don’t follow a rigid methodology. We help you develop an instructional design process that:

  • Aligns with your business goals and user needs
  • Follows your product development cadence
  • Supports long-term skill building and behavioral change
  • Can be measured and improved over time
We pull from proven models like ADDIE and SAM, but what we deliver is a tailored instructional strategy that supports both product growth and learner success.

Our instructional design process isn’t a checklist. It’s a flexible, repeatable system we adapt to every client’s operating model. Every video, every lesson, and every course leads to impact - not just completion.
instructional design process

Core Stages of Instructional Design

Analyze & Evaluate First

Before creating any education materials, it’s essential to understand the learners and their needs. This stage ensures that training is relevant, targeted, and impactful.

Key Focus Areas:

  • Identifying the learning challenges and business goals
  • Defining learner personas and their skill gaps
  • Auditing existing content to determine what can be used or repurposed
  • Conducting research through surveys, interviews, and data analysis

This upfront evaluation helps us prioritize what to keep, sunset, and improve, so your Academy evolves with the business.

SAA Tip from Lindsay:
"The best educational programs start with a deep understanding of who you teach and why they need to learn. Skipping this step leads to content that doesn’t stick."
analysis stage
learning design

Design for Outcomes

Every asset (lesson, video, activity, or certification) is tied to a clear learning objective and a specific business goal. We reverse-engineer the content based on product behaviors you want to encourage and departmental-level outcomes you want to improve. 

We help you move from “explaining features” to driving results through education.

Key Focus Areas:

  • Establishing clear learning outcomes 
  • Backward Planning to support the desired learning outcomes 
  • Aligning assessments with outcomes
  • Structuring the learning experience 
SAA Tip from Chris:
"If learning outcomes aren’t clear and measurable, your course won’t drive real impact. Every piece of content should help learners achieve a result, not just consume information."

Develop with Flexibility in Mind

We take a modular approach to development, so content can be reused, updated, and distributed across formats and channels. This makes it easier to scale to new audiences, localize for different markets, and update quickly when your product changes. 

We can support scripting, visual planning, or production, depending on your team’s needs.

Key Focus Areas:

  • Writing scripts and developing multimedia elements
  • Designing interactive exercises, activities, and quizzes
  • Producing supporting visuals, such as slides, infographics, and animations
  • Ensuring content aligns with instructional best practices
  • Conducting beta testing to gather learner feedback before full rollout
  • Setting up the learning environment (LMS, community, in-product education)
  • Ensuring accessibility and technical quality assurance (QA)
SAA Tip from Lindsay:
"Great courses aren’t just information dumps. They are engaging, interactive, and designed to help learners apply knowledge."
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Evaluate (and Iterate)

Instructional design doesn’t stop at launch. We continuously evaluate:

  • Are users engaging?
  • Are behaviors changing?
  • Are we moving key business metrics?
We map content success to the metrics that matter and use that data to refine and improve.

Key Focus Areas:

  • Tracking learning metrics 
  • Measuring business impact
  • Gathering learner feedback for iterative improvements
  • Reviewing content performance and updating outdated materials

SAA Tip from Chris:
"Education should be a living, evolving experience. The best programs continuously adapt based on data, feedback, and business needs."

Why It Works

Our approach makes education:

  • Strategic
  • Outcome-driven
  • Flexible
  • Scalable
  • Measurable
You won’t find us stuck in old models. We use what works, and evolve what doesn’t.

Let’s build your Academy, together.

At SaaS Academy Advisors, we help SaaS companies design, develop, and scale education using proven instructional design principles. Contact Us to see how we can help you develop a custom instructional design process for your Academy.