Organizations often focus on the finished course when they think about custom eLearning development. They picture interactive modules, engaging graphics, branching scenarios, and polished videos. But the success of any custom eLearning project is usually determined long before the first screen is designed.
The discovery and planning phase lays the foundation for everything that follows. Taking time to understand the business goals, learners, existing content, technology, and project constraints helps avoid expensive rework later. In fact, many of the delays and frustrations organizations experience with custom eLearning projects can be traced back to skipping or rushing these early conversations.
Whether you’re planning to outsource eLearning or build it with your internal team, here’s what should happen before development begins.
Why Is Planning So Important?
Custom eLearning is an investment. Unlike off-the-shelf courses, it is built specifically for your organization, your learners, and your business objectives.
Good planning helps ensure that:
- Training solves the right business problem.
- Learning objectives align with organizational goals.
- Subject matter experts use their time efficiently.
- Development timelines remain realistic.
- Budgets are spent on features that add value.
- Stakeholders stay aligned throughout the project.
The more clarity established upfront, the smoother the rest of the project becomes.
What Business Problem Is the Training Intended to Solve?
The most successful custom eLearning projects begin with a business conversation instead of a discussion about courses, authoring tools, or course length.
Organizations often approach a learning team with a request such as, “We need training on our new process,” or “We need an eLearning course for our managers.” While those requests may be valid, they don’t necessarily explain the underlying problem the organization is trying to solve.
Before development begins, experienced instructional designers and eLearning consultants work with stakeholders to understand the desired business outcome. Is the goal to reduce errors? Improve productivity? Accelerate onboarding? Increase sales? Support a technology implementation? Meet a regulatory requirement? Clarifying the business objective helps ensure the learning solution is designed to produce measurable results rather than simply deliver information.
When learning is connected to a clearly defined business objective from the start, every design decision from learning objectives to scenarios to assessments can be aligned with the outcomes the organization hopes to achieve.
Creating a Future State Description
Why is an Audience Analysis Important?
One of the first steps in custom eLearning development is conducting an audience analysis. Effective training is designed around the people who need to apply that knowledge on the job.
An audience analysis helps instructional designers understand the learners’ roles, responsibilities, existing knowledge, work environment, and the challenges they face. It also identifies factors that influence how learning should be designed, such as available time, technology access, language requirements, accessibility needs, and whether learners are completing training in an office, remotely, or on the production floor.
Questions often explored include:
- What job roles will take the training?
- What do learners already know, and what skills or behaviors need to change?
- What motivates this audience?
- What situations will they encounter when applying the learning?
- How much time can they realistically dedicate to training?
- Will they access learning from a desktop, tablet, or mobile device?
- Are there accessibility, language, or localization requirements?
- What barriers could prevent learners from successfully applying what they learn?
A thoughtful audience analysis helps instructional designers make informed decisions about course structure, examples, scenarios, assessments, and learner interactions. Rather than creating generic content, the learning experience can be tailored to reflect the audience’s daily work, making the training more engaging, practical, and ultimately more effective.
What Content Already Exists?
One common misconception is that custom eLearning development always starts from scratch. In reality, organizations often have valuable content that can be repurposed, including:
- Instructor-led training materials
- PowerPoint presentations
- Process documentation
- Job aids
- Videos
- Standard operating procedures
- Existing eLearning courses
During discovery, instructional designers review available materials to determine:
- What can be reused?
- What needs updating?
- What information is missing?
- What should be retired completely?
This content audit often reduces both development time and overall project cost.
How Should Subject Matter Experts Be Involved?
Subject matter experts (SMEs) are critical to successful custom eLearning development because they provide the expertise instructional designers rely on to create accurate, relevant learning experiences. At the same time, SMEs are often balancing full-time operational responsibilities, making their time one of the project’s most valuable resources.
Successful projects don’t ask SMEs to design the training. Instead, instructional designers structure the process so SMEs can focus on what they do best: validating content, explaining complex concepts, identifying common learner challenges, and reviewing materials for accuracy. Clear expectations around review cycles, approval responsibilities, and decision-making authority help keep projects moving while minimizing bottlenecks.
When SMEs and instructional designers each play to their strengths, the result is training that is both technically accurate and instructionally effective.
Streamline Your SME Review Process
Why Build a Prototype Before Developing the Entire Course?
For larger or more complex custom eLearning development projects, many organizations choose to develop a prototype before full production begins.
A prototype is an early sample of the course that demonstrates the overall learning experience. Depending on the project, it may include the visual design, navigation, learner interactions, sample assessments, branding, and one or two representative content sections. The goal isn’t to create a finished course, it’s to validate the direction before investing significant development time.
Reviewing a prototype gives stakeholders an opportunity to provide feedback on elements such as:
- Overall look and feel
- User experience and navigation
- Instructional approach
- Level of interactivity
- Branding and visual design
- Tone and writing style
- Accessibility considerations
Making adjustments during the prototype stage is far more efficient than revising dozens of completed modules later. Once stakeholders approve the prototype, the development team can apply the same design standards consistently across the remainder of the project, reducing review cycles and improving overall project efficiency.
For organizations developing multiple courses or enterprise learning programs, a well-designed prototype often becomes the blueprint for future learning assets, creating greater consistency while accelerating development.
How Building an eLearning Prototype Saves Time and Money
Which Learning Strategy Makes the Most Sense?
Not every topic needs a one-hour interactive course. Experienced instructional designers evaluate the best approach based on the learning objectives.
|
Business Need
|
Possible Learning Solution
|
|---|---|
Product knowledge |
Interactive eLearning modules |
Software training |
Screen simulations and job aids |
Leadership development |
Scenario-based learning as part of a blended learning solution |
Compliance |
Knowledge checks and assessments |
Performance support |
Job aids and microlearning |
Reinforcement |
Short videos, quizzes, or follow-up resources |
What Technology Considerations Should Be Addressed Early?
Technology decisions can significantly influence the scope, timeline, and long-term success of a custom eLearning project. Rather than selecting development tools first, experienced learning teams evaluate the technology ecosystem the learning will need to support.
This includes understanding how the learning will be delivered, tracked, maintained, and updated over time. For example, organizations may need to determine whether courses will be hosted in an LMS, embedded within another business application, or delivered through a learning experience platform (LXP). They may also need to consider reporting requirements, accessibility standards, single sign-on (SSO), integration with HR or talent systems, localization, and mobile access.
Early technology discussions also help determine technical requirements such as SCORM or xAPI compatibility, multimedia capabilities, data security, and future maintenance. Addressing these questions before development begins reduces the likelihood of costly redesigns and helps ensure the finished learning solution fits seamlessly into the organization’s broader learning technology strategy.
What Does Success Look Like?
Before custom eLearning development begins, organizations should agree on what success looks like. While it’s important to track learning metrics during development, those measures are only part of the story.
Learning metrics help the learning team evaluate the effectiveness of the course itself. These might include completion rates, assessment scores, learner satisfaction, or time spent in the course. They can identify opportunities to improve the learning experience, but they don’t necessarily demonstrate business impact.
The metrics that matter most to organizational leaders are business outcomes. Depending on the initiative, success might be measured by faster onboarding, increased sales, fewer operational errors, improved compliance, reduced support calls, higher customer satisfaction, or increased employee productivity. In some cases, organizations may also track quality improvements, reduced safety incidents, or shorter time to proficiency.
By identifying these business metrics before development begins, instructional designers can build learning experiences that support the desired outcomes rather than simply transferring information. Learning objectives, practice activities, scenarios, and assessments can all be intentionally aligned with the performance changes the organization hopes to achieve.
Ultimately, learning metrics help improve the training. Business metrics help determine whether the training made a meaningful difference.
Business Metrics Every Instructional Designer Should Know
What Should Be Included in the Project Scope?
Scope is much more than the number of courses. Early planning should define:
- Number of modules
- Estimated seat time
- Interactions
- Videos and animations
- Voiceover requirements
- Assessments
- Accessibility standards
- Translation needs
- Branding requirements
- Review cycles
- Delivery deadlines
Clear scope reduces misunderstandings and helps keep projects on schedule and within budget.
What Questions Should You Answer Before Starting Custom eLearning Development?
Before engaging an internal team or deciding to outsource eLearning, it’s helpful to gather answers to a few key questions.
|
Question
|
Why It Matters
|
|---|---|
What business problem are we solving? |
Keeps training focused on measurable outcomes. |
Who are the learners? |
Influences instructional design and user experience. |
What existing content is available? |
Reduces unnecessary redevelopment. |
Who approves content? |
Prevents review delays. |
What technology requirements exist? |
Ensures compatibility with your LMS and systems. |
How will success be measured? |
Connects learning to business results. |
What timeline is required? |
Helps allocate resources appropriately. |
Answering these questions before development begins creates a much stronger foundation for the entire project.
Why Many Organizations Choose to Outsource eLearning
Internal learning teams often have the expertise to manage learning strategy but lack the capacity to build large-scale digital learning programs while supporting day-to-day operations.
Many organizations choose to outsource eLearning because it allows them to:
- Scale development capacity quickly.
- Access specialized instructional designers, multimedia developers, and eLearning developers.
- Meet aggressive project deadlines.
- Introduce fresh ideas and best practices.
- Maintain internal focus on strategic initiatives.
Rather than replacing the internal learning team, outside specialists often become an extension of it, accelerating projects without sacrificing quality.
Preparing for a Successful Custom eLearning Development Project
Successful custom eLearning development rarely begins with storyboards or graphics. It begins with thoughtful conversations about business goals, learner needs, existing content, project governance, technology requirements, and the outcomes the organization hopes to achieve.
Organizations that invest time in discovery and planning are more likely to deliver learning that is relevant, engaging, scalable, and aligned with measurable business results. Whether you’re partnering with one of many learning and development companies or expanding the capabilities of your internal team, a well-planned custom eLearning development project creates a stronger foundation for learning that delivers lasting value
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Frequently Asked Questions About What Happens Before Custom eLearning Development Begins?
What happens before custom eLearning development starts?
Before development begins, organizations typically conduct a discovery phase that includes identifying business goals, understanding the target audience, reviewing existing content, defining project scope, selecting technology, and establishing success metrics.
Why is the discovery phase important in custom eLearning development?
Discovery helps ensure the training addresses the right business problem, aligns stakeholders, reduces unnecessary revisions, and creates a realistic timeline and budget.
Should we outsource eLearning development or build it internally?
The answer depends on your team’s capacity, expertise, and project timeline. Many organizations outsource eLearning development when they need specialized skills, faster delivery, or additional development resources without hiring permanent staff.
How long does the planning phase usually take?
For most projects, discovery and planning take anywhere from a few days to several weeks, depending on project complexity, the availability of subject matter experts, and the amount of existing content that needs to be reviewed.
Can planning reduce the cost of custom eLearning development?
Yes. Thorough planning often identifies reusable content, clarifies project scope, and prevents costly changes later in development, helping organizations make the most of their investment.
What is the biggest mistake organizations make before starting a custom eLearning project?
One of the most common mistakes is jumping straight into course development before clearly defining the business problem, learner needs, and desired outcomes. Taking time to answer these questions upfront typically leads to better learning experiences and stronger business results.
