“What are common methods for gathering client feedback on instructional materials?”
“How should learning designers conduct client feedback sessions?”
“How can learning designers use change logs to gather feedback?”
“What should learning designers consider when asking clients to use track changes and comments tools to provide feedback?” “What are best practices for providing feedback to multimedia developers?”
Learning designers need to gather client feedback in order to create effective instructional materials. There are several methods for gathering feedback, including conducting feedback sessions, using change logs, and having clients use track changes and comments tools. When gathering feedback, learning designers should focus on specific issues, use clear and specific language, provide examples, prioritize feedback, and use available feedback technology. By following best practices for gathering client feedback, learning designers can create instructional materials that better meet the needs of clients and learners.
Through this lesson, you should be able to gather client feedback on instructional materials during the Development phase of a learning project.
What are common methods for gathering client feedback on instructional materials?
There are several common methods for gathering client feedback on instructional materials, including feedback sessions, change logs, and comments and tracked changes. Some development platforms, like Articulate, also offer integrated review features to support virtual feedback.
Scroll to learn more about these feedback gathering methods:
How should learning designers conduct client feedback sessions?
When conducting client feedback sessions, learning designers should keep the following best practices in mind:
Establish clear goals: It is important to establish clear goals for the feedback session, such as identifying areas for improvement or validating design decisions.
Prepare for the session: Learning designers should prepare for the feedback session by creating a clear agenda, preparing materials, and ensuring that the technology used is working properly.
Create a comfortable atmosphere: Learning designers should create a comfortable atmosphere for the feedback session, which includes being welcoming, encouraging, and respectful of clients' opinions.
Use open-ended questions: Open-ended questions allow clients to provide detailed feedback and express their thoughts more freely. These questions can also help the learning designer better understand the client's perspective and needs.
Listen actively: Active listening is critical during client feedback sessions. Learning designers should avoid interrupting or arguing with clients and instead, focus on understanding their feedback and perspective.
Take detailed notes: Taking detailed notes during the feedback session helps ensure that all feedback is captured accurately and can be used to make improvements to the instructional materials.
Follow up: After the feedback session, learning designers should follow up with clients to show that their feedback was valued and to communicate any changes that were made as a result of the feedback.
By following these best practices, learning designers can conduct effective client feedback sessions that help improve instructional materials and better meet the needs of clients.
How can learning designers use change logs to gather feedback?
Change logs can be an effective tool for learning designers to gather feedback from clients. Here are some steps that learning designers can take to use change logs for gathering feedback:
Explain the purpose of the change log: Learning designers should explain the purpose of the change log to clients, which is to document all changes made to the instructional materials throughout the design process.
Ask for feedback: Learning designers should ask clients to review the change log and provide feedback on any changes made. Advise clients to provide clear, actionable feedback instead of vague comments or open-ended questions.
Organize the feedback: Once feedback has been received, learning designers should organize it in a way that is easy to understand and analyze. This can include categorizing feedback based on the type of change or the area of the instructional materials that was changed.
Consolidate and clarify the feedback: Learning designers should also review the feedback to identify and resolve any conflicting messages and clarify ambiguity.
Communicate changes to clients: Once changes have been made, learning designers should communicate those changes to clients and explain how they address the feedback that was received.
By using change logs to gather feedback from clients, learning designers can ensure that all changes made to instructional materials are documented and that feedback is considered throughout the design process. This can help improve the overall quality and effectiveness of the instructional materials.
What should learning designers consider when asking clients to use track changes and comments tools to provide feedback?
Clients can provide feedback on instructional materials via track changes and comments tools in the following ways:
Track changes: Track changes is a feature available in most word processing software like Microsoft Word, Google Docs, and others. This feature allows clients to edit the document and mark the changes they have made. Clients can use this feature to suggest changes to the instructional materials such as correcting grammatical errors, rewriting sentences, adding or removing content, etc. The changes made by the client will appear in a different color than the original text, making it easy to spot the changes.
Comments: Comments are another tool that clients can use to provide feedback on instructional materials. Clients can use this feature to add notes or suggestions to specific parts of the instructional materials. The comments will appear in a separate pane or bubble, making it easy to identify the feedback. Clients can also use this feature to ask questions or seek clarification on certain points.
To provide feedback using these tools, clients can follow these steps:
Open the instructional materials in the word processing software.
Use the track changes feature to make changes to the document. The client's changes will appear in a different color than the original text.
Use the comments feature to add feedback to specific parts of the instructional materials. The feedback will appear in a separate pane or bubble.
Save the changes and send the document back to the instructional designer or developer. The client should include a cover email or document that summarizes their feedback or concerns.
Overall, using track changes and comments tools is an efficient way for clients to provide feedback on instructional materials, which will help improve the quality of the materials and meet the clients' expectations.
What are best practices for providing feedback to multimedia developers?
Another important best practice for learning designers when gathering client feedback is to ensure that the feedback is actionable and can be clearly implemented by developers. Here are some ways that learning designers can achieve this:
By ensuring that feedback is actionable and can be clearly implemented by developers, learning designers can help ensure that instructional materials are improved based on client feedback, resulting in a better learning experience for users.
Summary and next steps
Client feedback is crucial for instructional designers to create high-quality learning materials that meet the clients' needs. Gathering feedback can be done through various methods, including face-to-face meetings, using change logs, and track changes and comments tools. During client feedback sessions, learning designers should prepare an agenda, create a comfortable atmosphere, use open-ended questions, and listen actively while taking detailed notes. Change logs can help gather feedback by documenting all changes made to the instructional materials throughout the design process, and learning designers should explain the purpose of the change log, organize feedback, consider feedback, and communicate changes to clients. Track changes and comments tools can also be used by clients to provide feedback on instructional materials. Furthermore, best practices for providing feedback to multimedia developers include focusing on specific issues, using clear and specific language, providing examples, prioritizing feedback, and using available feedback technology.
If you haven’t done so already, consider completing all the other lessons in LXD Factory’s Develop series. Otherwise, search for lessons that interest you most.
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