Reviews ASTD Members Only

Designer's Edge
By Hank Stanley

Designer's Edge 3.5, a software-based instructional design tool and training-development planner, offers everything you need for building customized in-house training. More important, subject matter experts using this product can easily step into a training role and perform the tasks for creating and delivering great e-learning courses! Well, maybe not.

Designer's Edge claims that it's intended to increase the productivity of training staff. The software's connect-the-dots, 12-phase plan prioritizes and catalogues the necessary steps for creating the foundation elements of developing and implementing training--from needs analysis to posttraining evaluation. The marketing literature goes on to add that the software is able to "facilitate the processes for those less familiar with instructional design." A wisely cautious statement that can, unfortunately, be interpreted by some as: "Forget about instructional experience. Just bring your content knowledge and the software will do the rest." Some organizational bean counters may contemplate using this software as a replacement for--rather than enhancement of--one or more of the organization's training professionals.

Cool tools

The Designer's Edge interface does everything except provide authoring capabilities, but it's fully compatible with such authoring programs as ToolBook and Authorware. The interface uses a multipanel windows display that has buttons for each process function and a corresponding hierarchy list, including creating target audience profiles, defining course scope and treatments, selecting learner activities, and so forth.

Users move through each function, performing the recommended tasks. Additions and changes are recorded, and a progress monitor checks off the completed areas. For example, the first item covers needs analysis. Questions prompt users to identify learner needs, create needs statements, and prepare instructional goals. In addition, there are guides for collecting relevant data, such as how to use focus groups, subject matter expert interviews and analysis, review of existing curricula, and task observation and analysis.

Copious wizards

Designer's Edge uses a number of process wizards to automate repetitive tasks. A customizing feature lets users modify individual wizards. For example, the wizard for writing objectives presents lists for users to select action verbs, outcomes, competency standards, and so on. Other features that automate the development process include full-screen storyboarding, report-generating functions, and the ability to store learning elements in an integrated Microsoft Access database for later sorting and recall. These features go a long way towards increasing standardization among courses and decreasing the need to recreate frequently used materials. Finally, Designer's Edge receives high marks for its advice feature that offers focused context to probing questions that assist users in determining a particular development methodology.

Designer's Edge 3.5 Ease of Installation **** Presentation **** Ease of use **** Production quality **** Value of purpose **** Value for the money **½ Documentation **** Overall rating ***½

Recommendation

To command the price it does, this product had better be good. And it is.

Designer's Edge provides a competent and thorough way to ensure that users perform the necessary curriculum development steps. The systematically arranged functions and well-appointed features make the steep price bearable. The installed software also offers a comprehensive user's guide. But it's important to remember that you still need an authoring tool to produce the actual course.

Published: January 2001