The Present and Future of ID Practice

To further examine what designers actually do as compared to what they should do, a study of designer practice based on the “Layers of Necessity” model was conducted. The data were surprisingly homogeneous given the heterogeneous composition of the group, all members of a local NSPI chapter. Results contribute to validation of the underlying ID model and confirm previous findings that designers do not systematically perform all the steps in any ID model. Certain trends were noted; namely, an increase in the perceived importance and frequency of pilot testing, the continuing importance of “Decision Already Made” as a reason for not performing a given step, and the parallel between the steps perceived as most necessary and those performed most often. Based on these data and other studies of ID practice, the future of ID practice appears to be moving toward design of learner-centered learning environments and increased use of prototyping in the design process.