How to Cut eLearning Development Time Without Sacrificing Quality
- LMSPortals
- Apr 9
- 5 min read
Speed and quality don't have to be enemies in eLearning development. Deadlines are tight, stakeholders are impatient, and learners expect engaging content. So, how do you deliver fast without turning out forgettable, low-impact courses?
The answer: work smarter, not just faster. This article breaks down practical strategies to trim eLearning development time without letting quality slip. From smarter planning to sharper tools, here's how to streamline the process and still impress your learners.
1. Nail Down Clear Learning Objectives First
Before you even touch a storyboard or open an authoring tool, get your objectives crystal clear.
Most time wasted in eLearning development comes from redoing or reworking content that wasn’t aligned with clear goals. Vague or shifting objectives lead to confusion, bloated content, and backtracking.
Quick fix:
Use the SMART framework (Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant, Time-bound).
Align objectives directly with business goals.
Get sign-off from stakeholders early.
When everyone agrees on what learners should know or do by the end, everything else gets faster—storyboarding, writing, designing, and reviewing.
2. Use a Proven Development Framework (Like ADDIE or Agile)
Having a repeatable, flexible process helps your team move faster with fewer surprises.
ADDIE (Analyze, Design, Develop, Implement, Evaluate) is classic, but Agile is faster and better for iterative development, especially in corporate environments.
Why Agile works:
Breaks work into sprints.
Allows early feedback from stakeholders.
Reduces time spent on massive reworks.
If your team isn’t already using a process, choose one and stick to it. It helps reduce decision fatigue and keeps everyone on the same page.
3. Reuse, Repurpose, Recycle
You don’t have to start from scratch every time.
Repurpose content:
Use old slide decks, PDFs, manuals, or instructor-led training materials.
Convert webinars into microlearning modules.
Turn existing videos into short clips or interactive quizzes.
Create templates:
Build standardized course templates for consistency and speed.
Have reusable layouts for scenarios, assessments, navigation, etc.
Use pre-built assets:
Tap into libraries for stock images, icons, illustrations, and animations.
Leverage question banks for assessments.
The more you can repurpose or template, the less you have to create new—without cutting corners on quality.
4. Choose the Right Authoring Tool
Not all eLearning tools are created equal. Some make rapid development easy. Others are slow, clunky, and hard to update.
If you’re building interactive modules, tools like Articulate Storyline, Rise 360, iSpring, Adobe Captivate, or Lectora offer varying balances of speed and control.
For faster development:
Use Rise 360 for clean, mobile-friendly, responsive courses with minimal fuss.
Use Storyline when you need complex interactivity—but build reusable slide templates.
Use LMS-integrated tools to reduce the time between publishing and deployment.
Don’t overbuild if the course doesn’t require it. Flashy interactivity adds time—only use it when it improves learning outcomes.
5. Cut the Fat: Avoid Overloading the Course
A common trap is cramming in too much content. Not only does that slow development—it hurts learner engagement and retention.
Stick to the "must-know" content. Anything "nice to know" should go in optional resources or downloads.
Apply the “80/20” rule:
Identify the 20% of content that will drive 80% of the learning outcomes.
Focus development on those key areas.
This tight focus speeds up content creation, scriptwriting, review cycles, and visual design.
6. Work With a Prototype First
Before building the full course, create a prototype. This could be one lesson, a sample interaction, or a navigation walkthrough.
Why it saves time:
Helps stakeholders visualize the final product early.
Surfaces design or content disagreements before full development.
Speeds up sign-off and reduces rework.
Prototyping is especially useful when working with SMEs (subject matter experts) or non-design-savvy stakeholders. It gets everyone aligned visually and functionally.
7. Streamline SME Collaboration
SMEs are essential—but can be bottlenecks. They’re busy, they change their minds, and sometimes they don’t know how to give useful feedback.
Make SME input faster and clearer by:
Using structured content forms or templates.
Setting clear deadlines and review cycles.
Providing examples of good vs. bad feedback.
Holding quick calls to walk through drafts rather than waiting for long written responses.
The less back-and-forth you have, the faster development moves.
8. Batch Production Tasks
Don't hop between scripting, designing, recording, and building. That kills momentum.
Instead, batch similar tasks:
Write all scripts at once.
Record all narration in one session.
Design all visuals in a block.
This approach reduces context switching and makes each step more efficient. You can even outsource some batches, like voiceover or graphic design, to free up internal resources.
9. Use AI and Automation Tools
AI isn’t just a buzzword—it can actually speed up real development tasks without hurting quality.
How AI can help:
Generate quiz questions based on source content.
Suggest visuals or icons based on keywords.
Automatically transcribe audio or video for subtitles.
Convert raw content into draft scripts or outlines.
Tools like ChatGPT, Synthesia, Murf, and Descript are already saving teams hours per module. Just make sure a human reviews everything—AI is fast, but not always accurate or nuanced.
10. Set Limits on Review Rounds
Never-ending review cycles kill momentum and timelines.
Set clear expectations from the start:
How many rounds of review? (Usually two: content and final polish)
Who gives final approval?
What types of feedback are acceptable at each stage?
Use a review platform (like Review 360, Loom, or PDF markup tools) to collect consolidated, actionable feedback.
Less chaos = fewer delays.
11. Test with Real Learners, Not Just Stakeholders
You can waste a lot of time optimizing a course to please stakeholders while forgetting the actual learner.
Instead, build in a short usability test with real users. It can be as simple as:
Watching them go through a prototype.
Asking what confused them.
Fixing only what truly matters.
This keeps development laser-focused on effectiveness, not just aesthetics.
12. Track and Learn from Every Project
Every eLearning project should teach you something about how to go faster next time.
After each launch:
Run a quick debrief.
Identify time sinks and avoidable delays.
Save templates, checklists, and processes that worked well.
Over time, your team should build a knowledge base of what works—and development time will naturally drop without quality taking a hit.
Final Thoughts
Cutting eLearning development time isn’t about working harder or sacrificing quality. It’s about working smarter—with tighter focus, better tools, and cleaner processes.
Set clear goals. Streamline collaboration. Reuse what works. And keep learning with every project.
With these strategies, you can speed up production and still deliver high-impact learning experiences that stick.
About LMS Portals
At LMS Portals, we provide our clients and partners with a mobile-responsive, SaaS-based, multi-tenant learning management system that allows you to launch a dedicated training environment (a portal) for each of your unique audiences.
The system includes built-in, SCORM-compliant rapid course development software that provides a drag and drop engine to enable most anyone to build engaging courses quickly and easily.
We also offer a complete library of ready-made courses, covering most every aspect of corporate training and employee development.
If you choose to, you can create Learning Paths to deliver courses in a logical progression and add structure to your training program. The system also supports Virtual Instructor-Led Training (VILT) and provides tools for social learning.
Together, these features make LMS Portals the ideal SaaS-based eLearning platform for our clients and our Reseller partners.
Contact us today to get started or visit our Partner Program pages
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