Crafting the best learning and development solutions requires a healthy dose of creative thinking. But creativity can sometimes feel elusive, especially when there are deadlines, learning objectives, and multiple stakeholders in the mix.

At Maestro, creativity and innovation are among our primary values—they’re woven into everything we do, from strategy to service to design. And while our team of learning creators never fails to deliver the highest quality learning experiences, they’re not unfamiliar with the phenomenon of feeling creatively blocked. But that feeling doesn’t stop them; to them, it’s an opportunity. An opportunity to take a step back, get outside, fall in love with art again, and put themselves out there. An opportunity to enter into a “state of play.”

World-renowned graphic designer Paula Scher describes being in a state of play as “having the ability to freely associate and see new possibilities and combinations in old ideas that become new again.” In her article “10 Rules for Play” for the Figma blog, she encourages somewhat unorthodox activities—like sitting in a waiting room, changing your tools, and initiating your own cluster—to get the creative juices flowing again.

Inspired by Scher’s advice, we’ve compiled our own list of tips, taken directly from our team of learning innovators, to reignite that creative spark.

Maestro’s “10 rules for play”

While the following list doesn’t consist of “rules,” per se, it does consist of tried and true methods for breaking through creative blocks in order to create truly innovative learning development solutions. But these methods can also be applied to any creative endeavor, learning-related or not—our team applies these methods to their creative pursuits outside of work, including stained glass artwork, murals, children’s picture books, illustrating, and more.

1. Get out of your head, and into your body

Sometimes, the best thing you can do for a project is leave it alone (temporarily, of course). A watched pot never boils, right? So go outside, get your blood pumping, and give yourself some room to move.

“Breathe fresh air and clear your mind. If I’m ever in a slump, or needing clarity on a project or problem, I throw on a weighted rucksack and walk the trails in the woods behind my house. It’s a one-mile loop, which keeps it around a 20-minute walk with no music, no podcasts, no notifications. This brief escape almost always clears my mind and allows room for creative thinking, exploration, and problem-solving.”

Getting into your body doesn’t always mean going outside. Sometimes, it can simply mean using your hands to make something new.

“Get away from the computer and go ‘hands-on’ with creativity. I’m a big fan of painting (I paint very small things like monograms to large things like murals) so creating art, sketching ideas, and even lettering helps get my creativity flowing a bit. I also enjoy organizing or cleaning something when I’m experiencing a creative block. It’s a quick task and a bit of problem-solving that helps you think about how something fits into your routine or a small space.”

2. Prioritize input over output

In a similar vein, this tip urges you to turn your attention away from your project or work in progress for a time. Focus on absorbing what you love instead of worrying about what you have to produce—after all, you can’t pour from an empty cup.

“As a writer, if I’m trying to create something new and original but am feeling stuck, I immerse myself in other media and art forms—music, paintings, food. Nothing gets me more inspired than experiencing someone else’s inspiration (or the product of their inspiration). It makes me fall in love with creativity all over again, and a little ‘if they can do that, so can I’ can be a great motivator.”

Prioritize your input if you want a great output. Consider what you’re using as inspiration and context as you delve into a creative project.

“Continuous learning is key. You can’t just come up with relevant and novel ideas out of thin air, it requires noodling on the subject matter, hearing other takes on it, and engaging in networked thinking. There’s a great concept out there called the ‘mind garden’ that talks about the curation of ideas. As an example in this context, you’d take idea ‘seeds’ from one podcast you listened to and combine it with idea ‘seeds’ from a book you read, to form your own unique understanding of the connection points between the two. Eventually, you’d share your own idea ‘seeds’ with others, allowing the process to repeat itself.”

3. Take notes

Not every idea will be a winner, but they’re still worth writing down. Especially if you, like our Customer Success Manager, Sean—who pursues art in the form of stained glass in his free time—don’t have a ton of time to explore and experiment with your creative outlet.

“Working full-time and parenting means I normally have a limited window (after my children’s bedtime and before mine) to sit and focus for a couple of hours. At times, it can be difficult to enter the right mindset during a predetermined period without some inspiration. To ensure I’m not starting from a blank creative state each time I sit down, I tend to carry a small pocket notebook with me where I jot down notes and quick sketches. Referencing these ideas usually helps provide any spark that’s needed.”

4. Don’t take notes

Yes, this tip is the opposite of the previous one. But while taking notes works for many people, sometimes it’s more beneficial to hang on to the idea for a while before writing it down. It all depends on your unique creative process.

“Let the idea bake. Historically, I’ve been quick to jot down ideas that I have, writing out my thought process so I don’t lose them. What I’ve found is that this almost locks an idea in prematurely, and stunts any further development of that thought. If I resist the urge to write an idea down and trust that the important details will resurface if they’re truly important enough, the idea continues to evolve, and I can actually communicate it to others more easily because I can speak to it more flexibly, rather than being too rigid about what I’m communicating.”
—Daniel Bedich, Director of Product Design

5. Procrastinate

Not every moment has to be a productive one. Every now and then, a bit of procrastination can be healthy for the creative process and lead to the greatest breakthroughs.

“I never feel more creative than when I can’t be at my desk. Doing the dishes, running errands, stuck somewhere boring, that’s when I often get urges to work. When I do these boring necessities with a specific idea in mind, I find that I’m able to let new connections bubble up to the surface. More directly, if I’m working on a project that I’m intimidated by, it’s so helpful to do all the ‘boring’ legwork before I start getting creative—organizing my files and resources so I don’t have to go looking, setting up my artboards and layers so that I can visualize my limitations, and so on. When I’m feeling nervous about getting started on the ‘real’ work, I no longer have those tasks to procrastinate with.”

“Inspiration doesn’t always strike when I want it to. I’ll often have to force myself to sit in a quiet room and let my mind wander and put in the hours of sitting with the idea. Sometimes I get sick of working on something to the point of feeling hopelessness creep in, and it negatively (and incorrectly) impacts how I view the work I’ve done so far. So when I feel too close to a project, I jump ship. I let it go completely and give myself permission to not care about it for a hot second. When I care too much, I’m often keeping myself from doing what’s best for the project. So I abandon ship, jump into the water, and go for a swim until I feel excited to get back onto the ship.”

6. Keep learning

Great art requires thought and effort. It’s a misconception that creativity is a spontaneous force. The most effective outputs, for learning or otherwise, are created with intention.

“A writer that I admire, Shea Serrano, once said that he found his writer’s block was often a result of not doing enough research. I think that’s true in design as well. It’s really difficult and even irresponsible to try to design for something you don’t fully understand. Designers are visual communicators, and that means you should ideally be able to ‘speak’ intelligently about what you’re designing for. That goes for art as well—art should have an intention, and to communicate your intention effectively, you should know what you’re ‘talking’ about.”
—Hank Ewbank, Senior Designer

7. Share before you’re ready

This tip might sound a bit intimidating, but it can truly save you tons of time and lighten the mental load that comes with many creative endeavors.

“My new motto is ‘share before I’m ready.’ I often wait until something feels just perfect before sharing with a coworker or client, but now I challenge myself to open up to feedback before I get into the ‘Why am I even a designer?’ rut. I’ll also give myself a shorter time limit to create, and be honest with myself about what’s really needed now and what can be refined later, which helps me feel more open to feedback—because I didn’t put my whole life into what I’m sharing—and avoid getting stuck on an ideal outcome and striving for perfection the first time around. When I ‘share before I’m ready,’ I get new ideas, see things from a different perspective, and feel more energized and less burned out.”

“Let me tell you, I get so sick of being inside this noggin of mine. It’s exhausting! Sometimes, to break my cycles of overthinking and overanalyzing, I need to get out of my head. So I pitch my ideas to anyone and everyone who will listen to me. Even if the idea is nowhere near ‘ready.’ My cat. My partner. My favorite barista. This helps me learn how to talk about my ideas, and in the process, engage with the concept in a new way, encouraging me to consider it from other perspectives. The act of saying something out loud changes things up for me. And it gives me a sneak peek of how other people will engage with my work. I learned this tip from Swedish director and Palme d’Or winner, Ruben Östlund.”
—Marion Jamet, Lead Producer + Writer

8. Generate cheap ideas

Much like sharing before you’re ready, this tip encourages you to stop striving for perfection and think of creativity as a numbers game instead.

“I have to start everything I do on paper and pen. Not nice paper, not a nice pen, just scratching out cheap and even bad ideas to get them out of my head. If I’m working on a website, I doodle some boxes to get the rough structure. If it’s a logo, I draw any idea that I think of that relates to the concept, especially my worst ideas. Productive creativity is often a numbers game, and the more ideas I generate, the more I chip away at the correct solution.”
—Hank Ewbank, Senior Designer

9. Keep it simple

Just as learning is a process, creating is also a process, and often it’s a messy one. It’s easy to get lost in the weeds of this process, especially at the beginning, when all you’re working with are abstract ideas, which are constantly changing shape. If that happens, it helps to simplify your goal.

“Sometimes I get overwhelmed when I’m in the beginning stages of a creative project. And when I have too many ideas swirling around in my head, I can lose track of what feels right. When this happens, I take a step back and simplify my goal: what do I want people to feel when they’re engaging with this? I try to keep it to a word or short phrase. Then I think about the last time I felt that way. Was I watching a movie? Was I reading a book? Was I listening to a song or reminiscing on a memory? This forces me to stop thinking and start feeling. After some successful feeling, I turn my thinking cap back on and ask why—why did engaging with this make me feel that way?”
-Marion Jamet, Lead Producer + Writer

10. Engage with others

We often view creativity as a solitary act, but sometimes the most innovative and inspiring ideas come from creative collaboration. Ideating with others can spark thoughts you wouldn’t have arrived at on your own, introduce you to new perspectives, and get your creative juices flowing.

“It’s very rare that ideating in isolation gives me the best ideas. Brainstorming and groupthink help get me out of my head and challenge me to think differently. Outside of work, I’m a pre-published illustrator and writer of children’s picture books, so I love taking classes and hosting group activities like Ladies Drawing Night, inspired by the book, to really get my creativity flowing.”

If you’re looking for ways to engage with fellow learning creatives, check out the Maestro Community, where L&D professionals share tips and insights and support each other in creating the best learning development solutions.

Creativity is at the core of all we do

At Maestro, we know that learning works best when beautifully designed. But our passionate designers aren’t the only ones who harness the art of creative thinking to create better learning experiences. Everyone in our organization thinks creatively—our strategists, our writers, our media experts, our project managers, and more.

Intentional creativity is key to designing meaningful, effective experiences that inspire learners. Take a page or two from our creative playbook and spark your next great idea.

Our eLearning development process plays a significant role in many of the L&D experiences we create—after all, our organization lives and breathes learning innovation. And while it’s often just one aspect of a more-comprehensive learning strategy, it’s an extremely important tool in any L&D toolkit.

But not all eLearning is created equally. The eLearning development process is both a technical art and a complex science. One that requires collaboration across teams, consistent checks and balances, and a range of resources. It also necessitates a long-term approach that accounts for not only conceptual creativity but also close attention to the details that make all the difference.

Here at Maestro, we’re the experts at creating amazing custom eLearning programs that create change. After 15 years in the L&D game, our approach to developing effective and inspired L&D programs is tried and true. Our incredible internal teams are pros at collaborating, brainstorming creatively in real-time, and finding learning solutions for even the toughest material. And as a result, our process is consistently top-notch, dialed in, and successful.

So whether you’re seeking inspiration for your own approach to the eLearning development process, or you’re curious about what it’s really like to partner with Maestro to develop an eLearning course, this article has you covered.

What’s in this article

We’ll give you an overview of the process, including the practices and principles that guide us through it. Then we’ll outline each stage of our process, detailing key steps and revealing how the magic happens.

What is the eLearning development process?

• Key players
• Practices and principles

Maestro’s step-by-step process

• Discovery and working session
• Outlining and storyboarding
• Design
• Development
• Reflection and delivery

What is the eLearning development process?

The process of developing an eLearning course is comprised of five key phases: the discovery and working session, outlining and storyboarding, design, development, and reflection and delivery phases.

This undertaking requires not only a step-by-step strategic approach, but also a collaborative, creative, and concerted effort from a range of learning experts across a variety of disciplines—all of which we have in-house, on the Maestro team.

Key players in the eLearning development process

Before we dive into the nitty gritty of each phase, it’s essential to outline the players integral to our multidisciplinary team’s eLearning development success:

Learning Strategist – Develops overarching strategy with the client and executes the vision as the project progresses.

Project Manager (PM) – Responsible for overseeing the project, managing timelines, and keeping the project on track and on budget.

Media team – Producers, animators, and filmmakers who create beautiful, high-quality in-course media assets, including videos, animations, and motion graphics.

Quality Assurance (QA) team – Detail-oriented professionals that conduct quality assurance before final delivery.

Design team:

• Instructional Designer (ID) – Best-in-class instructional writers who conduct interviews, digest subject matter, and write all content.
• Visual Designer – Talented creatives that design the visual look and feel of the course according to your brand specifications.
• Interactive Designer – Learning-oriented creatives that build the course and manage all User Experience (UX)/User Interface (UI) elements.

Practices and principles

Our Learning Principles constitute our foundation—the reasons we do what we do and the blueprint for how we do it. But they aren’t the only integral practices and principles guiding us through our eLearning course development process.

Principles

At Maestro, each and every team also has its own set of guiding principles that inform their unique work discipline. These principles are developed and defined by the teams themselves—after all, they’re the experts in their domains. For example, our Design team follows its unique design principles, such as “Uncenter Yourself” and “Make it Special,” while our PM team follows these four project management principles: Cultivate Client Relationships, Elevate Creative Thinking, Trust Your Instincts, and Advocate for Your Team (And Yourself).

But it’s not just our explicitly laid-out principles that make us stand out.

It’s also the way we work.

How we operate

Our principles, practices, and company culture guide us through everything we do, whether that’s developing eLearning or any other learning experience. These principles and processes make for a smooth and transparent undertaking that cultivates a rewarding customer experience. Here’s a quick overview of what it’s like to work with us.

• At Maestro, we don’t believe in silos. We work together ceaselessly as an interdisciplinary team of dedicated learning experts, continuously cultivating trust-driven connections with all of our clients.
• We’re realistic, flexible, and nimble, responding and adapting to any problems that arise throughout the eLearning development process with calmness and resourcefulness.
• We do sweat the small stuff, attending to even the tiniest of details to ensure your bespoke eLearning course is perfectly suited to your unique needs.
• We’re passionate about innovating and achieving more, putting in the work to surpass your already-high expectations and fulfill your L&D vision.
• While we have a general ideal timeline for executing eLearning experiences, we understand that many factors can impact timelines. Our learning products are custom and tailored to your organization, and we partner with every client to understand their needs, timelines, and how we can achieve the best success together.

Now that you know everything you need to know before entering into the Maestro eLearning course development process, let’s dive into the specifics.

Maestro’s step-by-step eLearning development process

An important part of our process is determining the right deliverables to meet your learning goals—if that deliverable is eLearning, here’s an overview of what you can expect from our eLearning development process.

Discovery and working session

This phase tees up the entire process while helping ensure we’re all on the same page.

Key steps

1. Review existing client materials
2. Subject Matter Expert (SME) interviews
3. Working session

First and foremost, we discover everything we need to know (and more) about you, the client.

Our team reviews relevant materials, studies your brand identity, and gains invaluable insights that will guide our future decisions.

We’re well aware that we can’t possibly be more of an expert on your content than you are! And we own that, which is why we conduct thorough SME interviews and put in extensive work to review existing content and learn the material inside and out.

During this stage, we’ll also have our foundational working session. This marks the first time most of our team members hear directly from the client while setting the tone for the whole eLearning course development project.

Here, the entire team listens, asks clarifying questions, and brainstorms collaboratively. We present our transparent and organized process. And weekly or bi-weekly live client connects—which our clients often call their favorite meeting of the week—begin here and continue through delivery.

The Maestro magic: Genuine relationships

Our multidisciplinary and multifaceted process has an information-rich, genuinely collaborative, and authentically inspired foundation.

But that’s not all.

Throughout this first step, we really build personal relationships—an essential ingredient in the special Maestro sauce. We don’t simply take orders and develop a traditional vendor relationship—one that just throws non-strategic solutions at the wall in the hope that something will stick. Instead, we till the seeded soil and allow a true partnership to grow. Our clients often call us up when they’re stuck on a learning challenge or need a sounding board—and we always answer.

Outlining and storyboarding

The outlining and storyboarding steps set the stage for the production and development phases soon to come. These steps are critical for getting aligned on content details and design direction. We use Google Docs every step of the way to maintain a collaborative and streamlined review process.

Key steps

1. Outline drafting
2. Storyboarding drafting

Outlining

In this phase, our IDs use the information we gleaned in the working session to create a first draft of the outline. Then we achieve alignment on the framework, structure, order of content, and featured topics for our eLearning course before getting too far into the project.

Next, we conduct more brainstorming with our entire internal creative team. Our multidisciplinary team focuses closely on the learning problem at hand, developing ideas for a course experience that will best serve learners. We approach the eLearning development process from a highly informed perspective, one that emerges from our Learning Principles and incorporates learning theory, instructional-and-visual-design expertise, and integrates an array of innovative modalities.

As a result, our approach and strategy are defined and finalized, and our whole design team is on the same page regarding what to expect. Then we send the draft to the client for review, validation, and feedback.

Storyboarding

Much of the pre-storyboarding work happens in the discovery phase, especially when the subject matter is complex or highly technical. But once the researching and brainstorming activities are complete, we begin storyboarding in a shared Google Doc with our tried-and-true template.

Throughout this step, we internally review everything from a myriad of unique disciplines and perspectives, discuss specs, and work collaboratively every step of the way.

More specifically, an ID writes a storyboard draft that defines content, tone, and target audience characteristics. One of our visual designers reviews it, making sure the design and production suggestions are feasible. The learning strategist reviews it, referencing the overall vision to make sure the content is solving the problem we’re intending to. The PM also reviews the storyboard, keeping in mind client needs, logistical nuances, and branding specifics.

The thorough IR completed by our entire internal project team helps ensure a squeaky-clean final product. When the time comes, we send the storyboard to the client for review so they can validate all of the details, make change requests, and ask questions.

The Maestro magic: Sharpening your ax

Everyone’s always eager for the design phase to begin, but we know from experience that it’s key to get the outline and storyboard right before going further into the eLearning development process. By identifying the optimal content and structure, and conducting a rigorous, multidisciplinary internal review, we emerge with a robust blueprint for the course—in other words, we do the heavy lifting for you.

All in all, this phase represents our obsession with checks and balances; our belief that everyone should have a role in “owning” each project. It also helps ensure that we’re delivering with exacting quality; designing the right thing and designing things right.

Our tried-and-true process in this early stage is why we’ve been able to successfully tackle eLearning module development and entire course creation on complex topics ranging from Bitcoin trading to the inner workings of complex medical imaging devices.

Design

The fun continues in the design phase, an innovative rapid elearning procedure that culminates in a design preview.

Key steps

1. Design preview
2. Begin voiceover (VO) recording

Our incredible designers start bringing our carefully constructed plans to life, elevating ideas and concepts while tirelessly tailoring everything to the client vision. First, they create a moodboard in FigJam to determine the visual look and feel of the course and review it with the client.

Then the real design preview work begins. Our Design team builds key course elements in Figma first, in order to activate our creativity, design freely, and push ourselves beyond the limits of what an authoring tool (for us, that’s typically Articulate Rise or Storyline) alone can do.

Next, our team starts designing the preview in Rise or Storyline, through a creative and cooperative process. This preview might be the first chapter of the course or a collection of branded components. Think knowledge checks, scenarios, and drag-and-sort activities. (Pssst! Do you love Articulate Rise as much as we do? Then you’ll love Mighty, our Chrome extension for doing more in Rise. Ditch the hacks and workarounds—Mighty does it all for you! Learn more here.)

Once the design preview is done, the client can review it and easily provide feedback. They will also have the opportunity to evaluate it alongside the final storyboard to see the course taking shape from both content and visual perspectives.

The PM, the Strategist, and the Design and Media teams all play significant and collaborative roles in this phase. And as soon as it’s complete, we start working on the VO recording.

The Maestro magic: Innovative capabilities

Because we have the capability to build a diverse range of learning and eLearning solutions—unlike many traditional partners—we have a better capacity for determining and creating the best solution for each kind of learning challenge. If all you have is a hammer, everything looks like a nail—but we have every solution at our fingertips as we design, so we don’t have to resort to simply throwing one type of solution at every problem.

We create our design preview through a multi-step and multidisciplinary design approach, pulling in the right tools to unleash creative freedom. We do this because Articulate Rise and Storyline are incredible tools, but limited with pre-designed authoring elements—we’re committed to pushing our courses beyond the typical cookie-cutter look. We’ve learned to push the bounds of Articulate tools, to consistently create things others thought were impossible, and better satisfy our clients’ steepest aims.

Past clients have been blown away by the brand and content-specific insights we’ve already gleaned at this point in the process, illustrating our experience when it comes to executing rapid eLearning development procedures designed to make your life easier. This is because as with storyboarding, we’ve already completed tons of “homework” before we arrive at this phase.

To sum up, this entire phase gives our brightest creative minds space to shine while helping us stay on track toward creating our shared vision.

eLearning development process

The development phase represents the real meat of our forward-thinking agile course development process.

Key steps

1. Alpha course design
2. Beta course design
3. Finalize course design

In development, we build our Alpha course, or the first iteration of the final eLearning course.

Although our Interactive Designers are leading the charge during this step, it’s a team effort to get to the finish line. Our designers and IDs are having conversations behind the scenes and the full project team is checking in weekly to support one another and work through barriers. It’s all hands on deck and the end result is better for it.

The Alpha course represents the first time anyone on the team gets to see all of our hard work come to life. Once it’s done, we conduct our robust IR once again, having the ID and learning strategist evaluate the course to ensure we’re working in the right direction. We play with the course based on that review, tweaking it and adjusting things to (near-)perfection.

Then we begin the client-review process. We offer a general overview, explain how to make comments in line with the content, and, when necessary, incorporate a live touchpoint.

Finally, we enter the Beta course phase, or the second iteration of the course. We incorporate all of the feedback, make edits, and go through the review cycle again. Finally, the client reviews the course once more and we make final changes before packaging it.

The Maestro magic: Operational excellence

Throughout this step, our internal teams always maintain top-notch quality and the highest standards possible. We do this by focusing closely on client priorities while developing the course, consistently cultivating two-way communication channels, and ensuring that the client’s thoughts are always heard and incorporated.

Our agile eLearning development philosophy is client-forward, so we do everything we can to provide maximum time for you and your team to review each version of the course.

Hey, you’re the client, and this course is for your team. That’s why we pay such close attention to your feedback while keeping our reviews quick; to maintain momentum, fulfill your unique L&D goals, and get your custom course to you ASAP. Our team has a vested interest in meeting your needs and helping your learners succeed—in short, we care.

Delivery and reflection

Last but certainly not least … we deliver your eLearning course!

Key steps

1. Deliver final materials
2. Reflection

The project culminates in the final delivery.

We ship the eLearning course along with other materials. This package usually includes a SCORM package, final assets, and the storyboard. At this point, we’re also available to support rollout, implementation, and tracking results. And oftentimes, we’re also already discussing future projects and goals with the client.

After the client gets the materials, we conduct a reflection (psst—we do a midway reflection point too!). In this step, we facilitate a live connect with key players and give and receive feedback as part of the project cooldown.

The Maestro magic: Transparency

Our reflection touchpoint allows our teams and yours to understand what worked and what could’ve been better throughout the eLearning development process. It enhances future collaborations, provides invaluable insights, and allows for closure on the project. Transparency is important!

We’ve found that this step sets the stage for a rewarding successful long-term partnership while helping us put some of the characteristics we value most—empathy, attentiveness, adaptability, and flexibility—into practice. It also gives us all an opportunity to recognize all the behind-the-scenes yet essential work that oftentimes goes unnoticed.

A principled approach to learning

Creating great learning experiences is no simple task. And eLearning courses—as well as eLearning development processes—are not created equal.

But Maestro’s principled, practiced, and highly strategic approach to the eLearning development process ensures both amazing client experiences and innovative learning experiences that truly deliver. Our strong foundation produces a consistently collaborative, rewarding process. We believe in tracking results, proving behavior change, and iterating so that we’re always outdoing ourselves. And in turn, that process produces eLearning courses that can fulfill all of your loftiest L&D goals.

You undoubtedly want a learning partner with deep expertise and capabilities in learning strategy and design, operational excellence, and creative internal and external collaboration. And it’s a sweet bonus if that partner is fun to work with, right?

Maestro checks all of those boxes. We also work tirelessly to build new boxes, allowing you to look toward the future and reimagine the possibilities of what L&D can do.