Every building starts with a blueprint. So does every training program. Without a solid foundation, even the best course ideas could risk falling apart.
Interestingly, the term “blueprint” made its way into learning and development from architecture, where it meant the detailed plans that guide building a house. Over time, that literal architectural term became a metaphor for any detailed plan or strategic framework. 🤓
In this analogy, curriculum development is the blueprint, while instructional design is the construction. Planning the flow of learning is very different from building the lessons, interactions, and media that make it engaging.
And sometimes businesses mix it up, asking curriculum developers to make slides or instructional designers to plan a five-year program, leading to wasted resources and a low success rate on L&D programs.
At Blue Carrot, we have in-house expertise to clarify the difference between instructional design vs. curriculum development, show where these stages overlap, and make them work together so programs are built with both learners and business goals in mind.
Summary
- What is instructional design?
- What is curriculum development?
- Instructional design vs. curriculum development: Key differences
- Similarities between instructional design and curriculum development
- How Blue Carrot can help your business
- Conclusion
What is instructional design?
Instructional design is where strategic plans become action. This section will review its purpose, what instructional designers do, and the frameworks they use with the learning design process.
Instructional design: Defining the “how” of successful learning
It is the process of creating learning materials and experiences that help people understand concepts distinctly and stay engaged. It focuses on how learners absorb information, using methods customized for their needs and cognitive patterns.
The goal is to:
- Remove barriers in training and maintain learner attention;
- Fulfill the learner’s request, eliminate pain points, and help them master new skills;
- Address educational challenges, for example, student apathy or high cognitive load with massive chunks of information.
What do instructional designers do?
Instructional designers focus on building courses and implementing the learning systems.
Their responsibilities include:
- Outlining instructional design curriculum, lesson plans, goals, and references to supporting content;
- Interviewing subject matter experts (SMEs) and finding existing content databases to collect accurate, relevant information;
- Developing guides with materials to support trainers and learners during the course;
- Writing video and audio scripts as an essential part of e-learning content development;
- Using learning analytics, such as completion rates, assessment scores, and learner feedback, to iterate on production and increase satisfaction and performance.
Common instructional frameworks
Frameworks guide designers in analyzing learner needs, designing content, producing materials, and evaluating results. You’ll find these three frameworks common in instructional design:
- ADDIE Model (Analysis, Design, Development, Implementation, Evaluation): A linear, five-step framework that goes from analysis to evaluation. You can use it if your requirements are stable, the scope is clear, and stakeholder reviews are necessary at each phase.
- SAM (Successive Approximation Model): An agile, iterative approach that relies on rapid prototyping and continuous feedback. This system is ideal for areas with changing requirements and ongoing stakeholder input.
- Dick & Carey Systems Approach: This model views all aspects of learning (goals, assessments, methods, and materials) as interconnected. We recommend it for any complex program requiring tight alignment across multiple elements.
Steps in the instructional design process
Let’s look at the five-step training creation process according to ADDIE:
- Analysis: Conduct needs surveys and understand your audience’s existing knowledge, motivations, and constraints to define learning objectives.
- Design: Select instructional strategies, sequence content coherently, and plan assessments that match the objectives.
- Development: Create the materials following the plan. These include scripts, storyboards, multimedia assets, interactive parts, and assessments.
- Implementation: Deliver the course via defined channels.
- Evaluation: Gather feedback to measure its effectiveness and identify gaps.
What is curriculum development?
Curriculum development (a system-level learning framework) is the strategic backbone of learning programs.
It is the process of defining, planning, and organizing an education or training program. It includes selecting learning objectives and content, defining assessment and delivery methods, and providing materials, as well as arranging training for teachers and trainers (Guidelines for Curriculum and Course Development in Higher Education and Training, Rochelle E., 2020).
In other words, this is about what students should learn in a more extensive view, so you can create a roadmap for entire programs.
The purpose of curriculum design and development includes:
- Ensuring programs address project requirements and company priorities;
- Creating logical progressions across degree programs or multi-year corporate training courses;
- Establishing standards in quality, consistency, and alignment across lessons.
What do curriculum developers do?
These professionals are directing attention to strategic alignment and planning.
Some of the responsibilities include:
- Translating organizational strategy into program-level competencies. They develop program scopes and blueprints to reduce misalignment and ensure accreditation readiness.
- Selecting and sequencing content. Curriculum developers select and sequence topics, skills, assets, and assessments aligned with business outcomes.
- Coordinating between divisions. They facilitate alignment among business units, subject-matter experts, and leadership.
- Assuring compliance and reach. They check that programs meet accessibility guidelines, data privacy laws, and industry regulations.
- Building measurement plans. This role links program outcomes to performance data, including cohort analytics, completion rates, and skill proficiency, to support ROI attribution.
Curriculum mapping and standards alignment
Curriculum mapping visualizes module sequencing, activities, and checkpoints.
(courseloop.com)
Standards alignment means matching course components (lessons, tests, and materials) with learning goals using backward design. You have two dimensions to consider:
- Vertical alignment: You ensure no gaps, repetitions, or redundancies throughout the grade levels or program stages.
- Horizontal alignment: You integrate learning outcomes and teaching strategies within a course or system at the same level.
Stages of curriculum development
Curriculum development is an iterative process that starts with targeted outcomes and consists of selecting learning experiences and content, developing assessments, and evaluating the syllabus (Guidelines for Curriculum and Course Development in Higher Education and Training, Rochelle E., 2020).
The stages of development include:
- Identifying educational needs: Conduct research to find out what learners and organizations need.
- Formulating objectives and goals: Define program-level outcomes that are consistent with the needs.
- Selecting and arranging content: Choose topics and materials that achieve objectives. Then, arrange them in a logical sequence from core knowledge to applied skills.
- Choosing strategies and resources: Determine delivery methods, media types, and supporting assets.
- Developing assessments: Create frameworks and rubrics to measure learner outcomes.
- Planning implementation: Prepare rollout strategies, instructor training, and stakeholder communications.
- Assessing and refining: Gather data on program effectiveness and refine the plan based on findings.
Instructional design vs. curriculum development: Key differences
When you know the difference between curriculum and instruction, you can assign the right responsibilities, avoid duplication, and improve outcomes. Let’s consider the key distinctions.
Scope, scale, and strategy
The table below compares curriculum and instructional design across four key dimensions.
|
Aspect |
Curriculum development |
Instructional design |
|
“What” vs. “How” |
Define the training scope, competencies, and standards learners must meet. Example: Define leadership competencies for a management development program. |
Design learning experiences, activities, and media to achieve the goals. Example: Scenario-based simulations for conflict resolution training. |
|
Macro‑level vs. Micro‑level |
Operate at the program or multi-course level across terms or years. Ensure all course standards. Example: Build a three-year sales coaching academy for global regions. |
Operate at the unit or lesson level. Optimize a discrete learning experience. Example: A two-day workshop module about sales techniques. |
|
Content‑ vs. Process‑orientation |
Select and sequence program content. Align objectives, scope, and benchmarks. Example: Required compliance topics for regulatory certification. |
Choose methods, interactions, and feedback loops. Example: Interactive case studies and role-plays for ethics training. |
|
Strategic planning vs. Tactical execution |
Long‑term alignment with company missions, policies, and accreditation. Example: Align global team onboarding curriculum with organizational values. |
Short‑term delivery and improvement. Example: Microlearning videos introduce company culture and policies. |
Skills
Planning the learning journey and putting it into action requires different but equally important skills. These skills for curriculum development and instructional design range from aligning objectives and mapping programs to creating engaging modules, designing assessments, and analyzing outcomes. An experienced learning partner can guide the process, so you don’t have to worry about finding every skill in-house.
Tools and outputs
Learning program development tools focus on planning, alignment, collaboration, and analysis at the program level. Typical platforms include mapping and planning tools such as Atlas Rubicon and Curriculum Trak, and Google Sheets or Excel for scope and sequence. Standards alignment uses databases such as Common Core and state standards.
(onatlas.com)
On the other hand, tools for crafting learning experiences involve building, designing, and managing course‑level learning experiences.
- Authoring and development tools such as Articulate Storyline 360 and Adobe Captivate to create dynamic modules;
- Design and multimedia platforms, for example, Adobe Creative Suite, Canva, and Figma, to develop custom graphics and visual assets.
Both disciplines produce different deliverables; therefore, understanding curriculum design vs. instructional design is key:
|
Curriculum development outputs |
Instructional design outputs |
|
|
Similarities between instructional design and curriculum development
Although these stages of learning development have distinct focuses in their outputs, both instructional design and curriculum development are part of any learning process, from employee onboarding to team upskilling. You cannot prioritize one over the other. Without curriculum development, instructional design lacks strategic direction. Likewise, plans without educational design won’t be implemented.
A reliable learning partner will tell you that successful training requires both processes working together to achieve measurable results. Knowing their common ground helps your organization build effective collaboration.
1. Overlapping processes and methodologies
Curriculum developers and instructional designers apply design thinking techniques, learning design principles, and logical progression to their outputs.
Developing course evaluations is another overlap. Both jobs ensure assessments correspond to objectives, incorporate multiple assessment types, and measure outcomes. They embrace iterative improvement cycles: create a prototype, test, gather feedback, and revise.
2. Collaboration and interdisciplinary work
The collaboration between two fields creates a unified learning design. Curriculum development provides complete and consistent content. Instructional design enables successful lesson delivery that engages students. Integration means the final course meets the planned curriculum and the intended outcomes.
Based on our experience working with organizations of various sizes, we have identified what the drivers of collaboration:
- Establish clear roles and decision-making authority from the start.
- Create communication lines for regular joint planning sessions.
- Develop mutual understanding by discussing content requirements and delivery possibilities.
- Establish shared documents such as curriculum maps, design documents, a knowledge base, and related data that both teams can access and update.
3. Emerging technology reshaping both fields
AI-generated production helps instructional designers develop preliminary content, produce media assets, and handle narration and captioning. Adaptive personalization adjusts difficulty and sequences based on learner performance. For curriculum developers, AI surfaces content gaps and redundancies, predicts skill needs, and supports standards alignment.
Technologies lead to new jobs and frameworks. Hybrid positions combine instructional design, production, and data science, including learning engineers, data analysts, and AI workflow specialists. By implementing AI administrative frameworks that include quality assurance standards and data ethics, your team can be confident in creating high-quality courses while observing compliance and building learner trust.
How Blue Carrot can help your business
Since 2014, Blue Carrot has provided learning and instructional design services to help organizations build effective programs. Our approach unites strategic thinking with production excellence, supporting clients from planning to implementation.
Our offering:
- End-to-end learning solutions: From curriculum mapping and instructional design through multimedia production and implementation, we handle the complete e-learning course development process.
- Expert talent in both disciplines: Access instructional designers and curriculum developers who coordinate effortlessly to make cohesive programs.
- Scalable development: Whether you need a single course or a comprehensive program, our systems adapt to your scope.
- AI-enhanced efficiency: We use advanced tools to reduce development time while maintaining quality.
Our work with UNFPA demonstrates how we integrated both approaches. We developed personalized learning paths that matched course goals.
UNFPA branched video scenarios
View demoConclusion
Let’s recap curriculum development vs instructional design.
Curriculum development sees a broad view of learning programs — “what” students will learn in the long term. It determines the program’s objectives, structure, alignment, and compliance. Instructional design produces all the training assets that fit the big picture — “how“ students will gain the most from each course. It applies systematic processes and frameworks to shape effective learning experiences.
Knowing the differences and similarities between these two phases helps you make smart decisions about who does what, when, and how. This way, you benefit from both strategic alignment and engaging materials. The partnership closes the learning gap and connects plans to action, ensuring training courses deliver business outcomes.
Book a call with Blue Carrot to discuss how our instructional design and curriculum development expertise can deliver successful training for your organization.
