January 11, 2019
4 Websites to inspire the design of your next eLearning course
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January 11, 2019
4 Websites to inspire the design of your next eLearning course
I'm a Designer with extensive expertise in user experience and user interface design.
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When creating the user interface and visual language for an eLearning course, it’s helpful to look for inspiration online. Inspiration doesn’t necessarily have to come from existing eLearning courses, but can come from websites, landing pages, apps and even printed material. In this post I’d like to highlight four websites that let you browse a variety of visual content, save images for further reference and in some instances even showcase your own work.

  1. Dribbble (https://dribbble.com)
    Dribbble is a resource well known in the graphic and digital design world. While originally the platform was meant for uploading a designer’s “work in progress” shots (with the aim of receiving feedback from other participants), it now also features fully fleshed out designs, both for pint and web. As a user you can search by keywords that designers have tagged the work with and browse designs by colour. You can also save an artwork’s colour palette in ACO format to use in your own projects. Just keep in mind that in order to upload your own work (which might be beneficial for your exposure online, especially if you’re a freelancer), you must have a Dribbble account and the platform is per invite only.
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  2. Behance (http://behance.net)
    Very similar to Dribble is Behance (owned by Adobe). Here you can also find a variety of different artwork posted by Designers and are able to simply login with your Adobe ID. On the platform you can view artwork curated by Adobe or filter projects by country, colour or creative field (such as UI/UX design, motion graphics etc.). Unfortunately there isn’t a category called instructional or eLearning design, but you can search for specific keywords via the search function. Additionally you can filter by the software used (and enter “Adobe Captivate to see only projects created with the software). Since there is no invite needed to join the platform, anyone can upload their own work if desired.
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  3. Pinterest (https://pinterest.com)
    Everyone knows Pinterest. The platform lets you search by keyword, but you’ll have to do some digging through content to find exactly the kind of work you’re looking for. While both platforms mentioned above are solely showing artwork created, Pinterest links to a variety of other content such as infographics or articles. It’s often helpful to look for specific boards contain content from a particular category.
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  4. Awwwards (https://www.awwwards.com)
    Awwwards is a site where designers can submit their work for evaluation. A jury assesses each site (for a fee) and the sites selected as being “the best” are then displayed on the Awwards website. What this means for the average user is that he or she can browse through a variety (mostly) high quality sites as a source of inspiration. There are a variety of filters (such as colour, technologies used or category). While, again there’s no “eLearning” category, you can search via the standard search bar on site.

Have you got any favourite sites you go to for inspiration? Share them in the comments!

5 Comments
2020-12-05 11:16:52
2020-12-05 11:16:52

Thanks. This is great!  I’m a complete novice trying to get into the world of instructional design. These are some good places for me to go for inspiration.

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2019-01-11 14:51:08
2019-01-11 14:51:08

Awwwards is a new one for me. Thanks for the tip!

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Todd Spargo
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2019-01-12 02:07:27
2019-01-12 02:07:27
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Todd Spargo
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No worries Todd! 🙂

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2019-01-11 14:16:47
2019-01-11 14:16:47

Thanks for the tip regarding Behance. As an instructional designer, I wouldn’t have considered checking it out if it wasn’t for your recommendation.

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Jeela Jones
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2019-01-12 02:09:14
2019-01-12 02:09:14
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Jeela Jones
's comment

While some of the sites might not have heaps and heaps of specific instructional design examples, you might be able to get inspiration from web or app design examples instead – or simply just gather interesting colour schemes for your own work!

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