Still Making These 10 Instructional Design Mistakes? Let’s Leave Them Behind in 2025
Outdated eLearning approaches can quietly kill learner engagement. Here are 10 instructional design mistakes you should avoid in 2025—and what to do instead.
Most Instructional Design Mistakes Aren’t Obvious—Until It’s Too Late
Your training looks polished. It checks all the compliance boxes.
But learners still drop off halfway.
They zone out. They forget. They don’t apply anything on the job.
Sound familiar?
That’s what happens when old-school instructional design habits linger into modern digital spaces.
If you want your learning to actually work in 2025, here are the 10 mistakes to avoid—and what we do differently at Qquench.
The Top 10 Instructional Design Mistakes (And What to Do Instead)
1. Designing for Content, Not Context
Just because something is “important” doesn’t mean it should be in your course.
Design for the learner’s situation, job task, and emotional bandwidth—not for the SME’s wishlist.
2. Overloading the Screen
Wall of text? Five bullets too many?
Cognitive load is real. Chunk content. Layer information. Use less to teach more.
3. Ignoring Visual Hierarchy
If the eye doesn’t know where to go, the brain won’t follow either.
Use size, spacing, and contrast to guide attention. UX principles matter in LXD.
4. Talking At the Learner, Not To Them
Formal tone. Third-person blur. Emotionless narration.
This isn’t a textbook. It’s a conversation.
5. Using Stock Photos That Feel Like a Meme
Learners are smart. They know when an image is lazy.
Use authentic, relevant visuals—or build your own. No more “diverse team pointing at laptop” photos.
6. Measuring Completion Instead of Retention
A 100% course completion rate doesn’t mean anyone learned anything.
Measure behavior change, application, and feedback—not just progress bars.
7. Building Without Testing
Your module looks great on your laptop. But does it crash on older Androids?
Test with real users, real bandwidth, and real distractions.
8. Mistaking Interactivity for Engagement
Just because a screen has a drag-and-drop doesn’t mean it’s engaging.
Engagement = emotional connection. Not just motion.
9. Designing One-Size-Fits-All Learning
Sales managers ≠ service reps. Field engineers ≠ city-based interns.
Design for different contexts, or risk designing for no one.
10. Skipping the Story
A scenario. A choice. A mistake. A fix.
Even compliance can be a story. Without one, learning feels like a lecture.
What We Do Differently at Qquench
- Ground every course in real user context
- Use design thinking + behavioral science in every flow
- Build modular, adaptive, and narrative-first learning
- Obsess over clarity, not just cleverness
We don’t just design learning. We design what sticks.
Don’t Just Update Your Content. Update Your Mindset.
Avoiding these mistakes isn’t about perfection.
It’s about intention.
Because when learning feels real, relevant, and respectful—it works.
Ready to rethink your training strategy for 2025? Let’s start with what not to do.
