Trina Rimmer

AI won't replace instructional designers. But it will change what the job looks like.

I recently redesigned two legacy e-learning projects—one originally built in Articulate Storyline 360 and one in Rise 360. I used Claude AI for both. Same content. A completely different approach.

What I found:

✅ AI is a literalist. It builds exactly what you specify. It can't tell you when your specification is wrong. That still takes a designer.

✅ Both AI projects were completed in less than half the original production time—with richer personalization, smarter branching, and accessibility built in from the start.

I'm convinced: the designers who thrive in the future won't be the ones who know every feature in Storyline or Rise. They're the ones who understand learning well enough to determine if training is the right fit, and when it is, to direct AI in designing the right solutions.

That's learning strategy work. And it's exactly what we talk about on this page. Not instructional design work from five years ago. The job instructional design is becoming.

Both case studies with links to all four projects can be found here: Articulate Storyline 360 vs. Claude AI: Drawing the Line --> https://trinarimmer.com/drawing-the-line and Rise 360 vs. Claude AI: Know Your Worth --> https://trinarimmer.com/know-your-worth

Hot take: The e-learning industry has been lying to itself for decades.

The lie? More interactivity always delivers a better learning experience; higher production value leads to better performance outcomes.

I wrote about the lie and how AI exposes it on my Substack (The Polymathic Designer). But here's the part that matters for anyone thinking about a career in instructional design right now: the AI era doesn't reward the person who can build the most impressive-looking course in today's authoring tools, like Articulate Storyline 360 or Adobe Captivate. It rewards the person who has the judgment to know what learners actually need.

That's a human skill that AI can't replicate.

If you're curious, read the full piece here ⬇️

How AI Upsets the Most Pervasive Lie in E-Learning Design On design restraint, cognitive load, and why the AI era favors learning strategists over production specialists

Made this for anyone who's ever sat through terrible workplace training and thought, "I can do better than this..." I see you. 😂

Trina Rimmer — Instructional Design Expert | Career Tools & Courses Bridge the gap from beginner to pro with practical career guidance, online training, and assessment tools designed by instructional design expert Trina Rimmer.

📬 The Learning Curve is officially here!

If you're thinking about a career in instructional design—or you're already on that path and could use a little guidance—my free monthly newsletter was made for you.

Every issue I'll share:

✅ Honest career advice (like stuff no one tells you)
✅ Practical tips for building the skills that actually matter
✅ Resources to help you move from curious to job-ready

And when you subscribe, you'll get my free "Is Instructional Design Right for You?" checklist delivered straight to your inbox—a no-fluff guide to help you figure out if this career is the right move, what you're already bringing to the table, and what skills are worth developing next.

No spam. No sales pressure. Just one email a month from someone who's spent two decades in this field and genuinely wants to see you succeed.

👇 Subscribe free at trinarimmer.com/subscribe

Trina Rimmer — Instructional Design Expert | Career Tools & Courses Bridge the gap from beginner to pro with practical career guidance, online training, and assessment tools designed by instructional design expert Trina Rimmer.

Considering a career in instructional design? AI can be a genuinely useful thought partner when you're starting out—but only if it actually understands the work you're doing!

Out of the box, most AI tools don't get instructional design work. They'll generate quiz questions with obviously wrong distractors, write learning objectives that sound good but measure nothing, and miss the nuances that separate forgettable training from something that actually makes a positive impact on people's behavior.

So I built something to help.

It's a free, open-source library of skill files that teaches your AI the frameworks, judgment, and craft behind instructional design—so as you're learning and building your first projects with AI assistance, you'll have a thought partner who's actually pulling you in the right direction.

24 files. Five categories. Covers everything from authoring tools to assessment design, scenario writing, visual design, and more.

It takes about 5 minutes to set up. 🔗 with details: https://trinarimmer.substack.com/p/i-built-a-free-ai-skills-library?r=c862s

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P.S. Are you or someone you know considering a job in workplace learning? My Kickstart Your E-Learning Career Guidebook is the resource I wish I'd had—practical, honest, and built for the field you're actually walking into. AI and all. 🤓 → check it out on trinarimmer.com/products

After 20+ years in instructional design—and two years of quietly building something I really believed in—I finally hit publish this week. 🎉

It's a suite of professional development resources for anyone considering a career in instructional design—or wondering whether the training work they already do could become a career path.

Teachers. Trainers. Recent grads. The person who builds all the onboarding at work and lights up every time someone says, "Thanks, your guidance really helped."

If that's someone you know—or someone you are—these resources were designed with you in mind.

I kept the pricing accessible on purpose. Because the question I hear most isn't "Which $$$ authoring tool should I learn?" It's "How do I know if I'm actually cut out for this work?" And that question deserves a reasonable answer—not a $3k ID certificate program or a $30k master's degree.

And the timing for this suite feels right. In a world going all-in on AI, the skills at the heart of instructional design—understanding how people actually learn, crafting experiences that change behavior, asking the right questions to dig into the core of performance problems—are becoming more valuable, not less.

I'm proud of this one. And I'd love it if you'd share it with someone who needs it.

👉 trinarimmer.com/products

(And to everyone who's cheered me on while I built this—you know who you are, and I love you for it. ❤️)

Trina Rimmer — Instructional Design Expert | Career Tools & Courses Bridge the gap from beginner to pro with practical career guidance, online training, and assessment tools designed by instructional design expert Trina Rimmer.