SAM has become well-known and popular due to its flexibility and “rapid feedback” approach. Due to its iterative nature, it is efficient, manageable, and encourages collaboration between disciplines.
With constant re-evaluation and learner involvement, designers can continually correct, develop, and implement new solutions at any point of the cycle, ultimately saving time and money compared to other long-term, drawn-out methods (ELM Learning, para. 25).
SAM encourages creativity and prototyping early on, creating tangible and concrete ideas within the first few steps.
The iterative cycle of SAM can become repetitive for some Instructional Designers and can feel perpetual, since there is always more the designer can add or adjust to the design.
SAM designs are immediately time-consuming, since they are intended to be delivered quickly rather than stretched across months. The establishment of a prototype early on can sometimes pigeonhole a designer, who refined and put in too much effort at the beginning, finding themselves married to their first iteration.
With so many stakeholder voices in the mix, collaboration can sometimes lead to a lack of cohesion.