Abstract:

The process of instructional design specialists (IDSs) collaborating with subject matter experts (SMEs) is a persistent pain point in e-learning content development, especially in industry during a digital transformation phase. It is due to unclear job responsibilities or a lack of full adoption of agile methodologies. At IBEdTech, an EdTech start-up in Germany, the relationship between IDSs and SMEs evolved over a 2-year e-learning content creation project conducted in a professional setting. Relying on self-reflection, an interview with a team manager, log messages, and archival documents, three consistently observed difficulties were identified: confusion about job roles, hesitancy and resistance to digitisation, and unbalanced communication among stakeholders. This paper, an autoethnographic account of this experience, provides a framework for integrating the Successive Approximation Model (SAM) to better define roles and the power of decision-making. The findings indicate that iterative agile development, assigning more specific roles to those involved, and early stakeholder involvement could foster higher-quality work, improve working relationships, and accelerate the content creation process, though these elements cannot resolve all conflicts. This article adds an updated taxonomy of IDS and SME roles and offers practical guidance to those organisations wishing to move away from sequential design processes towards more rapid e-learning content creation.

Keywords:

Autoethnography, instructional design, subject matter experts, agile e-learning, SAM model, role clarity, digital transformation.