Brainstorming Your Course Concept

Why knowing your learners is the cornerstone of every great course

Imagine you’re cooking a meal for a group of friends. You wouldn’t start chopping vegetables before you know whether they’re vegetarian, have any allergies, or prefer spicy food, right? The same principle applies to course design – you need to understand who you’re teaching and what they truly need before you dive into content creation.

1. Pinpoint Your Learner Persona(s)

Demographics: age, job role, education level, industry.
Motivations: career advancement, personal growth, solving a specific problem.
Pain Points: common challenges or gaps in knowledge they face daily.

Tip: Draft a simple “learner card” – a one‑page snapshot that captures these details. This becomes your compass throughout the design process.

2. Conduct a Needs Assessment

Surveys & Interviews: Ask potential learners about their biggest hurdles and what success looks like for them.
Job‑Task Analysis: Break down the tasks they need to perform and identify the skills that are missing.
Competitor Review: Look at existing courses (including those on Learniverse) to see where the gaps are.

The goal is to surface the real problem you’re solving, not just a topic you think is interesting.

3. Translate Needs into Learning Outcomes

Turn each identified need into a clear, measurable outcome. For example, instead of “learn Photoshop basics,” write “Create a social‑media graphic using layers, blending modes, and text tools within 20 minutes.”
Outcomes become the foundation for your course blueprint, guiding module structure, assessments, and content depth.

4. Align with Learniverse’s Platform Strengths

Leverage the platform’s interactive labs, micro‑learning snippets, and community forums to address the specific needs you uncovered.
Ask yourself: Which Learniverse feature best supports each outcome? This ensures your course isn’t just content‑heavy, but experience‑rich.

5. Quick Validation Checklist

✅	Question
1	Do I know the primary learner’s job role and context?
2	Have I identified at least three concrete pain points?
3	Are my learning outcomes written as actionable verbs?
4	Does each outcome map to a Learniverse feature?
5	Have I gathered direct feedback from a sample of my target audience?

If you can answer “yes” to all of these, you’ve nailed the cornerstone of your course concept! From here, you can move confidently into fleshing out the Course Blueprint – the next step in turning that solid idea into a fully‑fledged Learniverse learning experience.

References: [1, 2, 3]