Designing with Love

Think AI can do everything? We put that assumption under the microscope with AI engineering leader and author Sairam Sundaresan, and walk away with a playbook that’s practical, ethical, and built for real classrooms and design teams. We break down why narrow, well-scoped tasks are where AI shines, how to turn prompting into a repeatable workflow, and what it looks like to treat a model like a new hire you’re onboarding—clear roles, examples, and tight feedback loops.

We dig into the big wins for educators and instructional designers: personalized learning at scale, faster feedback cycles...

AI can feel like a runaway train in classrooms and training programs—powerful, fast, and a little scary. We take the controls and show how to turn generative tools into true co-pilots: clear roles, simple guardrails, and small pilots that free us to focus on coaching, feedback, and real human connection.

You’ll hear role-based examples across K-12, higher education, and corporate learning: differentiated reading passages and exit tickets, outcome-aligned case prompts and quiz banks, and realistic scenario practice plus microlearning nudges for on-the-job performance.

Want to put this into action? Grab the pilot checklist from...

What if a fifth grader could turn a pile of ideas into a clear, grounded paragraph—every time—without leaning on AI? We bring back dyslexia researcher Russell Van Brocklen for part three of our series to show exactly how: start with a hero, a universal theme, and a villain; distill three good reasons into one-word themes; and anchor everything to a real quote. The result is a body paragraph that’s honest, teachable, and repeatable—plus a writing process students can explain step by step.

We also address integrity in the AI era: students must show their pr...

Forget the headset hype: real learning impact starts with a clear problem, a focused outcome, and a modality that actually fits the job. We dig into how to choose between VR for safe practice, AR for in-the-flow guidance, and MR for complex 3D collaboration—then show exactly how to design the actions, decisions, and feedback loops that change behavior on the job. No fluff, no jargon, just a practical roadmap for building immersive experiences that matter.

If you’ve been looking for a practical playbook to design with purpose, not pixels, this one’s for you. Subscribe, share...

Want to design learning that actually sticks—and gets you hired? Jackie sits down with Connie Malamed, publisher of The eLearning Coach website and podcast, author of Visual Design Solutions and Visual Language for Designers, to unpack how newcomers can skip the noise, master the essentials, and build a portfolio that proves real instructional design skill. We dive into the mindset shift from “make e‑learning” to “design for how people learn,” then get tactical: reducing cognitive load with white space and alignment, using dual coding without redundancy, and making accessibility a default through color contrast and non‑color cues.

Projects stall when one expert carries the content, decisions, and approvals. We flip that script with a clear, usable playbook for building a stakeholder highway—bringing sponsors, learners, frontline leaders, operations, tech, and compliance into the right moments so training actually lands in the real world. You’ll hear why SME-only pathways create bottlenecks and blind spots, how to map the roles that matter, and when to loop each voice in across discovery, design, development, implementation, and evaluation.

Roadblocks happen: the ghost SME, conflicting leader feedback, or last-minute compliance asks. Jackie shares practical responses, from clarifying who deci...

What if your classroom could adapt to each learner without handing their data to the cloud? That’s the promise we dig into with technologist and founder Sebastien Fenelon, whose journey from scarce resources in Haiti to building privacy-first, edge AI tools reframes what “future-ready” really means for educators and instructional designers.

We start with the power of resilience—how self-taught coding, late-night study sessions, and community support can outpace limited infrastructure—and move into practical strategies for teaching code with clarity and context. Sebastien shares why AI should compress project timelines, not critical thinking, and offers a simple “...

Short doesn’t automatically mean effective. We dig into the craft of microlearning that actually changes behavior on the job, moving past buzzwords to a clear blueprint you can use this week. You’ll hear the green‑yellow‑red fit test, a tight scoping method, and five delivery patterns that make small learning moments do real work without bloating your course catalog.

Ready to ship something meaningful in seven days? Try the micro sprint, share your results, and help a teammate build their first win. If this conversation sparked ideas, follow the show, leave a review, and pass it...

Thunder cracked over San Cristóbal as Queen Michele told us how a retired teacher, armed with a suitcase and a stubborn sense of purpose, found her soul in Mexico and a mission for the most connected generation on earth. What followed is a story of reinvention, caregiving, and building a mindfulness curriculum that teaches middle schoolers to center before they swipe.

We unpack Generation Alpha—kids born into a 24/7 feed—whose attention is shaped by platforms that never power down. Queen shares how 52 Insights for Gen Alpha blends self-awareness, self-management, relationship skills, social awareness, and conscious decis...

Want learners to finish training, remember it, and use it on the job? We walk through a no-fluff approach to gamification that starts with clear outcomes and ends with measurable behavior change. Instead of throwing points at problems, we show how to pair decision-based practice, tight feedback, and meaningful rewards to build real skill.

The heart of the episode is a practical toolkit: five common pitfalls and exactly how to flip them, plus the metrics that prove impact. We cover mastery rate, attempts to mastery, two-week retention checks, opt-in rates for competitive features, branch diversity, and decision...

Most training fails not because the storyboard is weak, but because the learning lands in an environment full of competing priorities and fuzzy signals. That’s the tough-love truth James Gilchrist brings to our mic as we unpack how people-first design—and authentic leadership—turns content into real performance. James’s winding path from actor and musician to L&D leader sharpened skills we often overlook: presence, narrative, and connection. Those talents power the “lightbulb moments” when knowledge becomes action, and they shape the way he builds programs that remove roadblocks and align teams.

If the phrase people first...

Ever try to squeeze a desktop course onto a phone and wonder why learners bounce? We reframe the challenge and share five essentials that make mobile learning fast, clear, and genuinely useful in the moments people actually have. From finding mobile moments to building microlearning mile markers, we walk through patterns that turn scattered minutes into meaningful progress and show why one crisp outcome per lesson is the antidote to overload.

A practical case study ties it together: a 45‑minute compliance module reborn as five six‑minute micro lessons for nurses in the field. With thumb-friendly navigation, fast...

What if your greatest creative potential isn't something you need to find, but something you simply need to remember? As a creativity expert, Patrick Williams joined me to reveal how we've all been born with incredible creative abilities that often get suppressed as we grow older.

The conversation offers surprisingly simple yet powerful practices anyone can implement: connecting with nature, practicing intentional breathing, keeping creativity journals, and experiencing different art forms monthly. These activities help break through creative blocks and spark innovation in unexpected ways. Patrick emphasizes that creativity extends far beyond traditional artistic pursuits—it's essential fo...

Want a smarter way to stay current without spinning your wheels? In this episode, Jackie walks through a practical playbook that helps instructional designers and learning leaders filter hype, design for real performance, and ship small wins that scale. It’s a clear path from “interesting idea” to measurable impact, built around five practice trends, a lean trend filter, and a two-week micropilot you can start right away.

We begin by shifting to skills-first, evidence-driven design: define a lightweight skills dictionary for a key role, tag existing content to three to five skills, and track time to profic...

Victoria Pelletier never planned to become a C-suite executive. With childhood dreams of practicing law, her path took an unexpected turn when a temporary banking job led to rapid promotions and a cross-country relocation. That detour became a 30-year journey through corporate leadership, culminating in her current role at the intersection of business transformation and technology at Kindrel.

What makes Victoria's story particularly compelling is her philosophy on resilience. Signing her social media posts with #unstoppable and #noexcuses, she views resilience as both innate determination and a muscle that can be developed through conscious choices. This mindset...

Five new tools are reshaping how we design for real skill: spatial computing, generative AI co‑pilots, learning analytics with xAPI, adaptive learning, and immersive simulations. In this episode, Jackie walks through practical use cases, tiny starter activities, and simple design rules so you can test what works without overbuilding or overspending. The goal is clarity over flash—short experiences that improve a behavior you can measure and explain.

Subscribe for more practical learning design strategies, share this episode with a teammate who builds content, and leave a review with the one metric you’ll track next. Your f...

What if everything we've been taught about teaching dyslexic students to read and write is backward? In this eye-opening second installment of my conversation with Russell, we discover how the dyslexic brain's unique wiring demands a completely different approach to literacy.

Russell reveals the science behind his revolutionary method, showing us brain scans where dyslexic students have 2.5 times more activity in the front part of their brains compared to typical students. This neurological difference explains why traditional teaching methods often fail—and points to a solution that plays to dyslexic strengths rather than weaknesses.

Ready to...

Good design starts with a clear goal and ends with a real-world result. We walk you through a practical, human-centered approach to data-driven instructional design that turns scattered metrics into confident, ethical decisions. From writing a sharp creative brief and instrumenting your learning ecosystem to analyzing patterns and testing targeted fixes, you’ll get a repeatable playbook built to reduce risk and improve outcomes without burning time or trust.

Ready to turn evidence into impact? Follow the flow, try one small experiment this week, and tell us what you learn. If this guide helped, subscribe, share with a...

In this bonus episode of the Designing with Love podcast, host Jackie Pelegrin reflects on the accomplishments of Season Three, including the release of 56 episodes, and shares insights on her experiences with PodMatch. She also discusses her plans for Season Four, highlighting her proactive approach to content creation and the importance of time management and project planning in achieving success. Jackie expresses gratitude for listener engagement and encourages feedback for future episodes.

Key Takeaways

The fear of AI taking over jobs has dominated headlines, but what if we're missing the opportunity to harness this technology as a powerful ally? In this enlightening conversation, T. Renee Smith reveals how artificial intelligence became her unexpected partner in navigating the challenges of raising a neurodiverse child and eventually led to her book, "She Leads with AI."

Whether you're an instructional designer, educator, entrepreneur, or simply curious about integrating AI into your life with confidence and purpose, this episode delivers practical strategies wrapped in genuine warmth and wisdom. Press play to discover how to make...

What if reviews felt collaborative instead of confrontational? In this episode, I walk through a practical, five-pour framework to collect and use feedback from peers, stakeholders, SMEs, QA and accessibility reviewers, and—most importantly—learners, so your projects move faster and land stronger. You’ll get short scripts, simple prompts, and a clear structure to keep conversations focused on outcomes instead of opinions.

If you want feedback to become fuel, not friction, this guide gives you the tools to make it happen. Subscribe for more practical instructional design tactics, share this episode with a teammate who reviews your w...

Karen Nix's journey from journalism to instructional design showcases how diverse backgrounds can create exceptional instructional designers. After stumbling into professional development as an administrative assistant, Karen discovered her passion for transforming complex information into engaging educational experiences. Now, working as a Design Strategist and Communications Lead at Orbis Education, her recent master's degree from GCU has added theoretical foundations to her practical expertise.

For those considering a master's in instructional design, Karen offers encouraging advice: "Come as you are and be prepared to work hard." Her experience demonstrates that diverse backgrounds enrich the field and that...

Scope creep doesn’t arrive with a siren; it shows up as “just one more” request and quietly doubles your workload. In this episode, I break down a practical, humane way to protect your timeline and still make room for good ideas—so you ship value now and again soon, without burnout.

We start by drawing clean edges around the work: a one‑page scope brief, an explicit out‑of‑scope list, and a shared definition of done. From there, we name one final approver to end circular edits, set a simple change path, and design feedback rounds that se...

Dr. Norina Columbaro brings nearly three decades of instructional design wisdom to this thought-provoking conversation about performance-focused learning. Drawing from her extensive experience across 60+ organizations worldwide, she reveals how the most successful learning initiatives prioritize measurable performance outcomes rather than just creating training materials.

Whether you're new to instructional design or a seasoned professional, you'll appreciate Dr. Columbaro's practical insights about influencing stakeholders, working with subject matter experts, and maintaining focus on performance outcomes in your learning initiatives. Her passion for connecting people with knowledge shines through in every aspect of this enlightening conversation.

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