Every time we start a new eLearning project, there are plenty of question we ask, or should ask. Most are pretty obvious but here is a short list of questions to consider when starting your next project:

  1. What is the end goal of your project and how would you recognize the project as being a success?
  2. Who are the audiences that will interact with this project? Remember to include facilitators, administrators, and future content editors.
  3. What is the engagement level for this project? How interactive should this project be? What should be the audiences reaction to using this project?
  4. What type of training is this? Examples are new hire training, compliance training, sales and marketing training, medical device showcasing, management/leadership training, safety training, CME and CE accreditation, and process training.
  5. What delivery method would your audiences use? This includes PC, Mac, iPads, Android based tablets, phones, etc.
  6. What technologies are preferred? Examples include a custom Flash or HTML5 project, Adobe Captivate, Articulate Storyline, Articulate Presenter, Lectora, a video based project, or a custom app.
  7. What is the estimated seat time? This is the general length of time a learner should spend going through the material.
  8. What compliance is required, if any. Does the LMS require SCORM (1.2/2.4) , AICC, TIN CAN API, or a custom method?
  9. What requirements would test the learner's understanding and ability to perform after using this project? This might include multiple choice questions, knowledge checks, simulations, interactive decision trees, etc.
  10. What is the culture and brand of the company or product and how can that be integrated into the project?
  11. How would audio narration, videos, animations, and interactives better express the material to the learner?
  12. How often does the content change? This may factor into how the project is built so that it is easy to edit and manage.
  13. What subject matter experts would be required and involved in the development of this project?
  14. What projects are currently used or seen that would work well or wouldn't work well?
  15. What material is available to use? This might include text, images, videos, animations, etc.
  16. What combination of eLearning plus live training would be valuable for the learner?

There are a lot more questions to ask when defining the type of project that would best meet all goals and objectives, and lots and lots of brainstorming following that, but this list should give you a good start.

What other questions are on your list?