Introduction
Instruction is designed to be used. This seemingly obvious statement carries a rather significant implication: the work of an instructional designer should not end upon the final development of the product, but must include considerations for when, where, and how the instruction will be used by real learners in actual situations. This work is called implementation. It requires planning and attention to detail—the same as found throughout the rest of the instructional design process, in fact—to complete successfully. Without implementing an instructional design, all the design work would, in large measure, be wasted.
Implementation is a frequently-skipped step of the instructional design process, however. Designers are often (understandably) ready for their next exciting assignment, and often the client or other stakeholders want to be the primary actors during implementation. The organization the designer works for may also not consider it within their scope to assign instructional designers to help in the implementation phase.
But even when someone else has the actual responsibility to implement an instructional design, the designer can (and should) still be involved, at least in some fashion. Often he or she will have information that no one else has about the design (what certain components are meant for, or how certain features behave), and that information is crucial to ensure it can be implemented successfully. Few people know the entire project as well as the designer does, and this expertise should be drawn upon during the implementation process.
The purpose of this chapter is to introduce considerations that need to be made during the implementation phase of the instructional design process. To organize our discussion we rely on the five stages of introducing a new design as described by Everett M. Rogers (2003). Additionally, it is imperative that instructional designers (or other change agents like teachers or stakeholders) are aware of how people typically use products or services as they are being implemented. So we also describe how adopters of new products or services commonly move through Rogers’s stages.
Adopting New Designs
Gibbons (2013) described the importance of implementation as follows:
Implementation is a period of intense and important change. In addition, it is a period of high-stakes decisions that affect the judgment of continued use of your product. Your product is not only making its first impression on people during implementation, but it is gathering either support or censure from those most likely to determine its viability—students, instructors, and administrators. A careful implementation plan can help your product to be introduced with the best possible chances of success (p. 410).
Similarly, Rogers (2003) suggested that, “the perceived newness of an innovation, and the uncertainty associated with this newness, is a distinctive aspect of innovation decision making” (p.161). As a result of this “un