Industry Clients and My Role with Projects
Leveraged strong relationships with client SMEs and stakeholders to design custom eLearning solutions and meet organizational goals.
Collaborated with internal project managers, graphic designers, quality specialists, and developers in all phases of the ADDIE instructional design process to design and deliver engaging, instructionally sound eLearning, microlearning, and vILT solutions.
Utilized project management applications to simultaneously work on multiple projects and track course changes.
(Note: My work was all proprietary content.)
Image generated in Gemini's Nano Banana 2
Served as lead Instructional Designer and eLearning Developer for 6 Articulate Rise eLearning courses.
As a SaaS global cloud computing company, content was continually developed and updated quarterly. The client sought to quickly reach and educate its 1000+ technical sales systems engineers and channel partners, providing them with up-to-date, accurate product information and promoting more effective sales.
To design and rapidly develop 6 cloud-computing courses in Articulate Rise to capitalize on its reviewing capabilities, development features, and ability to easily update the content.
I met weekly (and sometimes bi-weekly) with SMEs to work through the subject matter using an active, accessible outline document. All changes were tracked. I provided suggestions in comments and asked questions to ensure sound instructional design.
While working on the outline, I was also building the course in Articulate Rise. By the time the outline was approved by the SMEs, I had built the majority of the course. This process saved time and money.
Next, the SMEs reviewed the course using Articulate's review features until they were satisfied and we had met the agreed-upon timeline.
Using a closed-system AI, I curated and organized the highly technical outline, providing suggestions to streamline the content and reduce cognitive load.
Graphics: I selected Articulate Rise graphics and included the company's brand icons, images, and YouTube tutorial videos.
Varied user interactions were selected in the course using Articulate Rise's features.
Learning scenario-based questions were applied to a data table for comparing software application use cases.
Formative scenario-based assessments were created after each main lesson for learners to apply their knowledge to real-life situations. AI was helpful for generating appropriate distractors for answers.
The SMEs were thrilled with the collaborative process and the time it took to efficiently design and develop the course for their technical sales systems engineers and channel partners. The presentation was well received, provided important information in a timely manner to support additional product sales, and it inspired additional projects!
Served as lead Instructional Designer for 2 regulatory compliance curriculum initiatives ($200K and $170K) for a global pharmaceutical company's employees. I focused on the visual and instructional design of the content to ensure consistency throughout the curriculum and to ensure that all compliance content was accurate and met the client's needs. My role in the development phase was to review the functionality and user experience design.
Due to rapid company growth, it became necessary to ensure everyone was well-acquainted with the company's compliance policies, the federal laws and regulations governing them, and the consequences of noncompliance. As a result, 2 compliance curriculum initiatives were formulated.
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Initiative 1: Design ~20 compliance VILT internal trainings for onboarding new employees and/or providing a refresher to existing employees on current compliance policies
Initiative 2: Design 10 microlearnings to be developed in Lectora. These compliance courses were to be approximately 10 minutes long and assigned to specific employees for completion. To validate and evaluate the training, xAPI was added to track data (e.g., who completed the course, how long the learner was on a page, correct/incorrect answers, how long it took to complete the course, etc.).
Standardized the visual design of the content for uniformity across the curriculum, but the graphic designers created the Microsoft PowerPoint templates according to the company's branding.
~Drafted ~20 VILTs by curating and organizing the content according to the main ideas of the company's compliance policies. I provided most of the "nuts and bolts" in the speaker's notes, and balanced the slides with graphics, branded icons, and main-idea bullet points to reduce cognitive load.
Wrote scenario-based questions to provide real-life examples of common compliance issues.
Tracked changes for the entire curriculum of VILTs.
Created a Microsoft Word microlearning storyboard template so a team of Instructional Designers could consistently carry standard design elements and wording throughout all 10 compliance-based microlearnings.
Wrote and designed 3 (of the 10) storyboards using company compliance policy information and a client-approved outline framework for the course.
Applied closed-system AI to generate scenario-based assessments for knowledge application to real-life compliance situations.
Designed content for 2 infographics to provide additional real-life situations and case studies to help learners recall important information. These were then designed by graphic designers.
Reviewed wireframe prototypes developed by graphic designers for these courses in Figma to ensure the images aligned with my vision and ideas for interactivity. These courses were then developed in Lectora by program developers.
Reviewed and edited these courses to ensure proper functionality and flow, resulting in a consistent, logical user experience.
Created change logs and tracked changes for the entire curriculum of 10 microlearnings.
The client loved the "boutique" feel of working with the team and was very happy with the learning solutions. The Chief Compliance Officer could now prove to regulators that employees received training on specific compliance topics in the highly regulated pharmaceutical industry. Positive feedback led to additional eLearning SOWs for more compliance-related learning solutions.
Image generated in Gemini's Nano Banana 2
I served as an Instructional Designer for several microbiology eLearning courses covering life science content for a global pharmaceutical company. My focus was on the design phase. I was a reviewer during the development phase and wasn't a part of the analysis, implementation, or evaluation phases.
Content on microorganisms, hygienic design, and microbial contamination either needed to be updated, or content didn't exist to effectively train company employees. Standard training was needed for applicable employees to address knowledge and performance gaps on handling and preventing microbial contamination across facilities.
Develop 5-6 microbiology curriculum eLearnings in Lectora or Articulate Storyline (switched midway for better mobile use) for applicable employees to provide performance support and update outdated training materials and protocols.
Using approved outlines, I authored 3 30-minute storyboards covering an introduction to microorganisms, hygienic design, and microbial contamination control.
Wrote a video script for several of these eLearning courses. A video was used as an introduction to capture learners' attention and explain why the course was essential for their daily work.
Applied various interaction types, knowledge checks, scenario-based questions, and summative assessments into these courses.
Reviewed wireframe prototypes developed by graphic designers for these courses in Figma to ensure the images aligned with my vision and ideas for interactivity. These courses were then developed in Lectora or Articulate Storyline by program developers.
Reviewed and edited these courses to ensure proper functionality and flow, resulting in a consistent, logical user experience.
Created change logs and tracked changes for the entire curriculum of 10 microlearnings.
Received positive feedback from the client. These courses completed the compliance check boxes, filled knowledge and performance gaps, and were visually appealing.
I served as an Instructional Designer, focusing my work on the design process. I was a reviewer during the development phase. I wasn't a part of the analysis, implementation, or evaluation phases.
A global pharmaceutical company wanted to create a high-level overview of its global trade policy for all employees. They wanted to use this overview as a springboard for subsequent training that delved deeper into various trade compliance topics.
A high-level illustrated video, bookended by an Articulate Storyline eLearning wrapper, was determined to be the best solution for sharing the global trade overview content. They wanted it to be "engaging" and thought that video would be the best way to present this information. This video was supposed to be 3-5 minutes.
Image generated in Gemini's Nano Banana 2
I was provided with the company's global trade policy for this overview video. It was supposed to be short (3 minutes). The project manager and I worked with the client's 2 international SMEs to define the scope and agreed that I could create 3 summative assessment questions.
I used a closed-system AI tool to capture the content at a high level and even asked it for illustrative suggestions for the graphic designer. I tweaked the content to ensure it captured the essential elements accurately. All in all, I really liked how everything came together in the script and storyboard. Then the challenges with the client started!
Upper management told SMEs that specific questions/answers must be included in the assessment after I had made my first draft. The content for these questions/answers was not all within the policy I was given, nor were these what I would consider "high-level" for an overview course. I explained the situation in terms of learning design to the SMEs, so they agreed to a course rework.
I had to work backward to design a course based on the questions, ensuring that the objectives, content, and assessment were appropriately aligned for sound instructional design.
The SMEs were very challenging. I had to explain my reasoning for any change, or potential change, I made. For example, my "understanding" and your "understanding" could be very different and cannot be truly tested. Therefore, the word "understand" should not be used within an objective. Performance-based objectives can be measured.
The video they ultimately agreed on was significantly larger in scope, including all the additional content necessary to incorporate the mandated assessment questions/answers. The video was nearly 9 minutes long, but they were happy with the results. Thankfully, the SOW had a clause for this circumstance, and the client had to accommodate the increased length.
The graphic elements in the video worked very well, and the graphic designer incorporated many of the illustrative ideas generated by the AI tool.
It would have been beneficial to participate in the analysis phase. Involving the decision-maker stakeholders earlier in the process would have been helpful as well. As a result, the issues we experience might have been minimized.
Lillian van Wyngaarden Richardson, Former Instructional Designer at LHT
"I’ve had the absolute pleasure of working alongside Margie on several internal initiatives on the same instructional design team, and I can confidently say she is one of the most talented, collaborative, and thoughtful instructional designers I’ve worked with.
Beyond her technical skills, Margie is a standout team player. She consistently fosters an open, supportive space for ideation, brainstorming, and candid conversations. She’s also deeply committed to the growth and engagement of her peers."
Jay Mikelman, Former Project Manager at LHT
"I had the pleasure of serving as the PM on several projects that Margie has been the Instructional Designer on. Margie has a strong work ethic, great attention to detail, delivers quality work, and is great at interacting with clients.
One particular project stands out in my mind when I think of Margie: A series of 15+ vILTs that Margie worked on. Over the course of the project, we had at least 6 different Instructional Designers do work. However, once Margie was put on the project, I made sure that she stayed on! She quickly took the initiative to run the project from the Instructional Design side.
Margie completed deliverables on time and routed them to the next person in the process. Her colleagues - including myself - enjoyed working with her, and she had a great relationship with the client. The project wasn't easy, and she crushed it!"
Julie Zeller, Revenue Enablement Curriculum Developer for a client
Julie shared that the Articulate Rise project I designed and developed with her team of technical cloud computing SMEs went over very well in a corporate presentation for the company's systems engineers. She said, "[The Product] went over like cherry-topped Gold, and it inspired a heck of a lot more projects for my department!"