ADDIE Model: 5 Steps to Creating Effective Training

Are you looking to organize and streamline the creation of training programs? Well, the ADDIE model of instructional design can help develop effective means of training your employees.

This methodology of instructional design has become a popular framework for course creators as it provides a structured template to the program design process.

Instructors can now use a proven repeatable process to create, build, deliver, and evaluate the effectiveness of training.

History of the ADDIE Model

Created in the 1970s for the US Army by the Center of Educational Technology at FSU, the ADDIE model became a general guideline for instructional design. It was originally derived from more complicated and broad instructional systems designs (ISDs) but boiled down to a five-step approach to training.

Each aspect of the ADDIE instructional design model represents a stage in the development of training courses.

The five stages of the ADDIE instructional design model are:

1. Analysis
2. Design
3. Development
4. Implementation
5. Evaluation

All five phases of the ADDIE learning model are equally important, each step has an outcome that feeds into the next stage.

Analysis > Design > Development > Implementation > Evaluation

5 steps of the ADDIE training process

The ADDIE training process, an instructional design model, consists of five key steps. These include analysis, design, development, implementation, and evaluation. Through systematic planning and assessment, ADDIE ensures effective training program development and delivery, resulting in enhanced learning outcomes and performance improvement.

Step #1: Analysis

The first step in the ADDIE training process is analysis. Before developing content or training strategies, conducting a thorough analysis is essential. This involves assessing the current training needs, identifying knowledge gaps, understanding the target audience, and determining the desired learning outcomes. Analysis sets the foundation for effective training design and development.

You’ll first need to answer the who, what, when, where, why, and how questions that revolve around creating training programs. These common training analysis questions are:

• WHO will require training?

• WHAT are the goals and objectives of the training?

• WHEN will you provide training?

• WHERE will the training take place?

• WHY do these employees or skills need to be trained?

• HOW will you track and measure training?

Answering these questions will enable you to create an effective training program that not only solves a problem but also aligns with business goals.

After analyzing the need for training, it’s time to start designing your learning track.

Step #2: Design

The second step in the ADDIE training process is design. After conducting the analysis phase, the design phase involves creating a detailed plan for the training program. This includes determining the instructional strategies, content structure, learning activities, assessment methods, and overall instructional approach to meet the identified learning objectives. The design phase sets the blueprint for the development and implementation stages.

The instructional design phase includes:

• Storyboarding training ideas
• Blueprinting the course outline
• Prototyping course functionality
• Mind-mapping learning path flow
• Applying UI and UX design elements

After getting input on final approval from stakeholders, department heads, and other team members, it’s time to start building your course.

Continu’s all-in-one learning software provides your organization with powerful authoring tools to create effective training materials.

Step #3: Development

The third step in the ADDIE learning model is developing the actual course or training program. It’s where instructors assemble the learning materials created in the design phase and lay out each experience of the course.

Development should follow the blueprint created in the previous step, ensuring that the training flows smoothly. The course should be engaging, appealing, informative, and easy to follow.

After materials are compiled, elements are on screen, and the curriculum is laid out, it’s time to test out the training program.

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This is an opportunity to share with executives or department heads to showcase what you’ve built. Then have them run through the training course to spot out any room for improvements, grammar or spelling mistakes, and how the training flows.

Use their feedback or suggestions to alter and finalize the course so it’s ready for learners to progress through. Now it’s time to implement your training program.

Step #4: Implementation

The fourth step in the ADDIE instructional design model is to implement the training course you’ve developed.

Using the questions answered in the analysis phase, it’s time to share the training with the segmented learners using the selected delivery method.

A modern learning platform allows instructors to easily upload, import, assign, and deliver training programs to employees whenever they are, when they need it most.

Check out how Slack used Continu to implement their “just-in-time” learning path and achieve a 100% completion rate globally!

Slack + Continu case study

Continu lets admins assign training, check who’s enrolled, and track employee training progress.

Step #5: Evaluation

The final step in the ADDIE training process is evaluation. Once the training program is implemented, evaluation assesses its effectiveness, measures the achievement of learning objectives, and gathers feedback from participants. Evaluation helps identify areas for improvement and informs future training iterations, ensuring continuous enhancement of the training program.

This phase should consist of both formative and summative evaluations:

• Formative evaluation - allows learners to rate or comment on every step of the ADDIE model training program, this spotlights any problem areas in the training program
• Summative evaluation - consists of assessments, quizzes, and feedback on training which can identify how well learners understood or retained the information

Gathering feedback from learners on every aspect of the training process is incredibly important. It provides instructors with valuable insights on how to improve and revise the training for future learners.

Continu allows learners to rate, comment, share, and submit surveys during or after training. Using that data, admins can measure training effectiveness and generate detailed reports.

Why use the ADDIE model?

The ADDIE model is beneficial to educators, instructional designers, and training developers because of its clearly defined phases making it easier to implement effective training materials. This framework allows instructors to quickly put together complete training courses that are structured, measurable, and repeatable.

ADDIE model training is a valuable resource for organizations to quickly create, launch, and optimize their instructional design process.

Advantages and disadvantages of ADDIE model

With the ADDIE design model, employees can better understand why they are being trained and the steps needed to complete the process. These training models provide guidelines to ensure courses address the learning objectives set and meet the desired expectations for the learners.

Advantages of ADDIE model

There are a number of advantages to the ADDIE model of instructional design, such as:

• Creates a structured approach to designing training programs
• Allows for a repeatable training process
• Saves time and effort for instructors or L&D professionals
• Individual elements are customizable based on your organization
• Provides valuable data on training effectiveness

Disadvantages of ADDIE model

Although the ADDIE model is beneficial for organizations to streamline their training process, it has a few drawbacks like:

• A linear process that has to fit a specific training model
• Time consuming to set up the initial training template
• Harder to deal with user generated content

Putting the ADDIE model into action

You may have a great training program, but if it’s not grounded by key learning objectives and company buy-in, it will mean little. But by using the ADDIE design model you will lay a solid foundation for your training program’s success. 

Once your course is up and running using this framework just remember to check, assess and tweak your program constantly. This will ensure your learning path is running smoothly and becomes more effective over time.