Most courses evolve gradually. An instructor updates a discussion prompt, replaces an outdated article, records a new lecture, or adjusts an assignment after reading student feedback. Those small improvements are part of good teaching and help keep a course current over time.
Occasionally, however, a course reaches a point where small updates are no longer enough. Navigation becomes confusing, learning objectives no longer match the assessments, accessibility issues accumulate, technology has changed, or the course simply reflects instructional decisions made years ago under very different circumstances. At that point, continuing to make minor adjustments is a little like repainting a house with a cracked foundation. The surface may look better, but the underlying problems remain.
Knowing when a course needs a redesign is an important skill for instructional designers. Equally important is recognizing that redesign does not necessarily mean starting over. Many successful redesigns preserve what already works while thoughtfully improving the parts that no longer support learners. This article explores the signs that a course is ready for a redesign and how instructional designers can approach the process strategically rather than simply rebuilding everything from scratch.
Redesign Is Different From Routine Maintenance
Every course requires regular maintenance. Links break, software changes, textbook editions are updated, institutional policies evolve, and instructors discover small improvements after each semester. These routine updates keep courses functional and current, but they do not fundamentally change how the learning experience is designed.
A redesign is different because it examines the course as a complete system rather than as a collection of individual components. Instead of asking whether a discussion prompt should be rewritten, instructional designers begin asking whether discussions are even the best strategy for achieving the learning objectives. Rather than replacing one assignment, they evaluate how assessments, activities, navigation, feedback, and accessibility work together throughout the course.
This broader perspective allows instructional designers to identify patterns that individual updates often overlook. A course may appear to function reasonably well when viewed one module at a time, yet still create unnecessary confusion, repetition, or cognitive overload when experienced from beginning to end. Redesign addresses those larger structural issues.
Listen for the Warning Signs
Courses rarely announce that they need redesign. Instead, they tend to leave clues.
Perhaps students ask the same navigation questions every semester. Maybe faculty spend significant time explaining assignments that seemed perfectly clear when they were written. Accessibility reviews uncover recurring problems across multiple modules, or assessment results suggest that learners are completing activities successfully without actually mastering the intended skills.
Sometimes the warning signs are less obvious. A course may contain five different homepage styles because it has been revised by multiple instructors over several years. Module structures change from week to week, technology tools appear without explanation, or learning objectives no longer reflect the assignments learners are completing. Individually, these issues may seem minor. Collectively, they often indicate that the course has outgrown incremental updates.
One of the most valuable habits senior instructional designers develop is paying attention to recurring problems. When the same issue appears semester after semester, redesign may offer a better solution than another temporary fix.
Start With the Learning Outcomes
One of the biggest mistakes in course redesign is beginning with technology or appearance rather than learning.
It is tempting to focus on modernizing the homepage, reorganizing modules, or replacing older tools with newer ones. While those improvements may eventually become part of the redesign, they should not be the starting point. Effective redesign begins by revisiting the learning outcomes.
Ask a simple question:
If this course were designed today, what should learners be able to do when they finish?
That question often reveals opportunities to update objectives, remove outdated content, or introduce more authentic learning experiences. Once the destination is clear, instructional designers can evaluate whether the existing assessments, activities, and resources actually help learners reach it.
Starting with outcomes also prevents redesign from becoming a cosmetic exercise. A course that looks modern but still measures the wrong things has not truly improved.
Look at the Course Through the Learner's Eyes
Instructional designers know a course differently than learners do. They understand why pages are organized a certain way, where important information is located, and what every button is supposed to accomplish. Learners have none of that background.
One of the most valuable redesign activities is simply walking through the course as though you have never seen it before. Can you immediately identify where to begin? Is each assignment easy to find? Do instructions answer likely questions before learners have to ask them? Does every page feel connected to the overall learning experience?
Sometimes instructional designers discover that the course makes perfect sense only because they helped build it. Asking another faculty member, instructional designer, or even a student to review the course often reveals navigation issues that have become invisible to the design team.
Seeing the course through fresh eyes is one of the fastest ways to identify opportunities for improvement.
Don't Throw Away What Already Works
A redesign should not automatically erase years of thoughtful instructional work.
Many courses contain excellent activities, strong explanations, authentic assessments, or engaging examples that continue serving learners well. Replacing those simply because the course is being redesigned wastes both time and expertise.
Instead, begin by identifying strengths.
Which assignments consistently produce meaningful learning? Which resources do students find most valuable? Which assessments align well with the learning outcomes? Those elements often deserve to remain while the surrounding course structure evolves.
Redesign is usually more successful when it builds upon existing strengths rather than assuming everything needs to change. Preserving effective components also makes redesign more manageable for faculty, who may understandably feel attached to parts of the course they have refined over many years.
Simplify Before You Add
One of the surprising outcomes of many redesign projects is that the finished course often contains fewer materials than the original.
Over time, courses accumulate content. Additional readings are uploaded, optional resources multiply, announcements remain long after they are needed, and activities continue expanding because each semester someone finds one more useful article or video.
A redesign provides an opportunity to ask whether every item still serves a clear instructional purpose.
Removing unnecessary content often improves learning because learners spend less time sorting through materials and more time engaging with the concepts that matter most. The goal is not to make the course smaller. The goal is to make every component earn its place.
Sometimes the best redesign decision is deciding what to leave out.
Accessibility Should Be Part of the Redesign
Accessibility reviews frequently reveal opportunities that extend far beyond individual documents or videos.
A redesign provides the ideal opportunity to improve heading structures, navigation, alternative text, captioning, document accessibility, color contrast, assessment design, and overall usability. Rather than treating accessibility as a final checklist, instructional designers can incorporate it throughout the redesign process.
This approach also supports learners who never formally request accommodations. Courses with consistent organization, readable layouts, descriptive links, and accessible materials tend to provide better learning experiences for everyone.
Accessibility works best when it is woven into the redesign rather than added afterward.
Involve Faculty Throughout the Process
Successful redesigns rarely happen because instructional designers work independently.
Faculty bring disciplinary expertise, practical experience, and a deep understanding of what learners need to accomplish. Instructional designers contribute expertise in learning, accessibility, assessment, organization, and educational technology. The strongest redesigns emerge when those perspectives remain connected throughout the project.
That collaboration also reduces resistance to change. Faculty members are more likely to support redesign decisions when they understand why those changes are being made and have opportunities to contribute ideas throughout the process.
A redesign should feel like a partnership rather than something that happens to the course.
Think Beyond the Next Semester
Course redesign requires time, and that investment should continue paying dividends long after the current semester ends.
Whenever possible, instructional designers should look for opportunities to improve consistency, simplify maintenance, and create reusable structures. Standardized module templates, clearly organized content, accessible documents, reusable rubrics, and consistent navigation all make future updates easier.
Thinking this way also reduces the likelihood that another major redesign will be needed in only a few years. Small improvements become easier because the course now rests on a stronger foundation.
Good redesign is not simply about solving today's problems.
It is about making tomorrow's improvements easier.
Final Thoughts
Every course eventually reaches a point where incremental updates are no longer enough. Recognizing that moment allows instructional designers and faculty to move beyond isolated fixes and begin thinking strategically about the learning experience as a whole.
Successful redesigns do not begin with technology, templates, or visual appearance. They begin with learners, learning outcomes, and a willingness to ask whether the course still supports the goals it was designed to achieve. From there, thoughtful decisions about navigation, accessibility, assessments, activities, and content create learning environments that are clearer, more engaging, and easier to maintain.
The best redesigns are not measured by how different the course looks.
They are measured by how much better the course works for the people learning within it.
References
Fink, L. D. (2013). Creating significant learning experiences: An integrated approach to designing college courses (Revised and updated ed.). Jossey-Bass.
Nilson, L. B., & Goodson, L. A. (2021). Online teaching at its best: Merging instructional design with teaching and learning research (2nd ed.). Jossey-Bass.
Quality Matters. (2023). Higher education rubric (7th ed.). Quality Matters.
Rose, D. H., & Meyer, A. (2002). Teaching every student in the digital age: Universal design for learning. ASCD.
Wiggins, G., & McTighe, J. (2005). Understanding by design (Expanded 2nd ed.). ASCD.