Tommy Acierno

We've all been there. New eLearning project lands on your desk. Within minutes, you're thinking about authoring tools, templates, and animations. You're already knee-deep in Development before you've done any Analysis or Design. And that's exactly where eLearning goes to DIE. Development is seductive; it's fun, it's tangible, you can show stakeholders something concrete. But if you've skipped Analysis and Design, you're building on sand. You'll end up in endless revision cycles, trying to retrofit strategic decisions into a course that's already half-built. Read why jumping to Development kills your eLearning: https://lnkd.in/eUtTQ3VK

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Most eLearning doesn’t fail because the information is wrong... It fails because it’s predictable. Learners already know what’s coming: "Welcome to this training…" Slide… narration… next… repeat. After years of producing learning content, I’ve found that small creative shifts make a huge difference. In this short video I break down 3 techniques I use to make eLearning more engaging: 🎣 1. Create stronger hooks The first few seconds decide whether learners lean in or mentally check out. Start with movement, tension, or curiosity. ✂️ 2. Remove the obvious content If something is painfully obvious, don’t explain it with text. Replace it with a visual gag, a quick moment of humour, or remove it entirely. 🔊 3. Upgrade the sound design Good sound design adds presence. Subtle audio cues, ambience, and timing can make training feel far more immersive. None of this requires huge budgets. Just better creative decisions. Training should capture attention, not compete with it. If you design training content, this video might give you a few ideas to experiment with. RDK LIVE — upgrading training to the modern era #elearning #instructionaldesign #learningdesign #corporatetraining #ld #trainingdesign

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Things Stakeholders Say During eLearning Reviews (That Keep Us Up at Night): 1. "Can we make this more fun?” But also... no jokes, no gifs, no animations, and definitely no sound. 2. “Let’s add a quiz here.” You mean… after the welcome message? 3. “Can we make the logo bigger?” Yes. Because what learners really need is branding, not clarity. 4. “This sentence is too simple.” Ah yes. Let’s complicate it so it feels more “shakespeare-ish.” 5. “I know it’s last-minute, but…” Stop. Just stop right there.   Instructional designers don’t get grey hair. We get comment threads. If you’ve survived a stakeholder review without crying, meditating, or muting your mic, teach us your ways. #InstructionalDesign

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Save 6 Figures on Enterprise Training (Without Cutting Staff) If you’re an Owner/COO/VP or Director of Training and you’re fed up with expensive eLearning programs, this new episode is for you. In my latest YouTube video and Podcast episode, I walk through the exact 3-step process I use with Enterprise Learning Accelerator clients to cut tech spend by 5×–200× and grow revenue: 1) Audit - Make a 1-page, bullet-point list of every cost + staff hour tied to training (tech, admin, content, delivery, support). Spot the leaks. 2) Simplify (80/20) - Double down on the small set of programs and activities generating most of the ROI. Eliminate the rest—including overpriced legacy platforms. 3) Automate - Use AI + modern platforms (e.g., Kajabi for customer-facing programs, TalentLMS for internal training) to scale efficiently while your team focuses on high-value work. Result: lower expenses, higher revenue, profit margins that actually move. 🎥 Watch the YouTube episode: https://lnkd.in/gRhGkh4t If you want help implementing this in your org, DM me about the Enterprise Learning Accelerator—where my team and I become your eLearning partner and build this with you. #LearningTransformed #eLearning #L&D #AIinLearning #EnterpriseTraining #ROI #Leadership

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Are you following this L&D pro? 💭 Marie-Jo Leroux 🚀challenges all eLearning instructional designers through a video game design lens, among other effective learning dev insights. Here's two actionable ideas from Marie-Jo's video "How to MEASURE TRAINING IMPACT (even with limited access)." ☝🏾 When you get a ton of static content that you need to transform into eLearning -BUT- the subject matter expert (SME) you need, is missing in action and not returning your communication, make an educated guess. The idea being your SME will either prove or disprove the angle you've taken. Maybe it causes a bit of rework, but the SME has to take a look at your minimal viable product (MVP) and when they do, you get the critical input you need. ✌🏾I've only stumbled into this next one when I delivered ILT sales training from office to office across the country. We saw gains in the offices I'd already visited (but not the ones I had yet to train). When your stakeholder doesn't have concrete data you can use to measure the impact of your learning intervention a (not perfect) solution is a control group. Deliver the learning solution to a subset of the target population (not others) and track if the trained group shows improvement over time. The idea being, if your learning/training content has solved the correct performance issue, then you should see that performance get better among the trained group. 😉 Although measuring performance impact can be challenging, especially when your client... ❌ has no relevant data to give (because they aren't gathering it), ❌ or they're unclear on what the underlying issue is, ❌ they're simply difficult to reach throughout the project. Marie-Jo's point is, when we look hard enough, we CAN find a meaningful measurement to document & track. Even if it isn't perfect, it can be a start. So, don't be afraid to think wildly about how to measure your learning impact. What is the most outlandish learning measurement you've tracked in one of your eLearning projects? https://lnkd.in/eb3c9m8W

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New Top List Release! 🏆💎 Developing high-end corporate training on tight deadlines and at a low cost is becoming more important than ever in today's fast-paced and unpredictable market. In this article, we share why rapid eLearning content development is key to saving time and resources for your organization. Dive In: https://hubs.la/Q043kT_Y0 #rapidelearning #contentdevelopment #contentproviders

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Agree with this. MVP thinking is often overlooked in L&D. It’s not the right approach for every project. But we also too often default straight to ADDIE without pausing to ask if an agile, sprint-style iteration might serve us, and our stakeholders, better. ADDIE is a great framework, but it’s not the end-all. In one of my past engagements, we leaned into an MVP approach. It not only addressed the urgent needs of my Ops stakeholders but also expanded the organization’s capacity to flex between different development approaches.

Stop underlining text in elearning, especially if it's not a hyperlink. Underlined text isn’t just a style choice — it’s a signal. On the web, underlines tell users, “This is a link.” When that signal is used for emphasis instead, readers can get confused, slow down, or even miss the real links on the page. Consistency in visual cues keeps navigation smooth and cognitive load low. In a study on link marker visualization, Böhme and Köhler (2003) found that “the standard appearance of link markers has seriously underestimated effects on the usability of web pages.” In other words, when underlines are misused, people read less efficiently. So keep underlines for hyperlinks, and use bold or italics to emphasize key ideas instead.

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Accessibility in eLearning and beyond. I’ve learned a huge amount from Esi Hardy over the years. That’s why it was such a privilege to join her to reflect on over eight years of focused work in eLearning accessibility in her latest podcast episode. I love Esi’s podcast because it genuinely represents the accessibility community. Alongside Esi, it brings together impactful voices such as Max Horton, Teresa Joy Mack, Isaac Harvey MBE and Joe Collett. It also models good practice. Each episode includes a clear summary and a full transcript that not only includes people with a range of access needs but is also great for SEO - demonstrating perfectly how accessibility and quality content go hand in hand. Here are my five key takeaways from our conversation: • We need to stop debating about whether accessible learning is possible and start acting as if it is expected. The question is how we do it, not if we should. • Standards do help. WCAG can feel complex, but it gives you a practical starting point. Without a baseline, it is very hard to make consistent progress. • Accessibility and inclusion are not the same. Something can meet requirements and still feel excluding. Inclusive learning is about the experience, not just passing technical standards. • Change happens when accessibility stops being theoretical and becomes personal. Understanding the real effect of barriers on confidence, engagement and outcomes is what makes the case compelling. • We need to move from 'advocacy to architecture'. Accessible learning is not an optional 'nice to have'. It's part of excellent learning design. You can access the full episode here. https://lnkd.in/exA9m5Du #eLearningAccessibility #DigitalInclusion #DigitalAccessibility (Episode artwork featuring Esi and Susi side by side, alongside the podcast title “Accessibility Beyond The E-Learning Content” from The Equality Edit. The page includes an audio player, a written episode summary outlining themes of accessibility and learning design, and the opening section of the full transcript.)

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🎯 New Intellum Evolve Tutorial – Timed Interactions That Reflect Real Life Timers often get a bad name in eLearning — and fair enough, when they’re used poorly. But in the right context, a timer can help replicate how decisions are made in real life. In Arck Learning's latest tutorial, I show you how to build a stylised countdown timer in Evolve, ideal for simulating high-pressure decisions in areas like emergency response, finance, and customer service. The timer is: ✅ Fully responsive ✅ Logic-based ✅ Can be set up with an optional opt-out using simple logic 📽️ Sneak peek below. To watch the full tutorial, head to the latest blog post on our website or find it on the Arck Learning YouTube channel. 💬 Want a copy of the working course file with all the logic and theming in place? Drop me a DM and I’ll send it over. #elearning #learningdesign #instructionaldesign #digitallearning #leadershipdevelopment

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