Rapid design is a general term that is frequently used by training professionals (much like "blended learning.") But what does it mean?

Over the years, there have been many efforts to compile average times for developing classroom training and web-based training. These averages are very useful to training professionals, but they also point to one inconvenient truth -- it typically takes a lot of time and effort to create training materials. So this begs the question, what if you don't have that kind of time? The answer is, of course, you do the best you can in the time available. And to do this, you need tools and techniques.

Probably the most common method is to leverage existing information and materials, and convert them to training as quickly as possible. For example, there are tools available that allow you to convert Microsoft PowerPoint presentations into decent quality web-based training relatively quickly, for example, an application by the name of Articulate, which can be extended using some available add-on tools. Also, Articulate can be extended to provide a high level of interactivity with another very popular tool, Adobe Captivate. There are many possible combinations of rapid development tools available, and their capabilities are constantly evolving.

What kind of time gains can be achieved? Over the years, the available data points to development times on the order of 200 hours or more for one hour of web-based training. Using tools like Flash and Authorware with HTML pages. With tools like Articulate, the time required can be reduced to approximately 80 hours. Of course, you could also create something reasonably presentable with a "non-scripted" narration of a PowerPoint, plus some quizzes for reinforcement and lower the time required to perhaps 20 hours per hour of instruction.

In summary, rapid design is largely about deciding on a set of tools that promotes the ability to develop content quickly.

Another important key (and this really can't be emphasized enough) is that you should get as much quality input from Subject Matter Experts (SMEs) as you need up front, especially with highly technical content. Lack of SME input at the beginning of a project can greatly compromise attempts to apply rapid design techniques.

Rapid design is a general term that is frequently used by training professionals (much like "blended learning.") But what does it mean?

Over the years, there have been many efforts to compile average times for developing classroom training and web-based training. These averages are very useful to training professionals, but they also point to one inconvenient truth -- it typically takes a lot of time and effort to create training materials. So this begs the question, what if you don't have that kind of time? The answer is, of course, you do the best you can in the time available. And to do this, you need tools and techniques.

Probably the most common method is to leverage existing information and materials, and convert them to training as quickly as possible. For example, there are tools available that allow you to convert Microsoft PowerPoint presentations into decent quality web-based training relatively quickly, for example, an application by the name of Articulate, which can be extended using some available add-on tools. Also, Articulate can be extended to provide a high level of interactivity with another very popular tool, Adobe Captivate. There are many possible combinations of rapid development tools available, and their capabilities are constantly evolving.

What kind of time gains can be achieved? Over the years, the available data points to development times on the order of 200 hours or more for one hour of web-based training. Using tools like Flash and Authorware with HTML pages. With tools like Articulate, the time required can be reduced to approximately 80 hours. Of course, you could also create something reasonably presentable with a "non-scripted" narration of a PowerPoint, plus some quizzes for reinforcement and lower the time required to perhaps 20 hours per hour of instruction.

In summary, rapid design is largely about deciding on a set of tools that promotes the ability to develop content quickly.

Another important key (and this really can't be emphasized enough) is that you should get as much quality input from Subject Matter Experts (SMEs) as you need up front, especially with highly technical content. Lack of SME input at the beginning of a project can greatly compromise attempts to apply rapid design techniques.