Unessay: Collaborative Mapping Model ~ Relationships Matter

In January, I was asked to join a project that had already been started by another Learning Agency intern. My teammate had been working with the client to create a roadmap for a fast-start onboarding program. The fast-start program was envisioned to span 30 days and would include mentoring, training, field experiences, and online learning. There aren't adequate words I can type to describe the thorough and well-documented roadmap my teammate created for the client. My contribution was mostly related to the online portion, although I did contribute to other parts of the roadmap deliverable. 

Specifically, I was asked to create a course map and provide a prototype or demo course for the onboarding, which would later be situated into the roadmap as a model and template. This would meet the client’s objective to take the company’s rough training materials and convert them into something deliverable in an online course format. The client desired something interactive that would engage the learner and check for understanding throughout.

I used backward design and appreciative inquiry to develop a number of instructional design artifacts. I talked with the client about learner-centeredness. I created and presented:

• Visual prototypes using Canva
• Video overviews
• A Piktochart infographic
• A program map/planning template in Word
• A learning journey visual
• A timeline for nine courses
• Detailed timelines of the first two days of onboarding
• A Rise sample course for the first two days of onboarding
• And more…

Most important, to me, were the relationships I created with my teammate and my client. Through those relationships, I developed an understanding of the employees of the company, as well as their customers. I quickly realized that while the deliverables were helpful and important, the people mattered most because it equipped me to create something truly for them. None of the items listed above would have made much of a difference without the relationships. The client talked about relationships as being central to the onboarding experience, too: that employees would feel connected and excited, leading to best outcomes. To create an onboarding experience that would meet that vision, I needed to feel it, too.

My unessay, embedded here in Canva, explores my journey in this first phase of the project through a Collaborative Mapping Model (CMM) and relationship-centered design approach. Two resources I introduce, and am currently thinking about, are “What is relationship-centered practice?” by David Robinson (2022) from the Relationships Project and a podcast called “From human-centered design to relationship-centered design” hosted by Sam Aquillano and Liz Pawlak from the Design Museum. I invite you to add comments to the presentation.