The ADDIE model is the most popular learning development methodology in the training industry. The model takes apart complex issues and breaks them down into a simple 5 step process.
ADDIE is an acronym for Analyze, Design, Develop, Implement, Evaluate. ADDIE is best used when each of the 5 steps are equally emphasized and not skipped over. Input from one step should be integrated into the next step.
When you use the phases of the ADDIE model appropriately the methodology has been proven to be an effective way to develop training.
If you are new to the training world this model can seem overwhelming but it doesn’t have to be because you just need to take it one step at a time.
So let’s get started with step 1 analysis.
ADDIE – Analysis Step 1
“A problem well-stated is half-solved.” Charles Kettering
How do you develop a solution without knowing truly what the problem is? Spending time defining the problem in detail will save you a massive amount of time in design and development steps later.
Consequently, getting to the root of the problem is what the analyze phase is all about. In the Analyze phase you dissect the performance problem that the training you are developing is going to fix. You may discover in this phase that it is not only a training issue but there are other performance and process issues at play. I can tell you, every training I have ever implemented there have been other performance and process barriers at play. Some examples of barriers are conflicting incentives, office politics, lack of accountability, apathy, etc.
My experience has been that stakeholders hate the analysis step because they feel like you are not making any progress. They want you to get to work to create training materials. You have to communicate the value in this step. Without identifying the performance and process issues it won’t matter if you create the most engaging and effective training if there are other factors that are going to sabotage your training or you are missing an opportunity to make your training even more effective.
Real Life Example:
You are a Training Director at a pet food company Happy Pets Inc. and the VP of cat food sets up a meeting with you and she says we are releasing a new product, our first cat treat. Happy Pets Inc. has only sold cat food this is a new category of product.
Our sales reps have great sales with dog food but the cat food sales are down. The VP tells you we need the sales reps to sell this product to our pet food stores so the stores will put it on the shelf. We have a one page selling sheet with the features and benefits and hands it to you. Cats and their owners are loving this product in the testing. I am sure the sales reps are going to love it, she tells you. We are planning on rolling this product across the United States at the end of next month.
| Example Analysis Questions | Example Answers |
| What is the performance goal? | We need our salespeople to sell in the cat treat product to 80% of our retail stores. |
| Who are the Learners? What is their level of education and what is their background? | There are 65 sales reps across the United States. They come from various backgrounds and are high school educated. Some but not all have college degrees. |
| What delivery methods are available? | Happy Pet Inc. has a Learning Management System that works on the sales teams iPads. Once every quarter there is an all staff meeting with all the sales reps typically done as a webinar. The sales reps are in their cars frequently going from pet store to pet store. |
| What are the barriers to performance? | One of the sales reps tells you in an interview “The retailers I am working with do not have the space for cat treats.” The team in the past hasn’t been held accountable to completing training on new products. The sales reps quarterly bonus has been based on cat food sales not treats. |
| When is this project going live? | The end of next month. |
Analyze Action Steps:
- Create a needs analysis document. This can be a simple one page document
- Collect data quantitative and qualitative. Talk to the learners and get feedback.
- Use this as leverage to negotiate with your project lead and it will save you time throughout the process.
ADDIE – Design Step 2
Okay now take all that work and data you collected in the analysis step and you are going to start designing a learning experience.
One criticism of the ADDIE model is that in designing a single solution say an eLearning course, classroom course, learning resources, or job aids. In my experience it is rare that one solution will solve the knowledge gap effectively. Typically an effective learning experience has multiple learning items.
| Design Step | Real Life Example |
| Develop your learning objectives. The learning objectives will drive what learning methods work best. | Example Objective: Given a job aid the sales reps can convey the key benefits of new cat treat to 100% accuracy. |
| Design a training plan. Include in how you will evaluate the learning objectives. | #1 – Develop an eLearning course. The course will measure the key benefits of retention. # 2 – Develop job aids one page selling sheets # 3 – Develop an audio training podcast for the sales reps when they are in their cars #4 – Training at the all staff meeting |
| Develop a mitigation plan for the performance and process barriers. Use the data from your analysis phase and you may need to go back to project stakeholders and let them know about the barriers you identified. If you have a barrier and have a plan or a proposal to get around you can make a case with the data you collected. | Develop ideas for getting around the objection to not having the space for the cat treats. Propose the sales bonus be based on meeting the predicted sales for cat treats. Explain how cat treats can sell more cat food. |
| Create outlines and storyboards of your training. | Create a storyboard for your cat treat eLearning course. |
| Create your project plan and timeline. | Organize the overall plan and create charts and deadlines. Make it clear what sign-off you need from your stakeholders. |
| Meet with your stakeholders again and share your design and get their approval. | Get alignment to the plan and let them know the consequences of how the project could be delayed if they don’t meet their responsibilities. |
Design Action Steps
- Return to analysis step if needed.
- Develop learning objectives.
- Create a mitigation plan for performance and process barriers
- Develop storyboards and scripts.
- Design learning experience items and deliverables.
- Create a project plan and milestones.
- Training evaluation and feedback plan.
ADDIE – Development Step 3
If you have done your analysis and design well in steps 1 and 2 then development should be a breeze. If you have not you will have to jump back to analysis and development and do some rework.
Development is the step where you feel like you are making the most progress. You are starting to see instructor guides being developed. Classroom instructional materials are being made. Elearning courses are being programmed. Resources are being developed.
In our cat treat example we will want to meet with the VP of cat food to share what we have developed and get her input and feedback. It would be good in this stage to test some of our content with a few sales reps.
You want to meet with your stakeholders and hold a review and sign off of your training materials before they are implemented. I would recommend doing 2-3 stages of review during this phase to ensure you are hitting the mark. It is easier to change your materials now if needed before you get into implementation.
Development Action Steps
- Go back to design/analysis if needed.
- Create instructional content
- Develop instructional evaluation methods.
ADDIE – Implement Step 4
Depending on the size of your audience and the learning methods this phase could be done in a day or take months. During the implementation stage you are starting to roll out your learning experience to your audience.
If you have done the analyze, design, and development successfully the implementation should just be executing on those actions.
Implementation Action Steps
- Pilot your program if time allows and use what you learn as you roll out.
- Evaluate how the program is going and make changes as needed.
- Evaluate how the learning will be delivered to new employees or transfers after the initial launch.
ADDIE – Evaluate Step 5
Effective evaluation should be integrated into each step on the effectiveness of the learning experience. After the learning program has been fully implemented you want to do a summative evaluation to evaluate all aspects of the program.
- Did the program help to drive forward the business goals?
- DId the program meet the learning objectives?
- Did the learners retain the information?
- What was the ROI(Return on Investment) on the learning?
In our cat treat example we will want to do an assessment of the sales reps 6 months after the cat treat launch to see how well the learning is retained. We would want to see how the cat treat sales are reflected with the training roll out to the sales reps and evaluate the impact.
Evaluation Action Steps
- Create a long term evaluation plan
- Conduct ROI and evaluate the return of the learning.
Common Watchouts with the ADDIE model
Spending too little/much time on analysis.
Analysis is the step that typically gets missed or is overdone. It is important to spend time on analysis but you don’t want to get analysis paralysis and not move forward.
Telling your subject matter experts or stakeholders you are using the ADDIE model.
I would be careful about telling your stakeholders you are using this model because they may not understand it. What they care about is the outcomes not the model so I would focus on that when you are talking with them.
Not thinking about evaluation at the beginning.
You want to be thinking about how you evaluate the learning from the very beginning. Don’t wait till step 5 to do this. At step 5 you will be executing the evaluation you don’t want to be figuring out a way to do this in step 5.
The ADDIE model is a linear process.
The ADDIE model is NOT a linear process. You may get to a step in the process and have to jump back to step 1 in analysis. You may have to jump around the steps and that is very normal in the process.