Still formulating my design approach for the Windows 7 course. I'm enjoying the time I have to muddle through the course conceptually so by the time development starts, I've had time to become familiar with the topic from multiple angels.

Armed with the intent to design for the affective domain, I incorporated a new type of design technique coined Action Mapping by it's creator, Cathy Moore. The premise is to alleviate the grueling ADDIE process of analyzing needs, moving from design to development, then implementation and onto evaluation. Action Mapping starts by identifying What business change do we want to create? Once a measurable goal is determined, you map what actions people need to take in order to meet this goal. Then for each action the learner needs to take, a practice activity is designed. Lastly, you identify what information the learners must have to complete each practice activity.

Here's where I am with Action Mapping on the Windows 7 course. The green triangles are the actions, the purple shapes - practice, and the blue rectangles, the information.

I met with the development team to share this model, and they were open to giving it a go. I've designed my first topic, using Favorites in Windows Explorer and we're meeting this afternoon to look at it together.

Next time, I'll look at another new methodology, SAM (Successive Approximation Model) which uses iterative, short work cycles to provide the best possible product. Best get cracking at the book first!